The Chief Storyteller

10 Tips for Networking at Conferences as an Attendee

A client of mine is sending five people to a conference next week. The primary goals are to build contacts and find prospective clients.

I made some specific suggestions on how to maximize their time as they attend one big business blind date.

1. Be ready for "What Do You Do?" Start every conversation with passion and a compelling elevator speech.

2. Get invited to the parties and events where your ideal clients will be.

3. Do pre-work in advance to find out what opinion leaders, influencers, prospects, etc. are attending. Then set up meetings with them while at the conference before the conference even starts.

4. Talk to strangers. Avoid talking to people you know well. Now is the time to meet new people.

5. Avoid your competitors. See if you can find out in advance where your competitors are going to be in terms of booths, activities, and events. Then, ensure you are somewhere else.

6. Sponsor your own after party. Invite partners, clients, former clients, guests, and of course, prospects, influencers, opinion leaders, authors, bloggers, etc.

7. Coordinate with your teammates. Be deliberate when attending the same events. Have game plans, check-in points, and feedback loops.

8. Keep your conversations short. Spend up to 10 minutes per person. If you make a bona fide connection, even better because ending the conversation is easier. Your goal is to network and meet as many people as possible.

9. Offer valuable follow ups. Develop a set of give-aways and follow ups to make your follow up easier (see #10). Offer (a) white-papers; (b) references to articles, blogs, newspapers; (c) copies of magazine and newspaper articles; (d) books or references to an appropriate book; (e) information on upcoming events and conferences

10. Be different--follow up. Most people do not follow up. Suggest that you only follow up with the people that you made a moderate to strong connection with, that meet your ideal client profile, and where you believe that there is future value to you or both parties.

Before You Make that Call: Use Research to Stand Out from Your Competition

Article Summary: Perform competitive intelligence research before making the call or in-person visit. You only have one chance to make a great first impression that prompts your prospect to say, “Tell me more.” You have to justify immediately why the other person should spend his or her time with you. Research to identify your prospect’s true pain points, opportunities for improvement, potential ways of doing things differently, ideas to [blank], and so on. Generic emails, telephone calls, and office visits should be things of the past. Solid research helps spot trends, turns assumptions into facts, and most importantly, makes you stand out.   <<< Read complete article below >>>

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Before You Make that Call: Use Research to Stand Out from Your Competition

© 2010. ThinkBusiness Magazine and The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. Used by permission.
Ira J. Koretsky
January 2010

One of my all-time favorite print advertisements is McGraw-Hill’s “Man in the chair” from 1958. Wearing glasses, a bow tie, and a stern look, the seated older man looks right at you and says…

I don’t know who you are.
I don’t know your company.
I don’t know your company’s product.
I don’t know what your company stands for.
I don’t know your company’s customers.
I don’t know your company’s record.
I don’t know your company’s reputation.
Now—what was it you wanted to sell me?

Moral: Sales start before your salesman calls – with business publication advertising

In short, do your homework. Perform competitive intelligence research before making the call or in-person visit. You only have one chance to make a great first impression that prompts your prospect to say, “Tell me more.” You have to justify immediately why the other person should spend his or her time with you.

Research to identify your prospect’s true pain points, opportunities for improvement, potential ways of doing things differently, ideas to [blank], and so on. Generic emails, telephone calls, and office visits should be things of the past. Solid research helps spot trends, turns assumptions into facts, and most importantly, makes you stand out.

Focus your research on the stakeholder and the organization. For the stakeholder, look for education, accomplishments, resumes, affiliations, board memberships, previous employment, and other bio-data. For the organization, look for financial data, partnerships, clients, products and services, market and industry data, and so on.

As you conduct your research, here are ideas for using a variety of Internet sites to ensure that you are making the most out of your first impression and follow-on interactions. These are just a sampling of the hundreds of sources available for the United States. Note: remember to fact check.

Leverage Social Media Sites
Social media is fantastic for performing research. Information is easy to access and often plentiful. Among the hundreds of sites, start with some of the most popular, including LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, and Slideshare.net. Each site has a search tool offering comprehensive results.

Use Traditional and New Media Sources
Spend time with A) national news sources like CNN, Financial Times, Google News Search, Los Angeles Times, New York Times, Wall Street Journal, and Washington Post; B) local newspapers where your prospect is headquartered; C) trade and industry magazines related to your prospect’s industry; D) trade and industry magazines related to your prospect’s biggest clients; and E) press release sources like Associated Press, PR Newswire, Reuters, and United Press International.

For new media resources, look to blogs and newsletters. Start with blogs authored by the prospect’s organization and employees, especially individuals you expect to meet. Look to newsletters by the organization as well as newsletters by its clients, partners, competitors, and industry gurus. Additionally, you can often download presentations and papers from conference sites.

Use Analysts, Research Houses, and Bureaus
You have to open your wallet for access to this premier information. Some offer limited no-cost and low-cost resources. Visit D&B, Dow Jones Factiva, FreeEdgar, Frost & Sullivan, Gartner, Hoovers, Yahoo Financial, Yankee Group, and Zoominfo.

Knowledge is Power
Early in my career, I fell into the “not enough research” camp. Today, I use a variety of sources to ensure that I am as well prepared as possible. On more than one occassion I have found contacts in LinkedIn who have provided invaluable insights into a prospective organization. In Slideshare, I have located interesting and highly relevant product/service presentations. Arming myself with a wealth of information about the prospective organization and its stakeholders has both accelerated and deepened the effectiveness of those sales calls and visits.

Louis Pasteur, noted French chemist and microbiologist, said, “Le hasard ne favorise que les esprits préparés.” In English: “Chance favors only the prepared mind.” Use competitive intelligence research to stack the odds of success in your favor.

Ira Koretsky is the president of The Chief Storyteller®, a firm that turns your business stories and messages into results, with keynotes, workshops, training, and consulting. He can be reached at tbmag@thechiefstoryteller.com or www.TheChiefStoryteller.com.

Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda: 5 Activities You Really Should Do

Article Summary: Take advantage of every opportunity to create your own positive first impressions and maintaining lasting relationships. “Remember that the person you’re about to meet can become as important to you as someone you’ve known for years.” I can recall dozens of random and unplanned events where I turned strangers into new friends and clients, gained new ideas, or learned something new. The question is, will you make the most of the interaction or will you let it pass on by? Here are five scenarios that occur to each and every one of us, if not on a daily basis, certainly weekly. Think about how you can maximize these experiences as they relate to you and your personal and professional life.  <<< Read complete article below >>>

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Shoulda, Woulda, Coulda: 5 Activities You Really Should Do

© 2009. ThinkBusiness Magazine and The Chief Storyteller®, LLC. Used by permission.
Ira J. Koretsky
December 2009

   
About three years ago, I was in a local retail store. While chatting with Mark, the friendly sales associate, he asked me what I did. For some reason, I hesitated and almost said, “I’m in the marketing field.” Instead, I faithfully delivered my elevator speech (your answer to “What do you do?”). I piqued Mark’s interest. Instantly, he started talking about his challenges and difficulty in finding clients for his part-time art business. Thirty minutes later, we exchanged contact information. A week later, Mark started drawing business cartoons for me. Guaranteed, if I responded with the typical “I’m in marketing” answer, the opportunity would have been missed.

“Remember that the person you’re about to meet can become as important to you as someone you’ve known for years.” H. Jackson Brown, Jr., author of Life’s Little Instruction Book, could not have said it better. I can recall dozens of random and unplanned events where I turned strangers into new friends and clients, gained new ideas, or learned something new. Some of the events may seem small while others large. The question is, will you make the most of the interaction or will you let it pass on by?

Here are five scenarios that occur to each and every one of us, if not on a daily basis, certainly weekly. Think about how you can maximize these experiences as they relate to you and your personal and professional life.

Talk to the Woman on the Grocery Store Line
If I had a dollar for every time someone shared a story about meeting someone on a line, I could retire now. Whether it is a line at the grocery store, waiting room at the doctor’s office, registering for your child’s soccer team, or listening for your name to be called at a restaurant, think about talking to the stranger beside you. Gauge the receptiveness of the person with a short in-the-moment comment about something relevant to the situation you are sharing. Then see where things go from there.

Make THE Telephone Call
I read a long time ago in Selling Power Magazine to make THE call. The call is the one that you do not want to make. You know…the one to the “challenging client” or the one where you will likely hear “no thank you” to your proposal. By making the call early in the morning, you significantly reduce your anxiety level for the rest of the day. And then, everyone benefits! 

Send the Quick Email
Email is quick, easy, and painless. As a society we have become so used to email that you should be sending more to recognize people. There are so many reasons to send “that” quick email. Some reasons include birthdays, anniversaries, articles, ideas, links to a [blank] (e.g., website, newsletter, tweet, and blog), referrals, and updates on a significant personal or professional event.

Attend the XYZ Networking Event
“I’m too tired, I’ll skip this one” is an all-too common refrain. Instead, view networking as an integral part of your day. Make it part of your weekly routine. Attend breakfast, lunch, dinner, and social events throughout the week. Remember to view these as business blind dates…you may just meet your next best client or partner.

Always be Ready for What Do You Do?
While the question asked is “What do you do?” the answer people are looking for is “What can you do for me?” Therefore, it must pique your reader/listener’s attention. Ensure that your elevator speech takes less than 30 seconds to say, is memorable, is easy to understand, and evokes a “Wow! Tell me more” response.

Do you remember the day your best friend was a stranger? Whatever that day was, it took time from the first contact to develop that relationship into best friend status. Now think of your best client, partner, or employee. Someone initiated the first contact—created that first impression. Now that we are in the holiday months, parties and social events abound. People are generally in a better mood and more receptive to talking to strangers. Take advantage of every opportunity to create your own positive first impressions and maintaining lasting relationships.

Ira Koretsky is the president of The Chief Storyteller®, a firm that turns your business stories and messages into results, with keynotes, workshops, training, and consulting. He can be reached at tbmag@thechiefstoryteller.com or www.TheChiefStoryteller.com.

What Impresses You the Most When Meeting College Students at Job Fairs? 5 Tips

LinkedIn has a great feature when it comes to Questions and Answers. You can post a question, answer a question, or just browse the Q&A section for topics that interest you.

Here's a question that I recently answered, "What impresses you the most when meeting college students ( or recent graduates) at job fairs?"

Networking, Job Hunting, and Communication are some of the hardest things we do. There are absolutely no instruction manuals that combine these high level topics together for students. Plus, student-age people rarely have the insights or fundamental understanding of the importance of these three elements. They are just students!

While the thoughts below focus on students, there are some relevant job hunting ideas for anyone.

*** My Answer:
Having taught three semesters at top business school on career strategies to juniors and seniors, combined with personal experience, and hiring experience over the past 23 years, here are some suggestions for undergrads and new grads, for both job fairs and general job search.

1) Ask questions based on doing an Internet search on my company and me. Show me that you did your homework. This will make you stand out at a job fair.

2) Bring some ideas specific to my company. They don't have to be perfect--just thoughtful.

3) Lack of attention to detail immediately translates to "no thank you." I've had too many college students and recent grads spell my company name or my name incorrectly, or even use the wrong gender (my picture is on my website and LinkedIn). There is absolutely no excuse for these errors. So when you send a personal hand-written or typed letter after the job fair, triple check it before sending it out.

4) Tailor your cover letter and resume. If it's generic (it's easy to tell), then I know that you don't really care and don't really want the job.

5) Communicate well. Ensure that your emails, telephone messages, cover letter, resume, and what you say during the interview demonstrate your thoughtful and professional approach to business. When you get to the job fair, know how to answer "tell me about yourself," and "tell me why you are interested in this job," and "tell me what interests you in our company."

When You Tweet, Think About What You Want Your Followers To Do

One of my clients is starting to use Twitter. We are identifying topics and ideas.

During our brainstorming, I shared with him that people "follow" you for a variety of reasons. Here are some of the main ones:

- learn something that they can't learn otherwise.
- be challenged with unconventional or different thought
- to laugh, be entertained
- to bond, network, grow their own personal community

Before you send your Tweet, think about what you want your followers to do, to think about, to react to, to ponder, to initiate dialogue, and so on. The more you orient your Tweets to an action, the more your followers will appreciate what you share.

44 Ways How To Land Bigger Clients

Mike Michalowicz runs the Toilet Paper Entrepreneur (TPE) blog and community. On the blog you will find lots and lots of great suggestions on growing your business. And suggestions come from folks all over the world.

Toilet Paper Entrepreneur is certainly an intriguing name. And of course, I had to check it out. I recently learned of TPE and submitted a suggestion for his "Land Bigger Clients" blog. You'll find my suggestion at #6.

"A bigger client means bigger revenue for your business. And we all know that is a VERY good thing. If you have struggled landing the big fish in the past, the TPE community is here to help!  Here are 44 ways to bring in the big client with the deep pockets:"

Complete list.

Professionals Speakers...Are You Memorable?

Professional speaking is quite a challenging profession. You have to be part educator and part entertainer, among many other things.

One of the most important aspects is the "re-telling factor." After the event is over, what will the participants say about your topic and their experience to friends, family, and colleagues? Will they refer people to your website, give out your contact information, and make referrals on your behalf? They will if you appropriately inspire, engage, educate, and entertain. Packaged together, it's the experience.

And to pass the re-telling test, you have to get emails like this!

I had the pleasure of attending your session several years back at the [XYZ] Conference.  As a testament to your storytelling, I remembered The Chief Storyteller tag and was able to Google and find you.

Being memorable takes time, commitment, perseverance, practice, practice, and more practice (I have been public speaking for nearly 30 years now). And most important, to use one of my father's favorite words, it takes tenacity.

Landing Pages: Don’t Forget to Cut off the Crusts! (From David Gammel)

I enjoy reading David's newsletters and blog postings. He always offers insights and useful suggestions. One that really struck me as an "aha" was one from last week about how not to clutter up an offer on a web page. With the clutter, you reduce the potential for your success. Read on peanut butter and jelly lovers (you'll get it after reading)...

Landing Pages: Don’t Forget to Cut off the Crusts!

A landing page is a web page created solely to support traffic that is inbound from an e-mail or online promotion.

Landing pages are optimized for the audience you anticipate sending to them, sporting tailored content that helps the prospect to take whatever your desired next action is.

They are a critical tool for online marketing.

One thing that many people forget about them is that the best landing pages have the crust cut off. Let me explain what I mean here.

My two daughters will not eat a PB&J unless the crusts are cut off the sandwich. Removing the crusts lets them focus on the yummy goodness in the middle. You should do the same with your landing pages.

Most content on your site sport a variety of navigation tools, promotions, and other links around the perimeter of the page. This gives the user lots of options for navigating to their next page. However, with a landing page, you only want the visitor to take one specific next action. Therefore, you should cut the crusts off your landing pages, removing this extraneous navigation and content from the edges of the page.

Crust-less landing pages keep the visitor focused on the specific messages you want them to read and the next step you wish them to take. Note that on Amazon.com when you enter the payment process, all of the navigation goes away. Same concept is at play here.

Cut off the crusts and watch your conversion rate improve!

From personal experience, David is very insightful. He can laser in on your business issues and translate them into form and function online. To learn how David helps clients bring their mission to life online, visit him at High Context Consulting.

Job Seekers: Leave the Personal Information Out

Over the past few months I have been helping more and more job seekers with the development and update of their materials such as their elevator speech (answer to "what do you do?" and "tell me about yourself"), cover letter, resume, interviewing, and accomplishments/success stories.

Because of the economy, many professionals are now faced with the process of job hunting--something new to many or at least, something that have not had to do in quite a while. Since they have not had to use these skills or tools, they are typically a bit rusty.

My biggest tip, hint, suggestion, must-do, stomp-on-the-floor-with-my-foot-to-emphasize-point is...leave your personal information at home. Prospecting hiring managers want to know what you have to offer, your employment history, how you are going to help them.

Remember that you have a very limited amount of time during networking or interviewing to demonstrate your knowledge, skills, and abilities. As such, any discussion of your personal situation takes away from the business objective of you getting the interview, invited back, or receiving the offer letter.

Leave the personal stories of how you lost your job, been unemployed for x months, haven't had much luck networking or interviewing, and so on at home. It's business, business, business. After you get hired is the time to share your personal history, to begin building true bonds of trust and credibility.

Personal stories of triumph where you learned something or helped your business are the good business stories that hiring managers want to hear.

Searching for a new job is a full-time job. It takes time, effort, strategy, stamina, and a solid business story.

Raise your right hand job seeker. Repeat after me, "I promise...to leave out my personal information...in ALL of my job seeking tools and experiences."

Check, Re-Check, Re-Check, oh yeah, Re-Check Again

We received a cover letter today in response to an intern position we have open. The cover letter was addressed to a different company.

We wrote back to the applicant to let her know of her mistake. She apologized and wrote "I hope that this does not affect your decision."

It certainly does.

Each of us has one opportunity to make a first impression. And this applicant did not make a good one.