Biz Networking - Esti Peshin’s Blog

Having just returned from an (amazing) ski vacation in Chamonix, I believe now would be a good time to admit that the last time I skied (prior to this vacation, of course) was 18 years ago.  

I mentioned this fact to quite a few people these past few weeks, and the most common reaction was “Well, it’s like riding a bicycle…”. I bet that many of you had the same thought.  

This recurring reaction got me thinking. Has anybody really experimented whether one’s bike-riding capability remains reasonably intact even after 20 or so years of inexperience? Wouldn’t it deteriorate, or even vanish? 

I, for one, believe that a skill, any skill, derives from combination of knowledge and confidence. I doubt one’s confidence remains intact after such a long time. Hence, I don’t subscribe to the view that one’s bike-riding capability would remain intact after 20 or so years.  

Oh well, the purpose of the trip was to enjoy some skiing (a divine sport), but I did have a chance of conducting a somewhat empiric experiment on maintaining one’s skiing level after 18 years.

The result: SUCCESS;

Confidence level: slightly deteriorated;

Overall skill level: imporved.

Just like riding a bike….

A conclusion note: “Life is like riding a bicycle. To keep your balance you must keep moving”… (Albert Einstein)

Originally, I wanted to dedicate this post to the amazing world of dog’s networking. 

However, sitting in a flight to Geneva, en route to a ski vacation, I found it difficult to concentrate on a witty and charming piece. I thought I’d utilize this opportunity to give you a sense of how it came about that I started blogging…  

I am not what you’d call an “early adaptor” of technology. I seldom read on-line papers, believing a paper should literally be made out of paper, I still own a VCR, and do not own a DVD, and I have only recently been introduced to the exciting world of blogging.  I must give credit where credit’s due.

If it weren’t for Tsahar Rotem, the “Content Man”, who taught me the ropes of blogging, you would have been reading these words right now. Tsahar is a true believer in the power of words, and an expert in promoting sites via wise content management. He practices what he preaches in his excellent blog contentman.wordpress.com. Hebrew readers might want to check it out.   

I previously wondered what blogging and content management have to do with business. Well, a blog might be perceived as another mode of self expression. However, Tsahar taught me that a well written blog focusing on articles in a specific area may assist its owner in promoting and positioning himself as a legitimate expert in area. Tsahar himself is a great example; he gained his reputation as one of the main content management experts in Israel, and drew a lot of attention using his well written blog.

OK, seat belts on, Chamonix here we come…

Note: This post was written on Mar-4, en route to a ski vacation at Chamonix. Unfortunately, due to connectivity problems, I only got a chance to post it now. BTW, the vacation is great, and I will be sure to write a post or two about it.  

I simply love coffee-shops during the day time. They hum with the sound of business - keystrokes on laptop keyboards, occasional phone calls, loud phone conversations (as a general rule, Israelis cannot keep their voice down while on the phone), hushed meetings and business networking at its best (”Moshe, long time no see”…)… 

 I move around quite a lot during the day. Hence, occasionally, I also set interviews or introductory meetings at selected coffee-shops.  

The other day, I set four back to back business meetings in one coffee shop in Herzelia. It got me thinking about the difficulties of holding business meeting on neutral grounds, not the least among which is how to identify the person you are supposed to meet with.  This problem is accentuated even further when the entire interaction with the person you are about to meet was previously done via email (this is not as irregular as it may seem). In such a case, you may have no notion as to the age of the person you are about to meet.  

Israeli names are sometimes not-gender specific. Hence, if the email interaction was in English (the “formal” Hi-Tech language in Israel), which, unlike Hebrew, is not such a gender-specific language, you might not even know whether you are going to meet a man or a woman.  

There are various ways to overcome this difficulty. Personally, I prefer arriving en-site a few minutes earlier than schedule, ordering my own coffee (and, thus, overcoming another major issue of who buys – especially for women), and situating myself comfortably at a “strategic” location within the coffee shop (welcome to my “office”).  

Then, about two minutes before the scheduled time, I contact the second party with some pointers regarding where I am situated within the coffee shop and how I can be identified (shirt color). I usually call the second party only if we had some previous verbal interaction. In case all our interaction was electronic, I prefer a politely worded SMS.  

This way, the second party would usually arrive at my table, and politely ask: “Esti?”. Awkwardness avoided, let the meeting begin…

It is a known business paradigm that the amount of sales derives directly from the price you set, the number of potential customers you approach and the nature of interaction you create with these potential customers during the sales process.  

Hence, many Sales and Marketing professional invest a significant amount of their time in interacting with as many people as possible, creating an impression (hopefully a good one), and hoping that this contact would eventually yield some business.  

“Business Networking”, if you will… 

Business Networking has many variants and methods, differing between cultures, occupations, age and gender. On the one hand, we have the frontal minglers, who prefer a more physical variant of networking, traveling from gathering to gathering, exchanging firm handshakes, and maintaining an ever growing collection of business cards. On the other, we have those who prefer a more sterile variant of Business Networking, over the Web… 

The Web offers various “Business Networking” possibilities, among which are the LinkedIn network (www.linkedin.com), which has a slightly more American flavor, and the OpenBC network (www.openbc.com), which has a slightly more European flavor. I am a member of both, and believe both are excellent and useful ventures that have a lot to offer. 

In these networks, the user is required to define a personal profile - an E-business card, if you will – which outlines the user’s present occupation, professional resume, major achievements, areas of interest and contact details. Each user within the network has a list of “connections”, where a “connection” can be initiated by either party, but must be approved by the other party. As a general rule, each users contact details are exposed only to other users that are listed as his “connections”. Hence, the list of “connections” within the “Business Networking” networks is, in fact, an on-line business cards collection…  Now, after we familiarized ourselves with the playground, let’s meet some of the characters that we are bound to meet during the game:  

The Shy Guy – We are all familiar with the character who arrives at conventions or gatherings on time(!), situates himself in a remote corner of the lecture hall, sits there throughout the lectures, doesn’t mingle, doesn’t socializes, leaves immediately after the conclusion of the last lecture of the day, and as a whole doesn’t leave us with any significant impression. The Shy Guy is the on-line equivalent of this character. He joined a Business Network because, once, about two years ago someone sent him an invitation, and he didn’t have the heart to respectfully decline. Since then, he has yet to receive further invitations to connect, and still has one sole connection. On his part, he never sought to further explore the network, and create additional contacts. He forgot his password about a year ago, or at least that’s his excuse for his reclusion…   

The Important Guy – In conventions, it’s quite easy to identify “thrones”, mini-gatherings which have a magnetic effect on the crowd, who seeks these “thrones” in order to exchange firm handshakes with the VIP situated there.  The Important Guy is the on-line equivalent of this VIP character. He defined his profile reluctantly, and made a point of updating it with the minimum possible details. He never (I said – never) would initiate a connection, and he might even decline invitations he receives. However, do not think for a moment that our friend, The Important Guy, does not take his connections seriously. In fact, he checks them regularly and perceives their growing number as an affirmation of his station in the Business Networking food-chain. Oh, and if he really is that important, he might be adequate prey for The Hunter Guy… 

The Hunter Guy – In conventions and gatherings, you can easily identify him, dancing around the VIPs situated on their magnetic “thrones”. On-line, The Hunter Guy attempts to “catch” as many VIPs as possible, the higher in the food-chain the better. He defines a strategic approach, stalks his prey, identifies connections who can assist him in advancing, one step at a time, towards his target, and finally he gleefully jumps his prey, and sends him a detailed invitation for a connection. Needless to say that The Important Guys will usually decline his invitation. However, The Hunter Guy never loses faith. He immediately seeks out a new target; he enjoys also the hunt itself…  

The Addicted Guy – The Addicted Guy’s raison d’etre is the Business Network. His on-line profile is fully updated, and he checks out the network for updates at least 3 times a day. If he met his 3^rd grade teacher in the bus, he would carefully note down her email address, and immediately upon re-entering the network, would issue her an invitation to connect. Needless to say that The Addicted Guy has hundreds or thousands of connections, mostly Shy Guys, who didn’t have it in their heart to decline his invitation (come on, she taught him in the 3^rd grade…) and for which he is the one and only connection. Some Addicted Guys even tend to publish their email address and number of connections in a manner visible to all within the network. This is sort of a tacit invitation for other Addicted Guys to connect with them, and mutually increase the number of connections (an excellent example of a win-win situation). 

The Abstaining Guy – We all know the character that never shows up in conventions or gatherings, claiming that they never yield any business. In fact, as he looks down at us minglers from the height of the Olympus, he constantly reminds himself that Business Networking is below his level. The Abstaining Guy is the on-line equivalent of this character. The Abstaining Guy refuses to join any on-line Business Network. He declines or ignores any invitations he receives (even recurring ones, from Addicted Guys). When asked, he gladly provides his well-rehearsed reasoning, and explains that Business Networking is in fact a waste of time… 

Well, The Abstaining Guy is wrong on two counts. First, the on-line Business Networks have become a mainstream means for initiating business connections (Hunter Guys – There are some real VIPs hanging out in these networks). Secondly, it has already been clearly proven that these networks can generate global business.  

Therefore, to all Abstaining Guys out there – you are warmly invited to enter the on-line Business Networks and try them out…