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Wonder Why Your Networking is Not Working? You Didn’t Do Your Homework!
Coffee? I love coffee, but I’ve been utterly disappointed and devastated by my recent coffee meetings. Being a newbie to Reno, I’ve taken more informal meetings than normal just to understand better this business community.
Last month, for example, 4 out of 4 people didn’t know anything about me; they hadn’t been to my website, researched me on LinkedIn, signed up for Words of Lizdom or even Googled me!
I had scoured the web, understanding their background and tracking their career trajectory; I was curious and came prepared with questions to ask. It’s as if all of them wanted introductions from me without trying to understand who I was and what I do.
In one exchange, my visitor bragged about his success for 53 minutes without even asking me one single question. I finally left. Oh, and all 4 of these meetings with successful executives left me footing the bill for their coffee.
I am a good networker because I believe in giving before taking; I believe in doing the right thing; I also know what goes around comes around even if not in a direct one-to-one ratio.If you are trying to sell me, please also do your homework. You cannot be considered a professional and offer to revise my website, create an app, or be a connection if you don’t understand me. Click To Tweet
So, here’s my suggestion: do your homework. Use the web to understand people first so that your meetings are about human connection first and business second.
Have you too experienced this situation? Is someone trying to sell you before even doing rudimentary research? If so, I’m all ears.
To your sizzling success,
Liz
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