We had a great turnout to Friday Feb 20th’s Executive Club of Boston event hosted on BlitzTime. I was invited to talk on integrating your online networking with your in-person networking efforts.  While the audience on the 20th couldn’t see the attached presentation, it’s what I used to prompt me during my speech.

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Maybe it’s the recession. Maybe it’s learning first-hand the difference between a friend and a “Facebook friend.” Maybe you’re noticing that the phone’s not ringing and the thought of cold calls is making you take a coffee break. Or maybe it’s just the narrow selection of blogs that I read, but it seems that there’s a plethora of recent blog postings on how to network effectively in the real world.

Adrian Miller, author of The Blatant Truth, is offering a quick primer on improving your networking skills. His key point, “You need to know how to effectively communicate with others, build strong relationships, and make the most out of online and in-person networking opportunities. No, it’s not easy, and it’s certainly time consuming, too. But, the benefits of successful networking can be instrumental in growing your business.” Of his tips, the ones I find people forget about most are “Be Appreciative” and “Follow-up and Follow Through”

Then Erica Stritch of RainToday.com just posted a guide, “Face-To-Face Networking for Professional Services: A Primer for Relationship Building.” You can read an excerpt of it although you need to pay for the full download.

And one of my favorite recent titles is a book from Susan RoAne entitled, “FACE TO FACE: How to Reclaim the Personal Touch in a Digital World” Amazing that people might have forgotten the personal touch when online is so prevalent and easy.

Bottom Line – Successful Networking requires WORK and requires both an ON-LINE and IN-PERSON presence. Do all 3 successfully and you’ll be successful. Drop one and you won’t.

I was asked recently about the color scheme for Inquisix.  All the other web 2.0 sites have white backgrounds with blue and green borders and text.  But Inquisix is brown and orange.  Are we trying to relive the ’70s?

Inquisix is exclusive, it’s member-invite-only, it’s a place to keep your contacts secure but still give and get referrals.  It’s a place to do business, much like the private club your father was a member of.  Leather chairs, wood paneled walls, fireplace in the corner and pictures of famous dead guys all around.  Members quietly conversing over lunch and a martini.  Our website colors are meant to invoke that environment.

Inquisix provides a secure environment for members to give and get referrals with reputable peers.  Inquisix members give referrals to increase their reputation with their customers.  Not sell referrals.  Not to do the member asking a favor.  Rather, members give referrals because they know their reputation as a trusted advisor increases every time they help their customer.  Members get referrals to increase their business because their reputation in the system says that they’re worthy.  Inquisix reputation is earned from your referral rating.  The more and better referrals you give, the better your reputation.  The better your  reputation, the more likely another member will want to give you a referral to their customer.  It’s why you are invited to belong to the club.

At Inquisix you can

• Ask for a referral from another member
• Give a referral when someone asks you
• Get a referral from a member who wants to introduce their contact to you
• Pro-actively give a referral

At Inquisix, we promise you

• No one can see your contacts or your relationship to those contacts without your explicit permission
• Giving one of your contacts as a referral does not let that member see the rest of your contacts
• Reputation is earned by real feedback from referrals

Do you know what we do now?  Think you should join us?  Ask a member for an invite!