- Maximize Your Tradeshow Value
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written on January 20, 2012
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Many COSE members use business expos and trade shows to market their products and services and network with prospects, clients and colleagues. If that strategy works for your business, here are four Best Practices to help you maximize your trade show experience, ROI and value.
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- Now that’s a dumb question
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written on December 13, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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You know that old adage, ‘There’s no such thing as a dumb question’? Sorry to spoil your fantasy, but that’s wrong. There are plenty of dumb questions. And my all-time favorite dumb question in a networking context is ‘Do you have a business card?”
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- How is Your Elevator Speech
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written on November 28, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Regular readers know I write … and rant … a lot about Elevator Speeches, the simple answer to the often-asked question ‘What do you do?’ Sometimes maligned and often done poorly, Elevator Speeches are still a fact of life when you network.
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- Elevator Speeches Revisited
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written on October 27, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Here’s the best elevator speech I’ve ever heard, from a good friend who is a financial planner. When someone asks him what he does, he simply says “I help take people from fear and frustration to financial freedom.’ Short, pithy, generates questions and is memorable.
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- Making the Varsity Networking Team
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written on October 14, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Interact enough with members of the Varsity Networking Team and you’ll quickly realize how they got there. Here’s what we can learn from them:
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- Where do you network?
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written on September 30, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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'Where are some good places to network?’ As MindSpring Networking Strategies Expert, I get that question a lot. It’s very difficult to answer, especially briefly. The long answer involves a lot of work asking several other questions first.
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- Some LinkedIn Rants
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written on July 22, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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As part of my Social Media strategy that I learned from COSE, I now belong to a dozen business-related LinkedIn groups and regularly engage in their discussion threads. It’s a great way to learn new things, share ideas and regularly stay connected with your LinkedIn network through the weekly activity updates.
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- Networking With Timely Follow-up
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written on July 06, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Let's assume you've just returned from networking at a COSE event. You met some people that could potentially help you accomplish your networking objectives and have several business cards. Good for you. Now what do you do?
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- Networking With a Focused Script
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written on June 28, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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The goal of your first brief interaction with a stranger is to begin to answer the question "Is this person someone I want to get to know better; someone who can help me ... OR someone I can help?" To do that, you need information.
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- Networking Best Practices
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written on May 25, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Whenever two or more COSE members are in the same space, they typically network. No surprise there. Here are some Networking Best Practices they feel differentiate the networking pros from the networking amateurs.
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- Networking With Business Card Finesse
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written on May 10, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Only one letter separates “networking” from “not working”! Now, many COSE members realize the mission-critical value of effective networking. Properly done, it can create mutually beneficial business relationships that help you do your jobs better, find better jobs and grow your businesses.
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- Taking the Pain out of Sales Pitches
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written on March 25, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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How many of you experience pain when you pitch business face-to-face, over the phone, in writing or in presentations? How many of you cause some pain for your prospects or customers as a result of those pitches? Looks like lots of hands going up for both questions. Good.
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- The Bigger the Better
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written on February 03, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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It’s not about the size of your network -- it’s about the relationships you build. I’ve been networking for a long time, and over the years, I’ve made many contacts who fell off the map and many who I still carefully nurture as valued business and client acquaintances.
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- What Do You Do AFTER Your Elevator Speech
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written on February 02, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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As COSE members and wannabe Power Networkers, many of us polish our finely crafted Elevator Speeches or 30-second commercials and deliver them with passion and purpose every chance we get. Great. So let’s assume you’ve just done that at a COSE networking event … now what do you do?
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- Referrals- by Kelcey Lehrich
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written on January 11, 2011
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Every sales representative, entrepreneur and business professional should have multiple sources of new clients, but almost every one of these individuals will tell you that the best source of new business comes from qualified referrals.
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- 59 Commandments of Business Networking
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written on December 28, 2010
by Diane Helbig
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Networking Strategies
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With all of the conversations these days about business networking I wrote a guide for Small Business Trends
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- You Can't Close A Relationship by Kelcey Lehrich
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written on October 29, 2010
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Frank Agin, founder and president of AmSpirit Business Connections once told me that “You can’t close a relationship”. This is sage wisdom and especially applicable to networking.
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- Networking Strategy-Sitting Next To X
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written on October 18, 2010
by Diane Helbig
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Networking Strategies
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Consider the idea that when you own a business or are in sales, you are always on. Wherever you go, you are representing your company. Now consider that unless you attend an event with two people, and sit in between them, you don’t really know who you are sitting next to
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- Maximizing Trade Show Value
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written on August 23, 2010
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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Many COSE entrepreneurs use business expos and trade shows to market their products and services and network with prospects, clients and colleagues. If that strategy works for your business, here are some Best Practices to help you maximize your trade show experience, ROI and value.
more...
- It is Not a Free Pass
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written on August 19, 2010
by Diane Helbig
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Networking Strategies
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Networking is an interesting activity. There are so many people who do it well and reap the benefits. And then there are the people who don’t understand it and hurt their businesses – many times without even realizing it.
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- Networking Defined
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written on July 28, 2010
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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What is networking? The Merriam-Webster dictionary defines “networking” as: ‘the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups, or institutions; specifically: the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business’.
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- Relationships Built Through Networking
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written on July 23, 2010
by Diane Helbig
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Networking Strategies
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Networking is an interesting activity. There are so many people who do it well and reap the benefits. And then there are the people who don’t understand it and hurt their businesses – many times without even realizing it.
more...
- The Networking Hat Trick
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written on July 13, 2010
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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In sports such as soccer, hockey, and lacrosse, a player achieves a “hat trick” when he or she scores three times in a single match. Hat tricks do not happen often in these sports, but each of us as business professionals has the opportunity to achieve a hat trick in the game of professional networking.
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- Get Me Out of a Networking Jam
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written on June 28, 2010
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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“I finish one conversation. Afterward, there is an awkward time when I have no one to talk to and everyone sees me with no one to talk to. It seems to extend this awkward period. What do I do?”
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- Networking with Uncommon Courtesy
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written on June 22, 2010
by Phil Stella
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Networking Strategies
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I used to refer to this concept as networking with "common courtesy". But, just like "common sense", these practices are anything but commonplace in the business world today.
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