Tag Archives: business

3 Tips to Get Better Referrals

Referrals are the holy grail of the business community. Every business wants them, every business person is out networking in hopes of getting referred prospects for their business. Referrals come in different shades, just like the color red. The higher you can move the quality of the referral the less time you will need to [...]

How do you get connected to the decision maker of a company?

I did a presentation today for the Indianapolis Chamber of Commerce, Business Growth Series.   I was asked the following question, How do you get connected to the decision maker of a company? A good question and one that many people ask. The answer is simple, but it is not easy. Here is the answer [...]

Tell Your Story….People Want to Know

A few weeks ago I walked into a little shop downtown called Arts a Poppin. It was one of those places that sell all kinds of locally created art work.   As is always the case in shops like this, there were all kinds of unique items to catch my attention and beckon for me [...]

Networking Starts with the Handshake

I am writing a book with two friends, Frank DeRaffele Jr and Dr. Ivan Misner,  based on a 12,000 person survey. Many people left comments about networking, things they liked, were challenged by, or just wanted us to know. One of the most frequent comments that we have received is on the “Handshake”. These comments [...]

What is Your Networking Plan?

One of the first things I work with my clients on is the proper use of “Networking”, as well as the best ways to use their time and energy when they are networking. Over the last 15 years, I have watched people spend many hours networking. As a matter of fact I was one of [...]

Do Girls Do It Better Than Guys?

Men are from Mars and Women are from Venus but networking is networking right? Last week I was talking to a BNI member, a young lady, about why it was important that a BNI Chapter have women in it. I told her that women were good at building strong relationships within their network. Her retort [...]

Completing a Marathon or Building a Network It’s Simple but Not Easy

Every year for the last 5 years I have set a goal to walk the Indianapolis Mini Marathon. Every year that goal went unmet. This year, it is no longer an unaccomplished goal. Saturday May 8th I walked the 13.1 miles in the largest mini marathon, with 37,000 other people. What made this year different [...]

What’s on your name tag?

Welcome Guest Blogger – Tiffany Kellog, she is a friend, fellow Referral Institute Instructor and fellow Blogger. Have you ever been at a networking event, and you were scoping out nametags, and you saw a name tag that had both a name and an industry. You think to yourself, I know what _______ does… for [...]

Digging Your Network Well Deeper – 5 Strategies

Digging your well deep is important if you are going to get the best water, or even the precious oil that resides there. Have you ever seen a well that is only 3 feet deep and 6 feet wide?  Yes, they call them retention ponds and even they are deeper than 3 feet.  They serve [...]

You Took a Class – So What

How many times have you taken a class, you leave with every good intention to implement what you have learned. But you complete the class, go back to work, start doing the day to day activities and soon that class is long gone. You forget 80% of everything you learned and have little time to [...]