June 24, 2016 by

Make Certain You Eat Your Fruit Everyday!

Fruity Pebbles - Eating Fruit?A person who is a casual acquaintance, named Roger, attended a unique networking event hosted by me in New York City. He was my guest along with three other people. During the closing fifteen minutes we break away from the conference table and mingle with each other in true networking style.

Roger came up to me to thank me for the invitation and to say what an excellent group of people to meet. Unfortunately, he said, I am already committed to a networking group for this year. My questions were then about this other networking group. He said, well actually, I have been a member of it for over ten years and it does nothing for me. In fact, I stopped giving referrals to anyone three or four years ago because no one ever gives me any, that work out, you know, turn into business.

I asked him “Why do you continue to go and continue to be a member of this group?” Well, Roger stated, as if the answer was so obvious why would anyone ask? “Some of the people are now my friends, the day and time work and fit into my schedule so why not? After all, everyone knows me now? The fee is only a few hundred bucks a year.”

Let me stop this story for a moment to be picked up again soon.

A few days ago in reference to something completely different, my wife, Dr. Patty Ann, made this statement – “Why it is just like someone eating Fruity Pebbles Cereal in the morning and saying – well of course – I had my fruit today!” Dr. Patty Ann Tublin

Now this was an amazing statement for what we were discussing. Even better was that this quote was going to be utilized in an article written by me somewhere really soon.

Who knew it would happen this quickly! Thanks DPA!

Back to Roger and his networking group. I said “Roger, look it is great you have attended our meeting today. Thank you for coming here. If you would like to speak with me for an introductory, no cost, call for twenty minutes, we can continue this conversation. Right now there are other guests who must be greeted by me. One quick question though, is anyone in your current networking group someone you conduct any business with or in fact have you ever conducted business with anyone from your group?” Well, Roger said, “that is a long story, may I have another one of your business cards?”

The short answer is no – no one – ever.

Now Roger is on my calendar for his introductory, no cost, call for twenty minutes. Do you see how he thinks he is networking – yet – he is not networking at all!

Kind of like eating fruity pebbles for breakfast and thinking you had all of your fruit for the day!

Are you networking or is your networking not working? Contact Mitch here for your Introductory, no cost, call for twenty minutes today.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced, certified executive coach, business consultant and professional speaker based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Networking, Networking Tagged With: , , , , ,
March 31, 2016 by

What Type of Networker Are You?

What Type of Networker Are YouSeriously, what type of networker are you?

Recently this is the conversation between these three young professional guys going into the same networking event as me:

“Dude I brought over a hundred of my cards and I plan on getting more than that many before I leave here today!”

“Man, I am going to sell all the way through this event. I am going in here to close some business.”

“Do you think there are any cute chicks going to be here?”

At least one of the three had a potentially winning mindset!

Do you think you are going to a networking event to collect new business cards? You don’t really think you are going to meet someone at a networking event and you are going to close business deals with them right there, that day, at the networking event?

Let’s set the table for the proper meal. If you believe the saying people do business with those people who they know like and trust – Networking is the first step on the know, like and trust staircase!

Here are three key items for you to be a great networker

First is your own mindset.

Be in the frame of mind, thinking – “how may I add value to others, here today, for each person I meet, how may I add value to them.”

This one small habit of thought before each networking event you plan to attend will do wonders for you and how you present yourself to others.

Second is know your talking points about yourself so you may speak them clearly and in a one or two minute maximum statement. It is possible you might have a few of these ready to go depending upon the group you run into at the networking event.

Third is you should be prepared to ask questions and then listen, then ask more questions and listen some more. Show genuine interest and ask questions of the people you meet. Too often people will say their two to three minutes and then the next person is barely able to hold back and they begin to blurt out their own ten minute story of their life!

Is there more to becoming a great networker? Of course there is! Would you be interested in joining a call about better and more effective networking skills CLICK HERE.

Meanwhile add these three key steps into your networking preparation habits to become a better networker.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced, certified coach, business consultant and speaker who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Networking, Networking Tagged With: , , , ,
March 18, 2016 by

3 Important Tips When You Attend Events

Tips for Attending Live EventsDo you attend events? When travel, hotel and food are added into the cost of the event, the event cost itself, plus the time involved attending the event, it becomes a serious investment.

Prior to the event do you have a plan and a strategy formulated in order to make the most of your investment? Even if the event is local and you do not have to travel you are investing your time. This is an investment as well and you should have a plan and a strategy to make the most of it.

Here are three tips you should utilize to make the most of your event attending experience.

First tip is you should review the schedule carefully.

Are there breakout sessions where you have the ability to select which one to participate in? Review these prior to attending the event and make your selection during each breakout of choice A and choice B for each breakout period. The reason is because if one of the sessions is canceled you already know where you intend to go, or if one of the sessions fills up you will already know where to go instead. Research the presenter and understand more about them and their background. This will enable you to judge the potential value to you of their session.

Second tip is you should see if there is a list of attendees posted or if there is a social media page for the event.

This will enable you to determine which people you definitely want to connect with in person at the event. Have this list available in order to ask others at the event if they saw them, know them or met them. Treat this as a game if you want to and don’t stress over it. However, make it your business to connect with the people you need to connect with!

Third tip is on the way back home from attending an event have a plan for what you will put into use – put into action and when.

Follow up with the people you met at the event within the first three to five days of the event with an action step to met in person if they are local or arrange a phone call.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified coach, business consultant and speaker based in Stamford, CT.

Are you looking for a speaker for your company, organization or non-profit? Contact me here!

 

 

Filed Under: Business Networking, Business Strategy, Networking Tagged With: , , , , ,
October 8, 2015 by

Are You A Negative Person or A Positive Person?

water-half-fullAre you a negative person or a positive person most of the time? Each of us falls into a category in terms of our outlook on life. More specifically on our outlook each and everyday and in the moments and interactions we have throughout our day.

There are many people who feel they are great ‘networkers’ – you fully understand that everything is in the follow up. It was during one of those follow up meetings, derived from networking and scheduling a follow up one-on-one meeting that my meeting with Phil (pseudonym) took place. Well Phil had nothing good to say about anyone or in fact about anything. A number of times while trying to change the subject or to bring to light a more positive spin, Phil ignored my attempts and would just launch into his next topic of choice to slam into!

Toward the end of our meeting the question had to be asked: “Phil, don’t you find it difficult to engage with clients and sell to clients when you are so negative about everything in life, including your work and your clients?” Here is how Phil responded; “Oh, Mitch it is just you and I here, no one else. Of course I would never speak this way in front of a client!” Consider the purpose of our meeting and the fact that Phil clearly asked me to make a few specific referrals to him. What is missing here? Write your thoughts in the comments area.

Don’t we all know someone like Phil? We cannot change them. What we can do is to intentionally distance ourselves from people who have a negative attitude.

Here are a few facts about people who tend to be positive most of the time:

According to The Mayo Clinic, positive thinking results in longer life, elevated moods, lowered stress, a boosted immune system, a stronger sense of well-being and better coping skills during times of higher than usual stress. Because of the connection between the body and mind, the psychological benefits of positive thinking tend to reinforce its physical benefits. Why hang around with negative people who would like nothing better than to have you join them and participate in their personal pity party?

What if you find yourself feeling negative more often than positive in your own attitude?

The first thing to recognize once you have determined to address this issue is that this will take perseverance as this is a behavior change. You will not be able to ‘snap your fingers’ and Presto Chango you will now always have a positive attitude. This will be a continual lifelong process. Is it worth the effort some might say? Absolutely worth the effort! A study by The Stanford Research Institute reported a full 87.5% of someone’s success can be traced to their positive attitudes. The remaining 12.5% reflects contributors to their success from aptitude, knowledge or skills.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified coach, trainer and speaker based in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Networking, Mindset Tagged With: , , , ,
February 20, 2015 by

Are You Becoming A Cave Dweller?

Tcave-in-rockshe cave dweller syndrome may be impacting your ability to connect, communicate and socialize. A CEO may have cave dweller syndrome. This is when the CEO has the hidden corner office and rarely comes out to interact with fellow employees. A large publicly traded company CEO may have access to a limo, a protection team and a private jet. Not much interaction going on here with the “regular folks”.

The CEO might answer, “Do you know how many meetings I attend?” … “Okay and how many people there challenge you or in reality bobble head yes to everything you say. This is not interacting. It is closer to dictating.”

A founder of a start up may spend hours or even days locked up working on the idea, the concept, the rollout and easily loses track of time. Often the human interaction in person with other people may fall by the wayside. As cave dweller syndrome sets in there is limited feedback or interaction from the outside world.

The entrepreneur busy running their own business may have cave dweller syndrome. They may find themselves squirreled away for hours on end working on their business and not interacting, not networking, not socializing with other people other than their family and often not doing this too well (a topic to discuss in another article).

Recently in speaking with one of the under thirty generation about daily habits, work and productivity, the topic of staying in touch with the news and current events came up.

Basically the entire idea of staying in touch with what is going on in the world and current news is considered ‘clutter’ of the mind. If a topic of interest happens to come over on twitter or on facebook and the item appears to be of interest, well then it is looked up online. Maybe one or a few newsfeeds are subscribed to or not.

What do you think about this behavior? Would you consider this to be higher productivity and a clear mind to get work done more effectively or another cave dweller syndrome participant?

Here are a few suggestions which will not greatly interrupt the established routine and may actually pull someone out of the cave dweller syndrome.

First – join a round table or a mastermind group. The CEO might participate in an Executive Mastermind Group. Confidentiality is primary and best practices and advice are openly shared. Similar to groups run by me.

Second – work with an Executive Coach, trusted advisor, a person from the outside who is there for you and only for you. Study after study reflect the great performance improvement and impact of working with an Executive Coach. The ICF certification held by me is attained by less than 5% of coaches.

Third – network like your life depends upon it. NSN – Never Stop Networking. Start by approaching this by thinking – “how may I add value to others?”

Want some guidance on networking listen to my networking audio – click here to download my Ninja Networking Secrets audio and be sure to follow me on Facebook.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach, a business consultant and professional speaker who resides in Stamford, CT.

 

Filed Under: Business Networking, Business Strategy, Coach Mentor Tagged With: , , , , ,
November 14, 2014 by

Your Time Spent Networking Is Valuable

time-spent-networkingTime is one of our most valuable and not replaceable aspects of our lives. You either utilize your time constructively and with purpose or you do not. In either case once the time is passed it is gone. When you attend a networking event how do you judge if your time spent attending the networking event was a successful use of your time? 

Let’s take a look at three people who spoke with me after a networking event we all attended. The event was an intentionally intimate, small gathering with 24 attendees. The meeting was for 90 minutes.  Plenty of time to have a meeting agenda and network effectively with a group this size.

The first person we will review is Peter. He is in his mid-twenties and he works for a large wealth management firm in the area. Peter basically said the networking meeting was the worst one he ever attended. He was immediately thrown off guard when everyone was asked to turn off their smart phones. He did not understand why the phones could not be silenced or placed on vibrate. Why did they have to be turned off? The next item which upset him was the obvious age difference. He was certain he was the youngest person in the room by a good fifteen years or more. Peter felt he had nothing to talk about with anyone.

The next person we will review is Lisa. Lisa is in her early forties and she works in Commercial Real Estate leasing and rentals.  She found the group to be the perfect target clients for her business so she started to pitch every single person she met with her portfolio of available office space. Lisa asked each person she met almost immediately where their office was located, how many square feet they had, what they were paying, and when their lease was up. At the end of the meeting Lisa told me she was very annoyed. This was her target client group and not one person agreed to set up an appointment to look at alternative office space with her.

The final person we will review is Barbara. Barbara is in her mid fifties. She is an attorney with a specialty in estates and trusts and works in her own practice. Barbara says she is a student of networking. At the conclusion of the event she was beaming. Four people had already set up appointments with her to meet one on one in order to discuss how they might be able to help each other. Four other people agreed to either email or call each other in order to set up an appointment to meet one on one. Barbara was ecstatic with her results! One third of the room were already going to meet with her and walking into the room she only knew one person in advance.

In summary, what do we learn from these real life reviews after a networking event?

First is to have an open mind and be yourself. Recognize that you are there to connect with people and not to utilize your smart phone and ignore the people right there next to you or across the table from you.

Second is the objective of networking is to create relationships. It is not to pitch and sell directly to the people you are first meeting. It is a turn off.

Third is to have conversations with as many people as possible and have as an objective to make appointments to meet one on one to connect with each other at another time. This will permit the relationship to build and to offer to understand how to help each other in their businesses.

Mitch Tublin is an advanced certified executive and personal coach who resides in Stamford, CT.

Filed Under: Business Networking, Networking, Relationships Tagged With: , , , ,
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