Research shows that the main reason behind many employees quitting is because of the unhealthy relation that they share with their bosses. It is also said that people do not quit jobs, rather they quit their bosses. Sometimes the responsibilities bogging the managers down may make them forget that the people working under them are humans too. So, if you need to work in tandem, you have to get your relation with your boss straight. Still wondering how? Read on.

The kind of roles that the bosses play today is completely different from the kinds that they played in the days of yore. Responsibilities as well as priorities have undergone a sea-change. If you feel that your boss is a monster who refuses to listen to you and is hell-bent on making your life as difficult as it comes, you are not alone. Everyday, thousands of employees seek the services of counselors both inside the office as well as outside it. The most frequent complaints are extremely high stress levels due to bad relationships with bosses. People spend considerable amount of time in their offices. In fact, the better half of the day is spent there. If you do not share a rapport with your seniors and colleagues, you are making life difficult for everyone. Is there a way out of the catch-22 situation? Can you be productive yet share a healthy bonding with your senior? The answer, fortunately, is yes! All we need to do is follow some easy steps and keep in mind that when one thing goes out of hand, another is waiting for your approval. It does not mean that you indulge in job-hopping. It just means that with a little effort, things could be made better and peace can prevail. Managing your boss well so that he can manage you better is what is needed.

The following 7 tips will help you to manage your boss better:

1. Never gossip with anybody about your boss.

Although gossiping about how cruel your boss is to your co-workers might seem to be best way to vent your frustration, trust me, it is not. Gossip has a tendency to leak. It gives away a very negative impression. Your boss will surely lose faith in you forever in case he gets to hear about this. You may end up jeopardising your future prospects in the company if you get labeled as a motor-mouth.

2. Talk to him straight.

Rather than grumbling how much pressure you have on your shoulders, it is best to talk to him straight. Tell him what kind of work you would prefer. It might seem like a futile idea to begin with but this is the stepping stone to a mature and understanding relationship with your boss. Learn to respect the fact that your boss will never come to know what you want until you make it a point to tell him directly. However, do not be disheartened if the strategy does not work out from the beginning. Be patient.

3. Remain committed to your boss.

No matter how irritating a piece of work might seem, if you follow through as you are supposed to, you will win your boss's vote for sure. Remaining nonchalant and shrugging work are surefire signs of getting into your boss's mental "non-working workers" chart. It is in the best interests of every body if people start co-operating and working towards the company's goals rather than harboring petty rivalries.

3. Provide solutions and not problems.

Instead of constantly hounding your boss with umpteen problems, try providing solutions sometimes. This will help bolster faith in you. No one likes to be served with a platter of problems everyday. A work well done is definitely your credit so try and solve as much as you possibly can on your very own.

4. Be attentive.

Remember that your boss has more experience and does actually know more than you do. Learn to listen to his advice and act out accordingly. Never start office with a notion that the boss's job is to make your life hell. He is just doing his job by being harsh on you. Meeting the company's goals is his responsibility and not doing so lends him a bad name. Respect him as well as his advice.

5. Find out what your boss prefers.

While some may like written reports, some may favor to talk it out straight. Find out what he likes and value his preferences. Contrary to popular belief, constantly rubbing him the wrong way is not how you should go about it. Every work place has a culture that must be respected and adhered to. Presenting reports in a manner he prefers helps you in the long run.

7. Remember that your boss is human.

A job at the top end of the spectrum is lonely and wrought with responsibilities. Forgive your boss for being cranky at times. He too, after all, is human.

Everyone has four basic psychological needs. These are the need to be valued, to be in control, the need for self esteem or self worth, and lastly the need for consistency or stability.

1. The need to be valued or appreciated by others is a basic psychological requirement

You want others to recognize your worth and appreciate your contributions. You are more motivated when your contributions are recognized. When you feel unappreciated, taken advantage of, or taken for granted your need to be appreciated and valued has been violated and this can trigger a response of fear, anger or frequently both.

2. The need to be in control

Being in control is important for everyone, but more for some than others. The more insecure you feel about yourself, the more controlling you may become. On the other hand, if you feel secure and confident about yourself, then your need to control others will reduce.

Whenever you have to deal with an over controlling person remember their need to control comes from their insecurity. Make them feel secure and their need to control will normally reduce.

3. The need for self esteem and self worth

By this I mean you should appreciate yourself and look to your strengths rather than any weakness (we all have both). A strong self esteem gives you a powerful, solid base for dealing with all types of problems and situations.

With a strong self esteem, you have the ability to positively respond or react to any type of situation, rather than reacting negatively by panicking of avoiding the potential conflict.

4. The need to be consistent

You need to know what is likely to happen in any given situation. You need consistency from family, partners, friends, everyone in your life otherwise you are always anxious about the unexpected.

This is not to say that no-one can change their minds but someone who changes opinions or reacts differently to the same situation brings a level of insecurity in to your life and you never know how to react.

The reason some people feel the need to change comes from their insecurity. They are insecure in themselves so they try to fit in with others all the time and will agree with whoever they feel is the most dominant personality.

Whenever any of these needs are not met conflicts, internal, external or both, are produced and people usually react in one of four ways.

They can retaliate, dominate, isolate, or cooperate.

Retaliation and domination can result in extreme violence. Isolation separates the parties but does not resolve the conflict whereas with cooperation one party allows their feelings to be ignored and accepts the opinion of another over their own.

If you are aware of these basic needs and reactions you will begin to understand how and why you and others react the way you do. Considering these needs, understanding them and acting upon them will make you a more complete and therefore a more confident person and will give you strength at times of conflict.

Most people understand what a business process is but when you combine it with re-engineering, it suddenly sounds vague.

The ProSci-sponsored BPR Online Learning Center calls a business process a set of activities that transform a set of inputs into a set of outputs (goods or services) for another person or process using people and tools.

It is simple. The way we interpret that is:

Thats elementary enough, but why do business processes have to be re-engineered?

Its All About the Customer (and Competition)

The philosophy behind business process re-engineering is to please the customer. By delighting him, we get to keep him, turning him into a loyal disciple.

Rivals have a sneaky way of snatching customers away from us. Its not because this world is full of sly and evil people, its because we tend to sit on our bottoms and think that weve finally got it made. Weve become lax.

Business process improvement, according to ProSci, is not be confused with business process re-engineering. Instead of improving on current processes, the re-engineering concept says that because the technique is no longer viable, it has to be replaced, abandoned. Theres a need to establish a clean slate, as the BPR Online Learning Center teaches us.

Business process re-engineering, just like the DMAIC in Six Sigma, presupposes a series of stages: stage 1 involves a definition of the project its rationale, objectives and scope. Stage 2 covers the entire learning process wherein we obtain as much information as we can about our employees, customers, suppliers and competitors including non-competitors and align that new information with technology.

Armed with this knowledge, the next stage stage 3 - is to set up our mission. Others call it a vision of the future. This requires a new set of business processes. Once weve determined the desired outcome of this transition, we move on to the next stage which calls for a plan of action that allows us to measure the gap between our companys present state and where we want it to go.

When we get to this stage, solutions logically follow.

If youre still wondering what distinguishes business process improvement from business process re-engineering, think of the starting point: are you starting from an existing process and want to improve on it, or do you want to start from scratch?

Thanks to Information Technology

Jump to globalization. Were ushering in new technologies and theyre coming faster than we can learn them. Theres also this whole new talk about customer relationship management (CRM) strategies. Were huffing and puffing and bursting at the seams. Businesses that have not adapted to global trends or introduced newer technologies into their operations will be clobbered by the competition. Todays companies cannot afford to sit back and watch while others struggle with changes in the industry.

Thanks to information technology and the creation of new business models, the world of e-commerce has given new meaning to the way we do business.

As Hui-Liang Tsai puts it, e-commerce is no longer a way to gain competitive advantage, it is a competitive imperative. (Information Technology and Business Process Re-engineering: New Perspectives and Strategies, Praeger Publishers, Connecticut, 2003).

While companies are trying to keep up with technologies, customers are also changing. They are more demanding and are never satisfied. They fall out of love, and dont necessarily have to explain why.

Picture the speed with which information is transmitted with just a click of the mouse. It used to be that urgent documents had to be couriered by special messenger or faxed immediately; today, documents are electronically portable. Mr. Tsai says that this phenomenon alone is producing a new crop of workers he calls them knowledge workers. We are looking at the transformation of industrial society into an information society.

Progress in information technology is only one of the many reasons why companies have embraced business process re-engineering. If organizations desperately want to succeed, first they need information truckloads of it. Second, they need to know how to turn that information to their advantage. The practice of business process re-engineering can refine a lot of that information into digestible parts.

They have been springing up all over. They are based on contact management. They are direct in messaging, emailing, and even in the six degrees of separation. They go by many different names and have various methods of finding people. The problem with these sites is that they are not really networking. Do you disagree?

To be effective in networking requires building a relationship with another person. This is difficult to do through messages and email. If you have ever had a discussion with a person through email or instant messaging, I would like to ask if you ever found yourself in a situation where you had to actually pick up the phone to find out what a person was really talking about?

In relationships conversation is extremely important. The communication is key. The thing that we may not really pay attention to is the importance of tonal inflection in the voice and the added benefits of body language in expressing ourselves. These are the things that online networking is lacking.

Since the most important aspect of having a relationship with another person is based in trust, it is difficult to develop trust in someone that you have never seen nor heard. It is even more difficult to get a person to do business with you without some type of face to face contact.

With this in mind, will these web sites last or are they merely a passing craze? Are they popular simply because we are looking for success in any way that it might come to us? Time will tell but I am convinced that they are there to stay. Indeed, I am kind of addict to it actually! Of course, you will close your sale on Linked-in or facebook, but you might initiate a new partnership, relation etc.

It is my advice that if you are looking for new contacts, step away from the desk and out into the community. Online networking is effective for getting business. that doe snot mean it's good for everything. With the years for example, Linkedin had become a group or recruiters/head hunters. If you are looking to be "hunted", you'll find it very useful...

So then what is the future of online networking? You are in control of it. Please take a moment and send me your opinion of online networking. Please be sure to tell me if you have ever gotten any business from it exclusively.

Leads groups are often referred to as closed groups. This means that there can only be one type of a business represented in a group. Lets say that I am a web designer. In a closed group I would be the only web designer represented in the group. Other web designers would be allowed to visit, but if they wanted to join the organization they would have to find a group that did not have a web designer. If there was no opening in an existing group for a web designer, the person would have to go on a waiting list until an opening became available, or a new group was formed.

Most leads groups meet once a week. There are some that only meet once a month. Leads groups offer something that a lot of people need. Structure and discipline. What do I mean by this?

Structure - In a leads group you do not have to be a master net worker. As a matter of fact, you can be a shy person and still have success in a leads group. Most leads groups allow a given amount of time to tell other members about your business. This usually ranges from one to five minutes. In this allotted amount of time you can go into great detail about your business including describing what type of leads you are looking for. The format is usually accomplished by sitting around a large table, and a leader moderates the time and asks questions. The meetings are generally held early in the morning or at lunchtime.

Discipline - In a leads group you are expected to show up for the meetings. Theoretically, if a leads group had only 15 members and several people did not show up, it would be difficult to have a reasonable meeting. To insure against this happening most groups require that you assign a substitute when you can not attend. This substitute should be a person in the same industry as you so that the balance of the group is not affected. In this situation, if you have a tendency to miss a lot of meetings, it would not be good to join a leads group. If you miss a lot of meetings without a sub, you will be ejected from the group.

The upside? In a leads group you will get to know people very well over time and get an idea of their abilities to fulfill the needs of a referral. This is good if you do not have time during the week to meet with people one-on-one in order to get to know them. A dedicated group will provide you with a steady stream of leads that you can utilize to expand your business.

The downside? Well, sometimes the leads become a paramount obligation and people feel pressured to pass them. If they are passing leads that are just names and numbers without a true expressed need, the leads generally lead you nowhere. Another issue is a member of the group whose quality of product or service does not meet the standards that you would want to refer to someone. It is difficult to pass a solid qualified lead to someone who will not provide the kind of service that you would expect them to.

There are also a few groups in existence that are in essence leads groups. They allow freedom to go to any meeting you wish as long as you are a member. The format is the same, seated at a table, and there is usually a time limit. The problem with these groups is that people wander in and out and without a lot of time to talk individually, you still have to set appointments outside of the group to really get to know someone. Without the discipline, the free form leads group usually does not last for a long period of time. Often these groups open and close with great regularity leaving the members to search for another meeting to attend.

In closing, I would like to add that there is no wrong or right group to belong to. Visit groups and you will find the ones that are right for you. It is often beneficial to belong to three types of groups to get the most out of your networking efforts.

Are you feeling a great connection to the meeting? Are you feeling enthusiastic about being in attendance at the meeting? Are you fully present at the meeting? Are you deeply tuned in and listening with your heart and your head? Are you inspired to co-create, participate, and contribute? Or, are you ready to fall asleep, or count the minutes of what you feel is wasted time?

My experience in myalmost two decades of being in businessaround the world is that the system of meetings, clearly, must change. Most meetings dont include participant involvement and actually serve to tune people out rather than tune them in, and as a result, the intention of the meeting falls short of its purpose. In other words, they really can be a waste of precious company time.

The process of Meeting Alignment allowsto use a systematic process that engages people in meetings and creates a desire for them to contribute and fully participate in these business meetings.

The Meeting Alignment Process and the results it creates include:

A desire to co-create: The purpose of a meeting isnt to get across your agenda; it shifts to sharing your thoughts and hearing fully the thoughts and ideas of others to co-create the meeting purpose and actions.

Deep tuning in: Most meetings involve people talking and listening to themselves. The Meeting Alignment Process teaches people to fully listen with their hearts and to listen beyond the words to what is not said, to emotions, and to fully hear others.

The Meeting Alignment Process teaches techniques of being non-judgmental, so that people can fully hear and support each other and let new ideas IN vs. rule out and defend against why things wont work. It produces a safe environment in which people feel encouraged to participate.

Non-attachment: Many people think meetings are about a specific outcome occurring the meeting holders outcome thats a surefire way to alienate people and result in them NOT wanting to support you. The Meeting Alignment Process allows for each person to give up their outcome and allows the meeting and solutions to unfold for the good of the entire group.

Whats wrong: Most meetings focus on problems, fixing problems, or informing people of change. The meeting needs to come from a place of asking what IS working and involve what IS the right type questions. These questions form the basis of creating a positive energy flow and opening up creativity. Its the basic principle of encouraging a sense of positivity rather than negativity.

Framework of questions: Questions in this process focus on what is working, why it works, what would be the perfect ideal vision, and what isnt quite right yet, and then, coming up with resources and inspired actions to create the outcome of the meeting.

Feel good! When people attend a meeting where EVERY idea is praised and contributions rewarded and people thanked and really appreciated for their contributions, this raises self-esteem, confidence, and morale. People want to participate in meetings that make them feel good, not only about the company they work for, but about themselves and their role in it.

This process is effective in all companies and will work with all size groups. It requires a shift in the employer and leaders thinking, from managing and bossing and telling to coaching and co-creating and sharing. The effect is profound. People treated with value and respect, rise up to challenges. They are more excited to solve problems, participate in the mission and vision of the company, and create more productivity. They feel that the companys success is their success. It motivates them to greater achievement.

Companies following a systematic process of creating a Meeting Alignment Process, take morale out of the toilet bowl fast. Their employees are happier, their retention rates rise, and the corporate culture shifts to one of enthusiasm.

A beneficial win-win situation is created and everybody gets to bask in success.

Many companies offer adventure team building activities to serve a wide range of functions. A wide range of activities is usually offered so you can choose the one that will strengthen the values that are core to your business. Some events can last for a few hours, while others might last a few days and can accommodate up to 500 people at a time.

And you wont believe how many activities from which you can choose. Some include: archery, rock climbing, kayaking, raft building, zip wires, mountain biking, sailing, night walks, fishing, horse riding, mountain expeditions, kite building and flying, barbecues, camping, and backwoods skills.

Adventure team building is perfect if your company requires events that will really offer a change of pace to your team, get them out of the office and learning new skills through a variety of different means. Adventure activities can invigorate a group of people and help them bond better than any other experience.

Perhaps better than any other corporate event, adventure team building improves communication problems, strengthens leadership skills, and helps with problem-solving, decision-making and teamwork.

Adventure events are held in a wide variety of locations and venues, so you can choose what works best for your company. Resorts, conference centres and parks are just some of the places where adventure team building can take place. And many organizations can custom-build a corporate adventure for you that is designed to develop the specific skills required by your employees.

Adventure team building is also an excellent way to celebrate a success story and reward your team for a job well done. This will help to continue the success, boost future team performance and increase morale. Whether you choose a helicopter ride or a camping experience in the woods, when everyone in the office feels motivated, energized and excited about work, more success is definitely on the horizon.

The trick to successful time management is setting up goals that work, while having an awareness of those goals and prioritizing your list of goals. When you set up an effective time management plan, you are growing and upholding a personal commitment to yourself, with the ability to be more flexible.

When you have a great time management plan, you are giving yourself an individual chance to, to generate a timetable that works to suit your busy caseload. When you create a good plan, you will soon find time to do all the things that matter most to you in life. In addition, when you have a good time management plan, you are saving your health.

Plans have a schedule timed, which includes all the activities you are responsible to handle. Your Master Timetable should include all the most important activities you are responsible to handle. It is important that you modify this schedule according to your time changes. When you set up a Master Timetable, you will need to list the priorities first, and work your way down to the least important tasks.

It is important that you follow as you write the tasks first listed. In other words, if you state on your Master Timetable that you need to write up some documents for your business, then do this task first and proceed to the next task. Try to avoid handling multitasking at once, unless it is your job and you are sufficient, and have laid out a time management plan.

You will also need to include meals, sleep, family, friends, yourself, and other tasks if you they are a part of your time management. By setting up a Master Timetable, you can work out your time scheme by working through the list on the time chart. Try to avoid skipping a scheduled task, or procrastinating, since this will only delay your plan.

It is important to keep in mind, that time is essential. When we waste time, we are wasting money. After you have laid out a suitable Schedule Timetable, you will soon learn that your motivation has increased, while your progress is moving ahead. In addition, you will soon find that your stress level is at a normal state. When you are not focused, or do not have a time management plan, you are only hurting yourself in the long run.

Most people without a time management plan often suffer with poor health, insomnia, and other discomforting issues. Some people even find themselves in court waiting for the judge to say You are now divorced. So you can see that time management is important since it affects everyone around you, but most of all, it affects you.

A final tip: Exercise and eating right plays an essential role to time management, since when you feel good, you work well under a management plan.

Action is the single most effective antidote to depression, anxiety, stress, fear, worry, guilt, and of course, immobility. It is virtually impossible to be depressed and active at the same time. Even if you wanted to, it is difficult to keep on moping, complaining, lolling around and wallowing in self-pity if you get active and do something. Anything! Just doing is such an important part of being a fully functioning person.

In fact, that lack of action is not a result of depression; it is the cause. Don't be paralyzed by the fear of making a mistake. Taking action, gives you momentum. Initiating the effort attracts opportunities and synergistic things happen.

Inactivity, on one hand, is most often a choice rather than an inescapable fact of life, while action is a definite way to avoid being victimized by yourself or others. If you decide to do something about your problem or challenge, rather than grumble about it, you'll be on the road to changing things around for yourself. When you take action, you also take control. Thinking keeps you a prisoner of the past. Action puts you in control of the future.

If you find yourself asking, "Yes, but what can I do" the answer is very, very simple. Anything is a lot more effective than nothing.

This old proverb has a lot of truth in it: Even when you are on the right track, you'll get run over if you just sit there.

This is quite a bit out the context for my blog, but it becomes so big, I need to contribute in getting rid of this.

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C'est un peu hors contexte de mon blog mais voici comment radiquer ce virus msn.

Recevez-vous ce email?

Do you receive that email?

I'm sure that you always want to provide exceptional service to both your internal and external customers. However, in the real world, things go wrong and mistakes are made. These "customers" will often judge your level of service based on how you respond to a mistake. Do it well and they'll probably forgive you and possibly even say positive things about your business or your abilities to other people.

The important thing to realise when dealing with an upset customer, be they internal or external, is that you must -deal with their feelings, then deal with their problem. Upset customers are liable to have strong feelings when you, your product or service lets them down and they'll probably want to "dump" these feeling on you.

You don't deal with their feelings by concentrating on solving the problem, it takes more. Here are 5 action ideas that deal with the customers' human needs:

1 - Don't let them get to you - Stay out of it emotionally and concentrate on listening non-defensively and actively. Customers may make disparaging and emotional remarks - don't rise to the bait.

2 - Listen - listen - listen - Look and sound like your listening. The customer wants to know that you care and that you're interested in their problem.

3 - Stop saying sorry - Sorry is an overused word, everyone says it when something goes wrong and it's lost its value. How often have you heard - "Sorry 'bout that, give me the details and I'll sort this out for you". Far better to say "I apologise for ......" And if you really need to use the sorry word, make sure to include it as part of a full sentence. "I'm sorry you haven't received that information as promised Mr Smith". (It's also good practise to use the customers name in a difficult situation).

4 - Empathise - Using empathy is an effective way to deal with the customers feelings. Empathy isn't about agreement, only acceptance of what the customer is saying and feeling. Basically the message is - "I understand how you feel". Obviously this has to be a genuine response, the customer will realise if you're insincere and they'll feel patronised. Examples of empathy responses would be - "I can understand that you're angry", or "I see what you mean". Again, these responses need to be genuine.

5 - Build rapport - Sometimes it's useful to add another phrase to the empathy response, including yourself in the picture. - "I can understand how you feel, I don't like it either when I'm kept waiting". This has the effect of getting on the customer's side and builds rapport. Some customer service people get concerned with this response as they believe it'll lead to - "Why don't you do something about it then". The majority of people won't respond this way if they realise that you're a reasonable and caring person. If they do, then continue empathising and tell the customer what you'll do about the situation. "I'll report this to my manager" or "I'll do my best to ensure it doesn't happen in the future".

Make no mistake about it; customers, be they internal or external, are primarily driven by their emotions. It's therefore important to use human responses in any interaction particularly when a customer is upset or angry. If customers like you and feel that you care, then they're more likely to accept what you say and forgive your mistakes.

Blogging for business owners has a lot in common with all other types of blogging, but it has its own unique pitfalls and strengths. The key to having a successful blog as a business owner is keeping your goals clear and concrete at every step of your blogging adventure. It can be all to easy to get sidetracked, especially if you are just learning about the exciting possibilities of blogging technology, but if you want your blog to succeed you need to stay focused. Write up a plan for how often you will update, how you will promote your blog and retain readers, whether you will feature photographs or video, and other aspects of your blog,
and then stick to it with the same kind of determination that you used when you built your company.

Think of networking as the cultivation of mutually beneficial, win-win relationships. In order to be win-win, there must be GIVE and take (notice the emphasis on give). Networking shouldnt be viewed as events where you go to sell your business. When effective networking is taking place, the parties involved actively share ideas, information, resources, etc.

Ok, so you know that you should be networking because it is one of the most cost-effective lead generation activities when used wisely, appropriately and professionally. But, maybe that seems easier said than done. Heres a seven step plan to really get going with networking for your business.

1. Check out several groups to find the best chemistry and perceived value. Most groups will allow you to come and visit at least a couple of times before you have to join. Go and ask around to find out why others have joined and what value they get out of belonging.

Resist the urge to just go join the Chamber of Commerce simply because everyone tells you thats what you need to do. If thats not where your target group can be found, then you might just be wasting a considerable amount of time (and money).

Im not telling you not to join the Chamber. Just be clear about what youd like to get out of this or any other group. If its to find prospective clients or referral sources, then you need to be networking where those resources can be found.

2. When you find a group or two, join and go to all the meetings you can. Dont go just once or twice expecting things to happen and then if they dont quit. Building mutually beneficial, win-win relationships will take some time.

The contacts you make need to constantly see your face and hear your message. Continual contact with others over time will open up opportunities for you to go deeper and learn more about each others thoughts, ideas and capabilities in regards to your respective businesses.

Know, like, and trust generally only happens over time. Being regular and persistent will pay off.

3. Get involved - be visible. Do as much as you can to make yourself more visible within the organization. Volunteer to help with meetings, be on committees, or become a leader or board member.

Being involved does a couple of things for you and your business. First, youll get more opportunities to establish connections and get to know some of the contacts youve made even better. Secondly, the higher the visibility you have in the group, the less youll have to work to make new connections. Instead, as new people come into the group, they will likely seek you out because they view you as a leader within the organization.

4. Keep your circles of contacts informed. Dont just assume that running in to someone once a month (or even once a week) will cause them to start doing business with you or sending it your way. You need to let them know whats going on when youre not at that particular group in order to inform and educate them.

Send them invitations to your events or open houses. Send them email or letters to share big news or success stories, especially anything of relevance to them or those in their networks of contacts. If you believe that you have valuable ideas, information and resources to share with others, then doesnt this just make sense?

5. Work at GIVING referrals and sharing valuable information. Thats right, you need to be willing to GIVE before you get. That means you need to get to know other members and what makes a good prospect for them. What kinds of information might you have access to that could be useful to them?

You may initially think you dont have much of value to share with others (besides your business and what you provide). Part of the key to getting good at giving is to not make assumptions. For example, dont assume that some basic resource (e.g., a web site) that youre aware of is familiar to someone you might be talking to just because they are the expert in that field. Be willing to ask if they know about the resource and ready to share if they dont.

Want to get better at actually giving referrals? Heres a simple question to ask someone youre connecting with. How am I going to know when I meet a really good prospect for you?

Just the fact that you are willing to explore giving will elevate your know, like and trust factor.

6. Focus on Quality, not Quantity, Quantity, Quantity. Its not necessarily about the number of connections you make, but about the quality of the ones you do make. Are they mutually beneficial, win-win relationships? there are exception of course. I do not apply this concept on my network with Linkedin and Facebook. I should write another article only about these... I had a lot of great opportunity raised by Linkedin with people outside of the "Quality Circle" of my network.

Quality connections will be identifiable because all involved parties will be actively sharing ideas, information, and resources. Yes, it is true that you need to spend some time and effort getting to know the other person(s) and whats important to them. But, you also need to be clear and actively thinking about what information or resources you want and need.

Staying in touch with and following up with a smaller number of quality relationships will generally be much more productive than trying to follow up with a larger number of superficial contacts.

7. Be persistent, but be patient. The goal of a networking event shouldnt necessarily be to come away with prospects every time you go out, but to come away with great connections. Networking usually takes time to get the relationships developed and nurtured.

Dont approach networking as a scary proposition or a necessary evil for being in business. Take the pressure off yourself and really focus on how you might be able to connect with someone you meet. Focus on them first and look for ways to be useful to them. As you become known as a connector youll eventually be ready to reap what you sow.