It is hard to believe that I have been hard core networking for almost eight years now. From my infancy days going to the Northeastern University Alumni Networking Events to now running my own business networking group, the landscape has changed. Back in 2008 and into 2009, the economy was at its worst and networking events were the place to be seen and heard. Almost all of the events were packed mostly with professionals looking for their next job or trying to start a new business venture. From Foxboro to Providence to Framingham to Boston, every event had well over 100 hungry professionals trying to meet as many people as possible. I fell into the same routine, and aggressively build a large network myself.
Fast forward to the past year, I noticed the networking events have become smaller, but the quality of people and relationships are much better. It is probably because the economy is much more stable and growing now. There are not many unemployed attendees but instead professionals with great business ideas, expansion and growth. It is actually a shame some stopped networking when their situation got better. I always thought when things get better, professionals should network more than ever.
So we are now about to enter the year 2015. The networking events are smaller, more focused and the attendees are more seasoned. Here are some of my recommended tips to survive networking in 2015:
- Stop the sales pitch now. When you are at an event, look to make friends. Would you go to a bar and start pitching your product or service? Probably not.
- Know why you are attending a networking event. Who would you like to meet? What questions you would ask to understand if someone you meet is worth following up with? What is your thirty second non-salesy elevator pitch? Having structure going into an event makes it worthwhile.
- Only ask someone for a business card if there a possibility of following up with that person. I am guilty of being a business card collector. I have three full shoe boxes of cards to prove it. Chances are, I have a card from every company in Massachusetts.
- Go to as many events as your schedule allows. As I mentioned earlier, even when the going is good, you should continue to go to events. You never know when your scenario will change. You lose your job or your business no longer exists.
- Stop thinking social media is for kids. I still meet people that think Facebook or Twitter are for children and they wouldn't be caught dead using social media. Social media is here and now and the #1 way to meet the right people. The best way to use social media is for follow-up with professionals you have met at an event.
- Your goal is to become a people magnet. I am going to end this blog with this tip. When you are popular and a great resource, people gravitate to you. Be a nice person and make everyone you meet to be about them and not yourself.
Happy Networking in 2015!
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Sunday, December 21, 2014
Thursday, December 11, 2014
Marketing and Information Technology Do Go Together
The IT Team has always had an identity crisis in corporate America. Does the IT Organization at your company report up to the Chief Financial Officer, the Chief Marketing Officer, Chief Medical Officer, the COO, the CEO or even Human Resources? Over the course of my IT career, I have been in IT Organizations that reported to all of the above. OK, maybe not Human Resources.
The most common report structure today is that IT reports to the Chief Financial Officer. It is unfortunately antiquated thinking, since IT would be looked at as a cost center and the finance executive is always focusing on how to control their company's technology costs. Computers, introverted high-priced techies and applications cost money, they think. There is no innovation in this structure and the most common project is to cut costs by going through vendor contracts and conducting telecomm audits, to do what? Save money. From a people perspective, CFOs are always looking at how to reduce the cost of labor by outsourcing IT to Managed Services companies and even some outsource IT to services firms with operations overseas.
I view the COO, a lesser evil of the CFO, for the IT group to report to. Money is still an issue, but instead process is more of a focus of the COO. Process is a great thing. I love process. Technology is all about streamlining workflows and the way business is run. I am currently at a firm that uses LEAN Management to help eliminate process "waste". Believe me, there is a lot of waste in IT organizations today. The mindset of the COO with process is a great thing, but again where is the innovation? How is the IT group generating revenue for the bottom line? Process only saves money. Process can generate money if efficient technology is involved.
I will not discuss IT reporting to the Chief Medical Officer or Human Resources, since if there is a company that has that organization in place, they are not worth mentioning. What does a doctor or human resources executive know about technology?
Ok, now how about the IT team reporting to the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)? Marketing is all about how to prospect and engage potential business. Marketing executives have to innovate and set their product or service apart from their competition. Every firm has competition, whether it is a retailer, a hospital group, a lighting company or a high technology company. Marketing executives focus on how to generate revenue and know they need technology to set themselves apart from their competition. They need to have a better website, an engaging social media strategy, a more efficient CRM to maintain customer relationships. Think about this, a website, a CRM, mobile applications. Doesn't the IT team build and maintain them? In this organizational structure, IT has become an innovation center instead of a cost center. With all of the freeware, opensource and services like cloud computing, SaaS etc, the cost is not a factor anymore, if done correctly. Marketing and IT do in fact work together like bread and butter.
So, if you are looking at your next IT opportunity, consider how the organization structure is at the company. It can go a long way to determine how innovative the IT organization can be. If you are a techie, don't think about servers, instead think about services that help market a product or service. It is where we are going into the 2015, since we are in a social marketing world.
The most common report structure today is that IT reports to the Chief Financial Officer. It is unfortunately antiquated thinking, since IT would be looked at as a cost center and the finance executive is always focusing on how to control their company's technology costs. Computers, introverted high-priced techies and applications cost money, they think. There is no innovation in this structure and the most common project is to cut costs by going through vendor contracts and conducting telecomm audits, to do what? Save money. From a people perspective, CFOs are always looking at how to reduce the cost of labor by outsourcing IT to Managed Services companies and even some outsource IT to services firms with operations overseas.
I view the COO, a lesser evil of the CFO, for the IT group to report to. Money is still an issue, but instead process is more of a focus of the COO. Process is a great thing. I love process. Technology is all about streamlining workflows and the way business is run. I am currently at a firm that uses LEAN Management to help eliminate process "waste". Believe me, there is a lot of waste in IT organizations today. The mindset of the COO with process is a great thing, but again where is the innovation? How is the IT group generating revenue for the bottom line? Process only saves money. Process can generate money if efficient technology is involved.
I will not discuss IT reporting to the Chief Medical Officer or Human Resources, since if there is a company that has that organization in place, they are not worth mentioning. What does a doctor or human resources executive know about technology?
Ok, now how about the IT team reporting to the CMO (Chief Marketing Officer)? Marketing is all about how to prospect and engage potential business. Marketing executives have to innovate and set their product or service apart from their competition. Every firm has competition, whether it is a retailer, a hospital group, a lighting company or a high technology company. Marketing executives focus on how to generate revenue and know they need technology to set themselves apart from their competition. They need to have a better website, an engaging social media strategy, a more efficient CRM to maintain customer relationships. Think about this, a website, a CRM, mobile applications. Doesn't the IT team build and maintain them? In this organizational structure, IT has become an innovation center instead of a cost center. With all of the freeware, opensource and services like cloud computing, SaaS etc, the cost is not a factor anymore, if done correctly. Marketing and IT do in fact work together like bread and butter.
So, if you are looking at your next IT opportunity, consider how the organization structure is at the company. It can go a long way to determine how innovative the IT organization can be. If you are a techie, don't think about servers, instead think about services that help market a product or service. It is where we are going into the 2015, since we are in a social marketing world.
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