Mastering the Art of Networking: Expert Strategies for Post-Pandemic Success

[00:00:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, networking is not working for many people. It doesn't mean that you're trying to be unsuccessful.

[00:00:09] [SPEAKER_01]: It may mean that you, like me and like so many of us, have suffered the collective amnesia that COVID gave us,

[00:00:17] [SPEAKER_01]: because many of us forgot how to do one-to-one meetings.

[00:00:22] [SPEAKER_01]: And some generations, some of the younger ones actually kind of skipped out on a whole genre

[00:00:28] [SPEAKER_01]: and hold time when they could have learned those skills.

[00:00:32] [SPEAKER_01]: But luckily, my guest today has written a book about networking and how you can do it successfully.

[00:00:39] [SPEAKER_01]: He's also going to tell us one of the things that you need to think about to make sure that after

[00:00:46] [SPEAKER_01]: the networking that you've got someone to know, like and trust you.

[00:00:50] [SPEAKER_01]: We're joined by Michael Foreman today, who is the author of a new book called Networking Unleashed.

[00:00:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael, welcome to the show.

[00:00:58] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you very much for having me. I'm glad to be here.

[00:01:01] [SPEAKER_01]: We're glad to go all the way to Cumming, Georgia. That's where you are.

[00:01:05] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm over here in Wiltshire in the UK, so quite a long way away.

[00:01:10] [SPEAKER_01]: But the whole point about networking is, of course, that we feel very close together.

[00:01:15] [SPEAKER_01]: So what has gone wrong with networking, Michael? And how are you helping to fix it?

[00:01:21] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, gone wrong. I wouldn't say things went wrong.

[00:01:28] [SPEAKER_02]: But ever since the pandemic, they you know, people lost themselves.

[00:01:33] [SPEAKER_02]: They forgot how to talk with one another, how to communicate that one to one,

[00:01:40] [SPEAKER_02]: that human feeling that is gone and forgotten.

[00:01:45] [SPEAKER_02]: And it's so important when it comes to networking.

[00:01:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And it goes a long way. Once you've done networking properly

[00:01:56] [SPEAKER_02]: and then you'll see what you've done properly, there's a huge difference.

[00:02:04] [SPEAKER_01]: You talk about properly and not properly, Michael.

[00:02:07] [SPEAKER_01]: Let's start off first of all, shall we, by looking at some of the not properly?

[00:02:12] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, let's do that. Two or three things that in your experience, people just get wrong.

[00:02:18] [SPEAKER_01]: They just turn up and make a complete, as we would say, pig's ear of it.

[00:02:24] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, well, listen, the first is very obvious.

[00:02:27] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, because when you walk up to somebody, when you're introducing yourself or being introduced,

[00:02:34] [SPEAKER_02]: look at the person in the eyes. Look at the person in the eyes and shake their hand firmly.

[00:02:41] [SPEAKER_02]: Not like a dead fish. Shake their hand, look them in the eye and be present.

[00:02:49] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, that means that you take this cell phone and you turn it off, put it away, do what you have to do.

[00:02:58] [SPEAKER_02]: You are there to listen to the other person.

[00:03:02] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so I just told you all the wrong things and I told you all the correct things at the same time.

[00:03:10] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so it's very simple.

[00:03:14] [SPEAKER_01]: It's simple, but if it was that simple, you wouldn't need to write a whole book on it.

[00:03:18] [SPEAKER_01]: So there's plainly more subtlety to it than that.

[00:03:22] [SPEAKER_01]: Why do you take us through the sequence, Michael, of working a room, if you like?

[00:03:31] [SPEAKER_01]: You go to a conference or a trade show. We call it working the room.

[00:03:35] [SPEAKER_01]: Why don't we frame it from you? You go to the reception and you pick up your business card.

[00:03:41] [SPEAKER_01]: You're about to go into the conference.

[00:03:44] [SPEAKER_01]: Talk us through what would be a professional's approach to networking for that conference.

[00:03:50] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, well first things first. Remember your business cards.

[00:03:54] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so many people forget their business cards.

[00:03:56] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, your business cards like their money.

[00:03:59] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, don't just hand them out.

[00:04:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So when you're walking up to a table, let's say, you walked into the conference and you saw a table with four people.

[00:04:12] [SPEAKER_02]: You're going to walk up.

[00:04:14] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, now you don't walk up immediately.

[00:04:17] [SPEAKER_02]: Start talking that then you lost.

[00:04:20] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, you're going to walk up to the table, hear the conversation, listen to the conversation.

[00:04:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Don't just hear what they're saying.

[00:04:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Listen to what they're saying.

[00:04:31] [SPEAKER_02]: If the conversation is something that you can put forth,

[00:04:37] [SPEAKER_02]: put your foot forth and say and add something worthy of adding, then do it.

[00:04:44] [SPEAKER_02]: If it's not, if it's not the right conversation, then very politely bow out and move on.

[00:04:51] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, I say it with the business cards are important, but I was at a networking event

[00:05:00] [SPEAKER_02]: and I was at a table with four or five people and we're having a good talk.

[00:05:06] [SPEAKER_02]: And a guy walked up with his business cards in hand, handed out his business cards to everybody

[00:05:13] [SPEAKER_02]: and say, look, Joe Schmoe, I really want to meet every single one of you.

[00:05:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Let me have all of your business cards and I'll contact you afterwards and we'll do lunch and walked away.

[00:05:25] [SPEAKER_02]: And we all looked at the wood, wood, wood, wood, wood, you know,

[00:05:30] [SPEAKER_02]: and we all did at almost the same time took his card and threw it away.

[00:05:35] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so you never want to do that.

[00:05:38] [SPEAKER_02]: So let's say you walk up to the table and it is a conversation that you can feel that you can participate in.

[00:05:47] [SPEAKER_02]: So you're going to wait for the opportune time.

[00:05:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Put in your five cents because you are the expert in your field.

[00:05:59] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, you go in as the expert.

[00:06:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So the trick is that you want to say something.

[00:06:07] [SPEAKER_02]: This is like your 30 second elevator speech.

[00:06:10] [SPEAKER_02]: You say something so that somebody responds to you.

[00:06:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, what about that?

[00:06:15] [SPEAKER_02]: How is that? What is that?

[00:06:17] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, and then you begin talking.

[00:06:21] [SPEAKER_02]: So when you when you see that there's one or two people that are very interested in what you are saying,

[00:06:28] [SPEAKER_02]: then you automatically turn around and say, oh, what do you do?

[00:06:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, I do this or this or this.

[00:06:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, really tell me a little bit more about.

[00:06:37] [SPEAKER_02]: So they're talking.

[00:06:38] [SPEAKER_02]: You're building that rapport and you're keeping in the back of your mind a word form.

[00:06:46] [SPEAKER_02]: F.O.R.M.

[00:06:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Because that is the basis of you building up the rapport.

[00:06:53] [SPEAKER_02]: It's family, occupation, recreation,

[00:06:58] [SPEAKER_02]: a message that you're trying to find a link of anything you can to go on to the same level as them or her.

[00:07:05] [SPEAKER_02]: And you let them talk.

[00:07:07] [SPEAKER_02]: The more they talk, the more their barriers are coming down.

[00:07:12] [SPEAKER_02]: So remember, they have to know you like you and trust you.

[00:07:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Then they will do business with you.

[00:07:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And without the first three, the fourth isn't going to come around.

[00:07:25] [SPEAKER_02]: So let's say that you made this great connection.

[00:07:30] [SPEAKER_02]: All right. And you're trying to.

[00:07:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And listen, I was a little league coach for 16 years.

[00:07:36] [SPEAKER_02]: I was an umpire. I really got basketball, football.

[00:07:40] [SPEAKER_02]: I coached it all. And I try to bring them out onto that level.

[00:07:47] [SPEAKER_02]: So let's say I brought it in.

[00:07:50] [SPEAKER_02]: The person has a son that plays soccer and they hurt the rentals.

[00:07:56] [SPEAKER_02]: OK. And you're building up.

[00:07:58] [SPEAKER_02]: Say, look, you know, it's great. We're going to get together.

[00:08:00] [SPEAKER_02]: And whatever. You take his business card and on the back of his business card,

[00:08:06] [SPEAKER_02]: you write down the date, the name of the function and what you spoke about.

[00:08:13] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, he spoke about soccer and his son, Johnny, and how he hurt his ankle.

[00:08:20] [SPEAKER_02]: And you do that. Now, you probably will collect about 15 cards throughout the evening.

[00:08:27] [SPEAKER_02]: So what are you going to do?

[00:08:28] [SPEAKER_02]: That's where you begin their follow up.

[00:08:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And so on from there.

[00:08:36] [SPEAKER_01]: Now, Michael, let's just back up just a little bit because.

[00:08:42] [SPEAKER_01]: You've got a big room and not much time.

[00:08:46] [SPEAKER_01]: What's your guidance in terms of making sure that you sit next to or at the table

[00:08:53] [SPEAKER_01]: with the people that you want to be seen at?

[00:08:57] [SPEAKER_01]: You know, when I used to go to trade shows, I used to get a floor plan and look at the

[00:09:01] [SPEAKER_01]: the size of the booth.

[00:09:03] [SPEAKER_01]: And if the booth was too big, they couldn't afford an independent agency.

[00:09:06] [SPEAKER_01]: If it's too small, they couldn't afford an agency at all.

[00:09:09] [SPEAKER_01]: So I used to go for the midsize trade show booths, for example.

[00:09:14] [SPEAKER_01]: Right. Can you give us some guidance on kind of narrowing down the options

[00:09:19] [SPEAKER_01]: really when you get in to that space?

[00:09:23] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you pretty much hit the nail right on the head.

[00:09:26] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, before you walk in, you they always have a map of the floor and where everything is located

[00:09:32] [SPEAKER_02]: and everything. And you do that now if I'm in mortgages, let's say, because I was in

[00:09:39] [SPEAKER_02]: mortgages for 10 or 12 years and you go around and say, OK, I know this company,

[00:09:47] [SPEAKER_02]: this company, this company.

[00:09:48] [SPEAKER_02]: This is a little company.

[00:09:51] [SPEAKER_02]: This one is really big, so I'll hit them a little bit later.

[00:09:56] [SPEAKER_02]: But those midsize companies, those companies where you feel you're going to

[00:10:01] [SPEAKER_02]: gain some knowledge or connections.

[00:10:03] [SPEAKER_02]: Remember, you're not going to build clients.

[00:10:08] [SPEAKER_02]: You're going there to build relationships because a client is somebody who you're going to

[00:10:13] [SPEAKER_02]: sell something to and forget about.

[00:10:15] [SPEAKER_02]: If you build a relationship, well, then you're going to have that relationship with

[00:10:21] [SPEAKER_02]: them for years to come.

[00:10:23] [SPEAKER_02]: So you have to go around and get to do the homework.

[00:10:26] [SPEAKER_02]: Listen, if networking was easy, everybody would be doing it properly and I would have

[00:10:31] [SPEAKER_02]: to do this.

[00:10:32] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, I guess you'd be unemployed, wouldn't you, Michael?

[00:10:35] [SPEAKER_01]: I'd be unemployed.

[00:10:37] [SPEAKER_01]: What about sort of looking at what people wear and how they carry themselves,

[00:10:42] [SPEAKER_01]: haircuts and so on.

[00:10:43] [SPEAKER_01]: For example, I lived in Asia for 25 years and men's jewelry of choice was the watch.

[00:10:51] [SPEAKER_01]: And you could kind of tell someone's pay grade by whether they had a Rolex or an

[00:10:55] [SPEAKER_01]: Omega or an Audemars Piguet.

[00:10:59] [SPEAKER_01]: What guidance do you give, Michael, there?

[00:11:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Because again, not everyone's turning up dressed in the same way.

[00:11:08] [SPEAKER_01]: Can you give some guidance there about a little bit of the detective work?

[00:11:11] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, if it's semi-formal, not semi-formal.

[00:11:16] [SPEAKER_02]: If it's business casual, OK, that's the way that most of the networking events go.

[00:11:23] [SPEAKER_02]: So everybody can be clean and now I learned this in the military.

[00:11:29] [SPEAKER_02]: So what do you look at?

[00:11:31] [SPEAKER_02]: Look at their shoes.

[00:11:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Look at their shoes and see whether polished or scuffed.

[00:11:37] [SPEAKER_02]: If they're scuffed, that means that he didn't take the time to look at his shoes and dress well.

[00:11:44] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so listen, I could be 100% wrong.

[00:11:48] [SPEAKER_02]: I can discount somebody with scuffed shoes and they don't appear that well and he can be the biggest champion of all.

[00:11:58] [SPEAKER_02]: But I'm not going to take that chance.

[00:12:01] [SPEAKER_02]: So I'll move on.

[00:12:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I will address the person.

[00:12:03] [SPEAKER_02]: I will see how they're dressed, male or female.

[00:12:07] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, if a female is showing too much and that's how she obviously gets business.

[00:12:15] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so I'm going to look for that conservative dress, male, female type person.

[00:12:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll go from there.

[00:12:24] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's really important to give people the clues, isn't it, of what kind of person you're going to be dealing with

[00:12:31] [SPEAKER_01]: by also what they wear and maybe the accessories they've got, like which phone and which phone model they've got.

[00:12:37] [SPEAKER_01]: If you're looking for somebody who's very techie and they've got an old Android, it may not be good if you're selling high-tech equipment, for example.

[00:12:46] [SPEAKER_01]: So I think that's another aspect that I was always thinking about as well.

[00:12:50] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael, you talk about writing things on business cards and I don't mean to sound challenging here.

[00:12:56] [SPEAKER_01]: But in this day and age where people are using, for example, WhatsApp or in China, everyone's sharing WeChat cards.

[00:13:04] [SPEAKER_01]: What's your guidance in terms of going digital?

[00:13:06] [SPEAKER_01]: Should people scan one another or is it important to have a physical card?

[00:13:13] [SPEAKER_00]: We'll be back after a quick break.

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[00:13:52] [SPEAKER_02]: I have one of those cards that you scan.

[00:13:57] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, but when I go to a show, I bring business cards because if you take the time to scan, you may talk to them as you're doing it, but you're missing out on three people.

[00:14:12] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so you're taking just a little bit too much time.

[00:14:15] [SPEAKER_02]: And look, if it's one person, you don't feel like it's that much time.

[00:14:19] [SPEAKER_02]: But do that 15 times.

[00:14:22] [SPEAKER_02]: It's taking up a little bit too much time.

[00:14:24] [SPEAKER_02]: So like when I give a speech, a talk, a breakout session, a workshop, I have that on my phone and will touch phones.

[00:14:35] [SPEAKER_02]: And I have enough time because I want to talk to those people.

[00:14:40] [SPEAKER_02]: And I can do that when I am touching their phone.

[00:14:44] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll say, look, just hit the contact and I'm there.

[00:14:48] [SPEAKER_02]: Right. But I still say that the physical card is still very, very important.

[00:14:56] [SPEAKER_01]: And I guess also in the old days, we used to use the business card for a lot of corporate branding.

[00:15:01] [SPEAKER_01]: You could have a message on the back, for example, the quality of the paper that you gave out if you had an oversized card or a nicely embossed.

[00:15:11] [SPEAKER_01]: You could say a lot about who you were. We've lost that with the digital cards as well, haven't we really?

[00:15:16] [SPEAKER_02]: We really have. But, you know, I owned a graphic design and marketing company.

[00:15:23] [SPEAKER_02]: And one thing I made sure of is that the business card is not a billboard.

[00:15:31] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, the quality of the paper, the embossing.

[00:15:38] [SPEAKER_02]: Just a little bit. Have it have it fine.

[00:15:41] [SPEAKER_02]: But you don't want to put everything you do on it. You know, if you're a printer and you want to put everything you do on it, that's one thing.

[00:15:48] [SPEAKER_02]: But if you're in corporate and you just want to have that touch, then that's all you really have to do.

[00:15:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael, let's let's move on both sort of in the conversation, but also from a situational perspective.

[00:16:05] [SPEAKER_01]: The event has happened. I've given my cards out.

[00:16:07] [SPEAKER_01]: I've received, picked up, scooped up, even stolen some cards off someone's table.

[00:16:12] [SPEAKER_01]: And I've got sort of copied some cards. What's the follow up?

[00:16:16] [SPEAKER_01]: Because this is something I'm always amazed at how people do with their podcasts.

[00:16:20] [SPEAKER_01]: Hosts, for example.

[00:16:22] [SPEAKER_02]: This is the number one. Yep.

[00:16:24] [SPEAKER_02]: This is the number one thing that everybody messes up with.

[00:16:28] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, they feel if they get back and they're going to send them a quick email and they're going to wait, they're going to wait for them.

[00:16:35] [SPEAKER_02]: Remember what I said eight times.

[00:16:38] [SPEAKER_02]: It's going to take eight touches before that person responds.

[00:16:42] [SPEAKER_02]: So I like to do something to kind of force their hands.

[00:16:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, let's say the event is over and I go back home.

[00:16:51] [SPEAKER_02]: I go back to the office, whatever.

[00:16:55] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm going to immediately write an email that night.

[00:16:59] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm not going to wait two and three days that night.

[00:17:04] [SPEAKER_02]: Hey, Joe, it was great talking to you.

[00:17:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I saw you on such and such date at this event.

[00:17:11] [SPEAKER_02]: We talked about your son, John, in soccer.

[00:17:13] [SPEAKER_02]: I hope his ankle feels better.

[00:17:16] [SPEAKER_02]: I'll talk with you soon, Michael.

[00:17:19] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, I didn't say anything about business.

[00:17:22] [SPEAKER_02]: I didn't give a date and I didn't give a time.

[00:17:26] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, I sent that off at the very as soon as I finished sending off my emails.

[00:17:32] [SPEAKER_02]: I start on my handwritten thank you notes.

[00:17:36] [SPEAKER_02]: I send a handwritten thank you note with almost the same thing that I just wrote in an email.

[00:17:43] [SPEAKER_02]: And accepting that, I put up, you know what?

[00:17:47] [SPEAKER_02]: I hope you're free for coffee sometime because I'd love to have a cup of coffee with you.

[00:17:51] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'll send that out.

[00:17:53] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, usually that will get you about 60 percent of a response within the three days.

[00:18:01] [SPEAKER_02]: And that's a huge number.

[00:18:04] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, but let's say that you didn't get the response.

[00:18:10] [SPEAKER_02]: You're going to wait about three days because that's about how long it is before they get the mailing, the thank you note.

[00:18:17] [SPEAKER_02]: And you send them a quick email.

[00:18:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Say, hey, how are you?

[00:18:22] [SPEAKER_02]: This is Michael.

[00:18:23] [SPEAKER_02]: I met you on such and such date at this time.

[00:18:26] [SPEAKER_02]: I asked you about your son, John.

[00:18:28] [SPEAKER_02]: You know, I'm hoping that you have time for a cup of coffee.

[00:18:32] [SPEAKER_02]: I'm free next Tuesday or Wednesday is Tuesday better.

[00:18:38] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'd say about another 20, 25 percent of the people will answer that positive or negative.

[00:18:46] [SPEAKER_02]: Those make a difference.

[00:18:47] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so now let's say that they responded and you follow up that way.

[00:18:53] [SPEAKER_02]: But if they didn't respond, if you wait another three days or so and send them another email, say, look, you know,

[00:19:02] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't mean to take up your time.

[00:19:04] [SPEAKER_02]: I don't want to bother you and I'll stop contacting you.

[00:19:07] [SPEAKER_02]: I just hope that we would get together for that cup of coffee.

[00:19:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And is Tuesday or Wednesday better?

[00:19:15] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so this is about a week and a half after the event.

[00:19:22] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, about 90 percent of the people will email you back positive or negative.

[00:19:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Yes or no, whatever.

[00:19:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Still have that 10 percent that blew you off.

[00:19:35] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, so let's say you're part of the 10 percent.

[00:19:39] [SPEAKER_02]: You just take their information and you put it into your newsletter email list or something and you do that drip campaign.

[00:19:49] [SPEAKER_02]: So you're always in contact with that person.

[00:19:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, I can go on and on about that email campaign because the newsletter, let's say there are six boxes.

[00:20:01] [SPEAKER_02]: Two of them should be what you talk about for them.

[00:20:06] [SPEAKER_02]: No. And Annie's recipe for bread, you know, different things that favorite car of the month.

[00:20:14] [SPEAKER_02]: You have the joke of the month, you know, things like that.

[00:20:17] [SPEAKER_02]: So two of the six are business.

[00:20:20] [SPEAKER_02]: Other four are not. I just keep them on a campaign.

[00:20:24] [SPEAKER_01]: So it is that follow through and I like your idea of giving people some definition of Monday or Tuesday, which one's better for you?

[00:20:32] [SPEAKER_01]: That does work towards trying to close people as well, doesn't it?

[00:20:37] [SPEAKER_01]: I did ask you at the beginning what other sort of big mistakes people make.

[00:20:42] [SPEAKER_01]: Do you see any difference between cultures as well, Michael?

[00:20:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Because many people are working not just in their local town, but most people are working internationally.

[00:20:55] [SPEAKER_01]: I think these days or certainly even across states or across parts of the country.

[00:21:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Any guidance there on the differences that you've noticed between different parts,

[00:21:07] [SPEAKER_01]: even like Georgia must have kind of maybe some common elements to it.

[00:21:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, you have to know you have to know your audience and you have to see where you are.

[00:21:19] [SPEAKER_02]: And you have to do that little bit of investigation of where you are.

[00:21:24] [SPEAKER_02]: Now, I'm originally from New York and I came down to Georgia about six years ago.

[00:21:30] [SPEAKER_02]: And one thing that people had to do, they told me slow down because I'm used to OK, I was in mortgages up in New York.

[00:21:42] [SPEAKER_02]: And I'm like, OK, this is the information. This is it. This is, you know, OK, boom.

[00:21:47] [SPEAKER_02]: Let's want to do business. No. OK, I'm moving on. OK, it's boom, boom, boom. Let's go down to Georgia.

[00:21:54] [SPEAKER_02]: First thing people said was slow down, slow what you're saying down, give some time.

[00:22:02] [SPEAKER_02]: When I used to give a half hour for a meeting, I give an hour and a half in Georgia.

[00:22:08] [SPEAKER_02]: OK, it's very different. But when listen, I do I'm about to do a workshop in Ohio about this very same thing.

[00:22:19] [SPEAKER_02]: And I had to look at them and it's rural Ohio.

[00:22:24] [SPEAKER_02]: So I had to figure out exactly who it is that I'm talking to when I did a breakout session in Texas.

[00:22:33] [SPEAKER_02]: Same thing, but it had to be handled a little differently when I did a breakout session in New York.

[00:22:40] [SPEAKER_02]: I know I had to step up my game because they expected a little bit more.

[00:22:46] [SPEAKER_02]: So it all depends on where. Really interesting.

[00:22:50] [SPEAKER_01]: The difference is even just within the country, what the size of America, of course, is large in the UK.

[00:22:56] [SPEAKER_01]: We do have differences as well between people in the north and south and where I am in the west.

[00:23:01] [SPEAKER_01]: Very interesting, Michael Foreman.

[00:23:04] [SPEAKER_01]: We've got onto the stage where I'd love to know your sort of sense of what is your number one tip.

[00:23:10] [SPEAKER_01]: I know that you've mentioned quite a few aspects there.

[00:23:15] [SPEAKER_01]: If you've got a person and they just say, Michael, you're the guru.

[00:23:21] [SPEAKER_01]: What's the one thing I really should get right when it comes to networking? What would that be?

[00:23:26] [SPEAKER_02]: First of all, practice, practice, practice.

[00:23:30] [SPEAKER_02]: Just like anything else, you're not going to be sensational that first networking event.

[00:23:37] [SPEAKER_02]: But if you have to remember one thing, handwritten thank you notes, your follow up.

[00:23:43] [SPEAKER_02]: Your follow up is so key to making the connection and building because you can put all this work into it.

[00:23:50] [SPEAKER_02]: If you don't follow up properly, why bother going in the first place?

[00:23:56] [SPEAKER_02]: So that's my one thing.

[00:23:57] [SPEAKER_01]: I love that you think it should be handwritten and therefore, do you think people should get printed stationary then and go old school?

[00:24:07] [SPEAKER_02]: No. You know what?

[00:24:11] [SPEAKER_01]: So Michael is just reaching across for those people that are listening and not watching.

[00:24:14] [SPEAKER_02]: Michael is just lifting up a very nice...

[00:24:17] [SPEAKER_02]: I gave, I spoke about handwritten thank you notes on a podcast last week.

[00:24:25] [SPEAKER_02]: And this week, he sent me a thank you note.

[00:24:29] [SPEAKER_02]: Not just printed, thank you. That's it.

[00:24:32] [SPEAKER_02]: And he wrote something very nice inside.

[00:24:35] [SPEAKER_02]: It's a handwritten thank you note.

[00:24:37] [SPEAKER_02]: Doesn't have to cost you a bundle.

[00:24:39] [SPEAKER_02]: This is not something that is going to make or break you.

[00:24:43] [SPEAKER_02]: But in my briefcase, I keep 50 unused thank you notes at all times.

[00:24:52] [SPEAKER_02]: Because I don't know when I'll be handing it out.

[00:24:56] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael, that is great, great advice.

[00:24:59] [SPEAKER_01]: And speaking of handing out one last piece of advice, Michael A. Foreman in Coming Georgia, what about a podcast or a book that has inspired you or even one that you might have written yourself that will inspire the rest of us?

[00:25:13] [SPEAKER_02]: Well, listen, I hope to begin being a podcast host in a month or two.

[00:25:18] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay. But if you...

[00:25:23] [SPEAKER_02]: There's my book.

[00:25:24] [SPEAKER_02]: My book is Networking Unleashed, Mastering the Art of Networking.

[00:25:30] [SPEAKER_02]: And in there is From Soup to Nuts.

[00:25:34] [SPEAKER_02]: Okay, it tells you exactly what I was talking about when you're first introduced to building the rapport, the following up and then some.

[00:25:44] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's all very concise.

[00:25:45] [SPEAKER_02]: It's not a very good book.

[00:25:48] [SPEAKER_02]: And you can get it by going to michaelaforman.com.

[00:25:55] [SPEAKER_02]: On there, you'll see everything that I've done, podcasts that I've been on and it's a contact form.

[00:26:03] [SPEAKER_02]: So there's a contact form that you put your information in and I will contact you within 24 hours.

[00:26:12] [SPEAKER_02]: And right down there on the bottom, there it is. Let's contact.

[00:26:17] [SPEAKER_02]: It's very simple.

[00:26:19] [SPEAKER_02]: I give the keynote, the breakout sessions, the workshops, one-on-one coaching, but I also offer virtual workshops.

[00:26:29] [SPEAKER_02]: So it's all very...

[00:26:31] [SPEAKER_02]: It's all right there.

[00:26:34] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael A. Forman.

[00:26:35] [SPEAKER_01]: And not to be confused because I actually originally thought that the person coming onto the mic didn't look like a Michaela,

[00:26:44] [SPEAKER_01]: because Michael's actually got the domain Michael A. Forman.

[00:26:49] [SPEAKER_01]: And because I'm European, I actually thought I was expected to see Michaela Forman, which would have been quite an interesting moment.

[00:26:59] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael A. Forman.

[00:27:00] [SPEAKER_01]: I won't even go there.

[00:27:01] [SPEAKER_01]: No, no, I think we don't want to go down. That's a different podcast altogether.

[00:27:06] [SPEAKER_01]: And I'm sure not one that you're going to be doing either, Michael.

[00:27:10] [SPEAKER_01]: But for anyone who's interested, it's michaelaforman.com and you can see at the bottom there are the contact details.

[00:27:18] [SPEAKER_01]: Michael Forman, it sounds like you're going to be joining me on this side of the mic very soon as a host.

[00:27:22] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm sure you'll be brilliant.

[00:27:24] [SPEAKER_01]: Thank you so much for joining me on my show, The Unnoticed Entrepreneur today.

[00:27:26] [SPEAKER_02]: You're most welcome. I'm glad to be here and glad to spread the word about networking.

[00:27:33] [SPEAKER_01]: Well, and now we know that networking is about not just working before, during, but it's also about working after the event.

[00:27:41] [SPEAKER_01]: And that's really a key takeaway and one that, as Michael explained, not that expensive to do.

[00:27:48] [SPEAKER_01]: Just buy some cards or get some printed out from your local Vistaprint or any one of these large number of Instaprint shops

[00:27:55] [SPEAKER_01]: that will make you some with your own logo and brand on it as well.

[00:27:58] [SPEAKER_01]: I'm going to do Unnoticed Entrepreneur cards as well.

[00:28:02] [SPEAKER_01]: I think that's watching Michael and getting inspiration.

[00:28:05] [SPEAKER_01]: If you've had inspiration from this show, then do please leave a review.

[00:28:08] [SPEAKER_01]: It all helps. And do share the show with a fellow Unnoticed Entrepreneur because we don't want to leave anyone unnoticed.

[00:28:15] [SPEAKER_01]: And until we meet again on the mic, I just encourage you to keep on communicating.