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 Welcome to 'Connecting is not Enough'


book launch 1 

Unexpectedly, we were successful in raising �400 last week for the Rainbow Trust Children's Charity thanks to an advance copy of my new book, Recommended: How to Sell Through Networking and Referrals

 

I say 'unexpectedley' because nothing had been planned. I posted on Facebook and Twitter news that my advance copy of the book had been sent through by the publisher, which can be quite an emotional moment after over a year and a half of writing and editing. 

 

Seeing that news, one of my networking buddies, Ravi Jain, offered me �50 for charity for that advance copy, signed. Another friend, Steve Trister, then upped the bid to �60 and an auction began. 

 

Thanks to the hard work of Ecademy Blackstar President William Buist, we created a lot of support for the auction on Ecademy and Twitter. In fact, the blog announcing the auction on Ecademy has been viewed over 4,000 times and is the 14th most 'liked' blog on Ecademy of all time.

 

When the auction closed on Friday, the winning bid for the book was �300 from Mark Duffy of Duffy Accounting, while Massimiliano Turci, who missed out, offered an additional �100 to the charity. 

 

Many thanks to everyone who got involved and supported the auction either by bidding or by sharing it with their network.

 

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On Monday I was the guest in a webinar run by former BBC Dragon and author of Business Nightmares: Hitting Rock Bottom and Come Out on Top, Rachel Elnaugh.

 

In the webinar I talked for around 25 minutes on the importance and foundations of a successful referrals strategy, before answering questions from Rachel and others on the call. 

 

You can watch the webinar here. The Secrets of Referral Marketing with Rachel Elnaugh and Andy Lopata.

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Competition corner

 

More Balls 

Lara Morgan is a very successful entrepreneur who built her business from scratch and sold it for �20 million. In More Balls Than Most, Lara shares her story and, more importantly, spells out the lessons that all entrepreneurs should draw from her experiences.

More Balls... one of the most engrossing and useful business books I have read this year was devoured in three days over a recent weekend. You can read what I thought about it in my Amazon review

We have five signed copies of More Balls Than Most to give away to readers of 'Connecting is not Enough' in the latest competition. For a chance of winning, please email [email protected] with your contact details, or send a tweet, including #LopataComps in your tweet, by 6pm on Friday 29th July.   
  
Congratulations to Kelly Molson, Alexander Knibbs, Trevor Wood, Dianna Bonner and Tom Evans and  who won signed copies of Paul McGee's S.U.M.O in our last competition.  If you havn't already done so, please let Claire have your address so that she can send your prize.

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If you have any questions you'd like me to address either in this newsletter or on my blog, please either tweet me, post them onto our Facebook or LinkedIn pages or email them to me.

I always try to address as many as possible.  

 

Happy Networking!


Andy

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The power of Empathetic Listening
'...and Death Came Third!' Networking Skill Ti

Earlier in the book I mentioned that we should be listening for people to whom we are speaking. I think we get the English wrong. In the English language, we say we listen to people. That's passive - we should listen for each other. 

 

That implies something more proactive and that you are listening for a reason.If you are at a networking event and someone is speaking to you about their business or about their personal life, they may be relating that personal information because they have a need to do that. Listen for them, and ask yourself "who do I know that this is relevant to? Who do I know that they could help? Who do I know who could help them?"

 

Stephen Covey, in his book The Seven Habits of Highly Effective People, discusses how we naturally listen to people while thinking about what we want to say next. We pick up the keywords or phrases to convert into a story of our experiences or our thoughts. 

 

Or, as he puts it, people "listen with the intent to reply. They're either speaking or preparing to speak." 

 

Covey encourages us to practise what he calls 'empathetic listening'or 'listening with intent to understand'. By endeavouring to understand where the other person is coming from, we are in a much stronger position to help them or to connect with them.

The personal touch
'...and Death Came Third!' Networking Strategy Tip 

 

As technology such as email, instant messaging and social networks have grown into by far and away the prime communication medium for modern business, it has become easier to ignore the traditional methods of speaking, in person or by telephone.

 

By just staying in touch with people by email or through status updates, you will become a 'virtual' personality to your connections and they will forget why you built a rapport in the first place.

 

Take the time to reconnect by picking up the phone, arranging to meet for a drink when you are close to them and just chatting. You don't always need an agenda to meet with or speak to people. Make the effort to stay in touch whenever you can.

 

When you are going back to networking events that you have attended before, use the opportunity to add more building blocks to the relationship with people who you met there on a previous occasion. If you know that they are going to attend,drop them an email or give them a call in advance to arrange to meet. Perhaps clear some time either before or after the event to sit down and chat rather than doing so during the event itself. 

Using online groups and discussion forums 
Online Social Networking Tip

 

Groups and discussion forums on social networks, such as LinkedIn and Ecademy, can provide you with an excellent opportunity to raise your profile.

 

Consider the areas you'd like to become better known in. Do you want to establish a strong reputation as an expert in your industry, for example? Or perhaps in your clients' industries? Maybe you'd like to be seen as a key influencer or well-connected person in your local area. 

 

In the modern age it is very likely that several internet forums will exist for the demographic in which you want to be better known. Join those forums and watch the discussions that take place. Get a feel for the level of conversation, the rules of engagement and challenges faced by the members.

 

But don't simply sit and watch. When you have the flow of the conversation, join in. Start by commenting on other people's posts and then post some thoughts of your own. 


The Golden Rule is to engage and discuss, not to broadcast and promote. That's why I suggest joining in on other people's discussions first. Become known as someone who gives to the community with an interesting perspective, stimulating questions or new ideas that help, rather than just another person trying to push their own agenda. 

Sticky Marketing TV
Video Tip 

 

 

I was interviewed last month by Dave Harries on Sticky Marketing TV, where I was joined by author of Sticky Marketing, Grant Leboff. 

 

Dave talked to Grant and me about networking skills, networking strategy, presentation skills and....Noel Edmonds! 

 

You can watch the interview here

 

Sticky Marketing TV
 

After our interview, Dave asked me for my top networking tips in a brief video which you can see here. 

'It's a Soaraway Life'

Just for Fun


Here's a very topical video from about 20 years ago. 

Stephen Fry and Hugh Laurie's take on Rupert Murdoch seems ripe for a remake after events over the last couple of weeks.

A Bit of Fry and Laurie - I'ts a Soaraway Life
A Bit of Fry and Laurie - I'ts a Soaraway Life

   

 

 

I hope you've enjoyed the newsletter and look forward to your feedback.

 

If you're serious about developing a networking and referrals strategy that can take your business to a new level, or you are interested in booking me for a speech or training session for your team, find out more details on our website or you can contact me on:

 

Tel: 07930 417833
Skype: andylopata

 

I look forward to hearing from you.

 

Andy




� All material copyright H & A Lopata ltd 2011. All rights reserved.

 

Leadership and Management Grants - develop the networks within your organisation

 

Does your business employ between 2 and 249 employees?

Are you able to demonstrate growth or growth potential?

Through the Leadership and
Management Advisory Service, we can now offer funded training to companies who want to:

Improve relationships between teams and staff encouraging individuals within their organisation to develop their own networks

Remove barriers between different departments within their organisations

Introduce a culture of mentoring and masterminding.

If you would like to find out more please
contact [email protected]
putting L& M Grant in the subject matter on your email
Quick Links


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'...and Death Came Third!' on Amazon.co.uk

 

'Recommended' on Amazon.co.uk 

 

Andy's Amazon page

 

Networking in Ninety Minutes - Double CD Set  

 

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Connecting is not Enough on Facebook

 

and Death Came Third! on Facebook

 

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Connecting is Not Enough Back Issues

 

 

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Andy's Musings...

  
A selection of Andy's regular online columns and coverage elsewhere:


Make the room work for you

 

B2B Marketing Magazine

 

Did Social Networks bring about the end of the News of the World

 

Connecting is not Enough 
  
  
The National Networker 
  
Networking in Ninety
Networking in Ninety Minutes - the Audio Programme
In other people's words:
  
"The striking thing about Andy is that he writes a book on networking that demystifies the process and shows you all the things you know you should be doing - but never really get round to. Then he surprises you by practising what he preaches! "
Russ King, Product Manager, Monster.com
  
  
  
"Having worked with Andy on many occasions as a keynote speaker, he has always delivered a fantastic and insightful presentation, to great acclaim and feedback from our clients, across a wide range of corporate and networking events. He is utterly professional, highly knowledgeable in the field of professional networking, but more importantly, knows how to connect and get through to people, whether for effective team-building within an organisation or in the wider context of keynote speaking at large corporate events. He is truly an expert in his field and can accommodate a small bespoke training session or large global projects for multinationals. Phenomenal value delivering far reaching results ... and connections, of course."
Franco de la Croix-Vaubois, Operations Director, World Launch Group