Tips for the Green Business Networker
Nov 30, 2009
19 Comments
Based on a recent exchange I had with a Facebook friend collector, I felt compelled to write about networking and what works--and what does not. A couple weeks ago, someone from a Facebook group to which I belong asked to be a "friend," sending this message: "Hi, I'm also a member of the Green Business Innovators group - would love to connect!" After politely telling her I keep my Facebook and LinkedIn separate, suggested that she find me on LinkedIn, and offered to chat on the phone to see how I could help her, I received this response: "No problem."
And then . . . I got this message from her a couple weeks later:
"Hi, I'm also a member of the Green Business Innovators group - would love to connect!".
Alas, I had to use the dreaded BLOCK button.
It is no secret that networking is the way to build up your practice, expand your options, and talk your way into that new job, especially if you are in a career transition. I believe, however, in the law of diminishing results. And crass attempts at outreach will eventually burn that bridge to the greener side--or any industry in which you are interested. My problem with many "green" professionals is that well . . . they lack professionalism. Perhaps in their minds, alternative ways of living and working mean they can interact alternatively, or since they are going "green" and saving the world, certain rules of decorum do not matter. I respectfully disagreen, I mean, disagree.
Let me share what works for me:
1) Keep your Facebook and LinkedIn networks separate. I generally limit Facebook to friends and family, while LinkedIn is for contacts and colleagues. I have a lot of overlap between both services, but I also have a great personal relationship with them, and trust them enough to not bombard me with spam, donation requests for woman dairy farmers in the Moldavian highlands, and carbon-neutral tango lessons. If you do add contacts to your Facebook account, remember that you can restrict their profiles, limiting what they see. Facebook is great for events, non-profits, and activism, while LinkedIn is far better for jobs, career advice, and educating yourself about the issues facing that green career to which you wish to aspire.
2) When you are reaching out to potential contacts, make them feel compelled to respond. Use the basic salutations you learned in third grade. Let them know you researched their background, and why you are reaching out.
3) Define how you're "green." Do you have a functional speciality that you think could work well in the green sector, whether it is talent management, marketing, or your technical background? Or are you particularly interested in renewable energy, waste management, or sustainability consulting? Make sure you know what you're talking about . . . and if you do not, relax: but make it clear you want an information interview and want to learn more about that space. In a few words, know who you are, why you are contacting them, and what you want to achieve.
4) Know why you are reaching out to that person. When folks out of the blue add me and I have no idea who they are, I usually respond like this:
"Thank you so much for reaching out. I'd love to talk to you and discuss how we could collaborate in the future."
I also write something like, "I'd rather have a 5 or 10 minute conversation because if someone among my LinkedIn contacts asks about you, I can paint a story and have a clear idea of what you are about."
By putting the ball in their court, I can figure out if these phantom contacts are really serious about "networking." Most of the time, I get zero response, so it is clear to me that they are a friend collector or a budding LinkedIn "LION." The ones who respond have almost always been positive additions to my networks, even if we only share an email exchange due to time constraints.
5) Follow up! After the phone conversation, meeting, or a long email exchange, I always follow up with a thank you note--and if possible, a real note sent through snail mail with a few of my business cards. I admit that I'm not as rigorous as going through my LinkedIn contacts as I could be: a simple tailored email every couple months or so, checking in and asking how they are, shows that you are serious about maintaining some level of relationship.
6) Always offer something. If I'm meeting that person for coffee, I will print some information on a story, organization, or technology of interest, or even a list of "green" organizations and their URLs. Sending links to sites with calendars of green-related events, as simple of a task as that may seem, has built me goodwill in the past. After the meeting, I will again send information that is helpful to them, even if it is something as simple as tips on using Twitter. The point is to show that you are offering value and are willing to help out in a pinch.
7) Don't spam! I'm always amused by the email lists that I end up on, whether it's a mysterious company peddling temporary CFOs, $10 makeovers with cosmetics not tested on animals, or a non-profit sustainably harvesting goji berries in Bhutan. Most people don't mind receiving emails from you if it is clear that you are thinking about them--but sending out blanket emails, especially if that contact did not opt-in to your emailing list, is plain obnoxious, no matter how profound your cause (or blog) is.
8) Never take anything personally. If you never get a response to your request to "connect," remember that the person may be distracted. In a down economy, everyone's time and focus are limited, and they may think you are not that serious. Remember the sales rules of 5: it may take that many outreaches over time to start a dialogue with that person. Some people respond better to phone calls, while others may just need to be contacted more than once. But if you have a compelling story, are respectful, and show you have tact, I have a feeling that the person you are seeking out will reciprocate.
Just understand that networking is more than having a collection of names. Having 100, heck, 50 decent contacts is better than 1000 people that have no idea who you are and never are in touch with you. I realized that three of my contacts were not worth any time when I saw that they were connected to Barack Obama on LinkedIn. These days, anyone can be a friend, a connection, and apparently, some can even walk and talk their way into a State Dinner at the White House . . . but not everyone can be your advocate. I have had contacts review my resume, give me career advice, place me on projects, and optimize my web site . . . while I have given information interview tips, written letters of recommendation, and linked up professionals in my network with others who work at their dream companies.
That give and take, in my view, is priceless, and is truly what networking is about.
If you have additional thoughts, I would love to hear them.
I realize it may be bad form to comment on one own’s posting, but I have one more point:
When someone adds me to FB or LI and I have no idea who they are, I ask where they found me, how they found me, or why they reached out to me–that usually breaks the ice! LK
I love this post, and agree with absolutely everything you have said. I’ve almost given up on LinkedIn recently due to the myriad MLM and spam marketers currently using the site!
I also can’t stand networkers on LinkedIn who click the “don’t know” button instead of simply ignoring the connection request. I only reach out to people that I either already know, or those that have something in common with me. I suppose they don’t realize the impact that might have. Or–there is always the possibility that they actually might want to negatively impact your ability to network. I hope that isn’t the case!
Since we’re on the subject of green networking, you might be interested in my blog: http://www.lizwalk.wordpress.com. I often write about green subjects you might find interesting. But, don’t worry. My feelings won’t be hurt if you choose not to read my blog or connect with me on LinkedIn!
Keep up the good work and interesting posts.
Liz
Great post. You sound like a very nice, level headed person! Don’t know if I have anything to offer…but am an architect getting into art image development. My foray into Green was the entry I did for the Hospitality Design competition for the Sustainable Suite…I posted it on my website and have had some views. I’d love to keep on with this, and need some help with this. Thanks for the post! Leslie
Thanks for this post. It’s good to review common sense rules because acting with sense often seems to go against instinct. I like that you have advice on responding to networking requests, in addition to advice for people trying to reach out.
There’s a lot to be learned from observing how you react to other people trying to network with you. Repeated requests to “keep me in mind for projects,” coming from someone who hasn’t convinced me that they could be at all helpful on such a project, is a turn-off. Have I made this mistake myself? Probably. But now that I’ve experienced this annoyance from the other end, I won’t do it again! Like you say, it’s best to come across like you’re offering something rather than demanding something.
So here’s my offering:
There’s a typo in the second sentence of #6: “a simple” should be “as simple.”
Hello all–I really appreciate your responses. I did not want to just go out in attack mode–I think most of us have good intentions, but in the age of 24/7 online information, all of this “networking” can be overwhelming . . . so that’s where a lot of the faux pas come from , in my view.
I’m off for an afternoon gig, but I will reach out to you individually, per my steps outlined in my posting
.
Maraya–thanks for the grammar alert–I usually write these out in Word, then upload into Google Docs, review them at least 3 times, so when these errors occur it drives me nuts! I skiped the Word step this time around, which was a mistake . . .
By the way, I got 4 invitations to connect with people who didn’t even reply to this post, and 1 asking me to partipate in an MLM scheme . . . so obviously my message didn’t resonate with everyone
Again, I’ll reach out individually within a day–oh yeah, and when you follow up, do it within 24 hours! Famous last words . . .
LK
Hi,
Very informative post. This has a good mix of things that are new ideas for me, and ideas about which it’s good to be reminded. I’d like to caution against using jargon. An acronym, MLM, appears not in the original post, but in the replies from Leslie and Leon, and remains unexplained. I believe the acronym may still be new enough to need some explanation.
Thanks,
K
This is a great post – thank you for sharing your tips!
I am a finance and operations consultant looking for opportunities with social and ecological impact, and this post has come along at a very appropriate time for me.
I have a question about point 6 though – I’ve read about “offering something in return” a number of times in articles regarding keeping in touch. I try do this but often feel like I’m sending a well-browsed link or other information that the person on the receiving end already has easy access to. How do you make it seem not trivial?
Thanks!
Anjali
Anjali:
Great question. First of all, I have a feeling you have more to offer than what you may think. You have a finance & ops background, so you bring a lot of value to these companies and non-profits. There are fewer of you than marketing and general “sustainability” professionals, so keep that in mind.
You can always preface your follow up with, “I’m not sure if you know about this, but” and send an article, link to an event, or some finance & ops site/blog/discussion.
The point is that you are already doing more than others who are simply collecting contacts . . . the way I collected stamps when I was a kid.
Feel free to reach out off-post. LK
Hi,
I love this post. I ‘ve got so much information. I am just starting to built my own green networking, especially because, I am in career transition and I expect to join the renewable energy business.
As I really have not my own method yet, I would follow your advices.
Thanks you for your great post.
Jean-Christophe
PS: thanks for your understanding about my english.
Excellent tips and information. I get on so many e-mail lists it is time to push the dreaded “unsubscibe” button on many. Most are not personal, they do not even know me but solicit me regularly without truly adding anything of value to my life and instead, stealing my time, dealing with e-mails.
Betty:
Thank you for your comment. I am with you 100% on the email newsletters. I have a subscribe feature on this site, and I often wonder if it’s really worth it. Personally, I’d rather have good content that will draw people to the site rather than just filling their emails . . .
J-Christophe:
I’m always happy to have professionals abroad on this site–I have posted a few postings related to France; hopefully you can find them! LK
Terrific post with great detail. Thanks for the work.
Another area of Linked In that can be difficult to navigate is the “Groups” feature. I have joined a number of Groups related to clean technology and have found the quality of the groups, and the “discussions” or “news” posted to the group pages, to vary widely. Do you have any advice on contributing to Linked In Groups?
For example, I work for Pike Research, a cleantech market research firm, and we frequently have news articles and press releases that I publish to our website. I’ve also posted this type of content to various Linked In Groups in the past, but always feel weird about posting the same information/article to multiple groups. I think our Pike Research content is quite good and informative, but I still don’t want to be perceived as spamming fellow Group members.
Thanks again for speaking the truth and maybe I’ll see you on Linked In.
Matt
Responding to the poster who wanted to know what MLM means – Multi-Level Marketing, unkindly known as pyramid schemes. The term has been around longer than the internet.
When I run onto an acronym I don’t know, I just do a search on it and add the word “define.” Unless it has a hundred possibilities, I find an answer.
I also ask an unknown would-be connection how they found me and why they want to connect. Sometimes I can just tell by their profile, however, that we are on similar missions, so I accept the invitation.
Cheers!
Leon,
I enjoyed reading your article about green networking, through the LinkedIn link. It does seem like civility and common sense have taken a vacation in the networking world. All networks are a give and take situation and I always offer to help others in anyway that I can. I am a LEED AP with twenty years of sales experience in the building materials industry who is currently laid off.
Thank you again for your comments, they were greatly appreciated by many.
Best Regards,
Great post Leon, a very current reflection on what is happening in the new world of online networking.
Particularly enjoyed your comment on the lack of rules of decorum — this phenomenon is probably not confined to green industries, my view it is fairly common everywhere online, where people seem to think basic rules of human interaction do not apply…
Thank you again
Regarding offering help of some kind, here are a few additional tips that I’ve gleaned from others:
1) Make something easy for your recipient – rather than just tell them about a great (restaurant for their meeting), include a link to the website and brief details (such as hours, phone and address.)
2) Also include context. This helps them know right away what your help applies to, and to find the information again later. (mention the organization that is meeting, and why that restaurant might be better than some other one.) Use only 1 sentence.
3) If sending an article, include a 2-3 sentence synopsis of why it would be helpful to them. Ideally it takes 10 seconds for them to learn of a new idea, and if they need detail it’s easy to pursue.
These all require knowing something about your recipient. Most people are flattered that you paid attention. And, you’ll be thought of as a person who adds something valuable. We all prefer to work with people who fit that description.
Hope this helps!
I’m not shilling, but I wrote a E book about using LI in particular to network to your next job. It was based on my experience, which was positive. One of the best tips I can offer is when searching for information on a particular company, first reach out to people that worked there in the past. They respond fast and are very honest.
Bill
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