Keith Ferrazzi gave a phenomenal talk about Networking: Relationships for Revenue at the TiECON 2004. Keith is Founder and CEO of Ferrazzi Greenlight and his upcoming book is on “You Can’t Get There Alone.” Ferrazzi is a frequent contributor to CNN and CNBC, Forbes, Inc, the Wall Street Journal and Harvard Business Review.

Ferrazzi is a net worker, a great net worker and according to some, the best of all. Since his childhood, he has thought hard about people who succeed and those who don’t. He believes that business is a game and one needs to play well to win, and one who know most people well, often wins.

Ferrari gave an extempore talk for nearly an hour and a half. He started on a light note by asking the audience to pick one of the shapes: a circle, a triangle, a square or the letter Z. His conclusion, avoid the people who chose Z. The ‘square’ people are process oriented, the ‘triangle’ people are ruthless and want to get to the top at any cost and finally the ‘circle’ people are the ones that think beyond boundaries.

“Everyone is self employed,” said Ferrazzi and in order to succeed, it is important to follow certain principles. For a start, have a mission for networking; don’t network for the sake of networking. The key is to know the right kind of people and there is no way of networking with the right kind of people unless you know your mission and the blue flame that excites you in life!

“Don’t keep scores,” said Ferrazzi. In order to get what you want you often have to first give people what they want and that often means fixing up people with one another.

According to him, “Networking is nothing but building trust and build it before you need it.” For example, if one is looking for a job and is starting to network, it is too late. One should have been networking before, and when one needs a job it is time to call them and say, this is what I want from you.

The two major obstacles in networking are: Time, and Shyness. As far as time is concerned, Ferrazzi discussed the need to maximize the investment of time spent at the conference and asked the audience, how many had looked at the list of speakers, and there were more 100 hands. He then asked how many had circled the names of speakers they wanted to listen, and there were a couple of dozen hands. He then asked how many had made a list of people they wanted to meet and there were a couple of hands. Finally he asked how many people had ‘googled’ them, sent them an email prior to the event and/or left a message for them at the hotel, and there was complete silence. He also talked about how people usually waste their time talking on the cell phones while on break. “Breaks are the times when you should be networking, not calling,” said Ferrazzi. With respect to shyness, all he had to say was “Get Over It” and always ask. “You don’t get what you don’t ask for. Also most people feel good when the are asked, so give them that opportunity,” said Ferrazzi.

Finally, make sure that your social calendar is full. Always try to eat lunch with someone. At dinners, invite people whom you would like to get to know along with someone you know, who knows him or her!!

Overall, an excellent and focused talk from which you could walk out with lots of good tips.

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