Summary: This is a rebroadcast of Episode 50. Synopsis How do you avoid people whose only interest in networking is âWhat's in it for me?â Look for the signs of people who believe in giving as part of networking: They ask how they can help youâand really mean itâbefore they ask you for anything. They show that they're willing to work on creating a professional relationship over time. Those who make the time to go beyond normal business interactions. They try to bring business and contacts to you before asking for your contacts. They give of their time and knowledge to help their referral sources succeed. Immerse yourself in the process of relationship building: Join multiple networking groups, so you can have both breadth and depth Meet with people frequently and regularly. Meet with people outside of networking functions. Remember: it's not what you know, or who you know, but how well you know them. Brought to you by Networking Now. Complete Transcription of BNI Podcast Episode 050 - Priscilla Rice: Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast which is brought to you by networkingnow.com, the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio, which is a beautiful studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and Chairman of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello Ivan. How are you? Ivan Misner: I am doing great, Priscilla. Thank you very much. Priscilla: Tell us a little bit about this topic, âwhatâs in it for me?â I've: âWhat's in it for me?â It's a great lead in to the topic. It's based on the fact that I recently received an e-mail from someone who read an article that I wrote about collaboration and working together. In his e-mail, he said, âThe type of networking that you talk about describes the way that things should work but in the real world, people seem to have an attitude of âwhat's in it for me?â How do I prevent this and prevent wasting my time and efforts on people only to find out they have this kind of attitude?â Well, the short answer to his question is stop hanging out with the wrong kind of people and start actively seeking the right kind of people. Trust me, I've been there and I've done it. You can really get stuck with the wrong people. In order to move beyond it to build the kind of network that you want, you have to understand that it is a journey not a destination. It's something that you're going to be constantly working on. I have two suggestions to help find the networking partners little easier. Here is the first suggestion and it has about six sub points to it. The first one is look for some of the signs relating to people who fit the profile of good networkers. If you want to stay away from the people who are just thinking âWhat's in it for me?â, look for the signs of people who believe in giving as part of their networking, even though they may not know the philosophy of BNI and the givers gain philosophy, they may practice that same kind of idea in their business and in their life. Here are some things to look for. Look for people who ask how they can help you or what they can offer you and really mean it before they ask you for anything. Very often, you meet people and the very first thing that they want you to do is they want you to buy something or they want you to refer them to someone. Well, that is not a good sign usually. It's not necessarily a sign you definitely don't want to do business with them, but it is a flag of the âwhat's in it for me?â mentality. If they open up a conversation with âHow can I help you?â or âWhat can I do to help you?â That is a good sign. None of these are necessarily deal killers from the beginning but they are all series of flags. In the United States, we have American football and every time someone does something wrong,
