Nashville Networking: Lessons learned from "New Business Networking"

I thought I knew a lot about networking until I read the book,  New Business Networking, by Dave Delaney. Seriously, my friends refer to me as the "queen of networking" in Nashville. Of course, I don't  claim to know everyone or everything, but I have met a few people along the way in creating and growing  Social Media Club Nashville.

Dave Delaney, author of New Business Neworking

New Business Networking has tons of stats mixed in with tips on using the latest social media and web tools. It is also peppered with stories of Dave's networking journey in Nashville. Similar to Dave, I made my way to Nashville via Jackson, TN and networked to meet friends who later ended up becoming co-workers. Small world!

I often refer to Nashville as a big small town where you are two degrees of separation from anyone you want to meet. I enjoy being a connector of people, organizing Social Media club Nashville events, and bouncing ideas off of others as I guide my Marketing career.

I'm pretty skilled at networking (if I do say so myself) but there's always more to learn!

Nashville's Thinkers and Doers: 2 Degrees of Separation

Nashville, TN is a big small town, which according to The New York Times article, "Nashville's Latest Big Hit Could Be the City Itself", is the new "darling" of the nation. Yep, they like us, they really like us!

For me, Nashville is the land of opportunity. A place to connect with like-minded folks, share ideas, and make S**T happen.

Just this week, I was sitting in a Social Media Nashville (@smcnash) planning meeting - doing the above mentioned, when a Tweet came across from @AAFNashville: Nashville's ‪@davedelaney‬ is speaking now on BlogTalkRadio with ‪@DebCE‬ here - ‪http://ow.ly/gGvlD ‬ He's mentioned ‪@crossga‬ ‪@NashvilleAMA‬.

Flattered and curious, I tweeted to Dave to send me a link to the podcast.

Marketers: Get Your Head Out of the Sand and Into the Digital Age!

Throughout this Summer, I have been networking and interviewing with several Nashville-based companies only to find that I seem to be “on another level” than the typical corporate marketer in my approach to an integrated marketing strategy that uses technological trends to deliver relevant content to customers.

Forgive me while I step onto my soapbox and shout for a second:

If you are a “Marketing Director” or “Marketing Manager” in today’s technology, consumer-driven marketplace, it’s your freakin’ job to understand how digital and social media marketing fit into the landscape of who you are marketing to and how your marketing messages are being communicated.  It’s just another part of the marketing mix.

Lessons from a LinkedIn FAIL

Today I received the following message from someone requesting to connect with me on the social network, LinkedIn. (NOTE: Actual names and numbers have been changed for the purposes of this demonstration).

I will dissect the email and point out why this is a FAILED attempt at networking, and then I will show examples of how to send a LinkedIn request that has proven to be successful in my experience.

Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive: My 2009 Highlights

I’ve been reflecting upon the positive things that happened to me this year, despite being in the job market twice this year due to the economic times and nature of the advertising industry. I’ve managed to be pretty productive, even between jobs. I am thankful for the successes I’ve had and the friendships I’ve made through networking in 2009. Here’s a recap of my year:

- Received American Advertising Federation (AAF) Nashville’s President’s award for my contribution in rebranding the ad club’s website, email newsletter, and creating social networking sites for the organization. I’ve had my eye on that trophy for a couple of years…so it was a personal victory to have my name etched on it!

- Co-Founded Social Media Club Nashville with Jessica Murray, who I met at Dave Delaney’s Geek Breakfast. We had several successful, well attended meetings of SMC Nashville, including topics on Social Media’s use for non-profits, healthcare, and Nashville Predators. I’ve met so many people with the same interest in social media and marketing!

Networking when Networking wasn’t Cool

I was networking when social networking wasn’t cool. (To the tune of “I was Country When Wasn’t Cool”) - hey, I live in Nashville- what do you expect?!

I came to Nashville in 2002 with one goal -to work in advertising- and no clue how to make it happen. I read a few career books about networking and working in the advertising field. They all said to set up informational interviews to get to know the companies and the people who run them.

There were no social networks like LinkedIn, Facebook, and Twitter (if they existed, I didn’t know about them). At the time, I didn’t even have a computer or the internet. All I had was a phone, a phone book, and a determined attitude.

Spotlight on Social Fresh’s, Jason Keath

Who is Jason Keath, what is Social Fresh, and why should you care?

I first heard about Social Fresh a few months ago. As part of Social Media Club Nashville, I wanted to get involved in this social media conference that was announced to be coming to Nashville, TN January 11, 2010. I volunteered to help out with the event and promoted it through Facebook and Twitter. 

It wasn’t until a few weeks ago that I really did a double-take on the magnitude of national connections to the social media and advertising industries Social Fresh’s founder, Jason Keath, has. I was reading ADRANTS, a popular ad industry pop-culture bog, created by Steve Hall- that I’ve been following for at least five years. There was Jason Keath, Chris Brogan (who I met when he came to Nashville to talk about his social media book, Trust Agents), and Steve Hall in a feature article about a Social Fresh Cruise for the who’s who of social media. That put Jason Keath on my radar, so I called him up to get more info about Social Fresh and what he hopes to bring to Nashville's advertising and marketing community.

Be the Robin Hood of your Social Network

Robin Hood took from the rich and gave to the poor. You can do this as well, with your networking contacts.

I view the quantity and quality of my connections on social networking sites as pieces of gold. The more connections I have, the more personal brand wealth I have and the more people want to connect with me.  The secret to successful networking is to spread the "wealth" and put some "gold" into the pockets of your contacts. 

I am fortunate enough to have met some great people while attending professional events, mixers, and conferences.  Here are just a few of the things that I have found to be successful through networking online and offline:  

When you meet someone at a business event: 

• Always get a business card and immediately follow up with an email within 48 hours.
• Connect on social networks- search their name on Facebook and LinkedIn and send them a request to connect. They almost always will accept.