The Sex Advisors

You will most probably have seen mention of Mr. Naveen Jain the CEO and co-founder of Intelius, Inc. the company offering background checks and public records services. In addition to having made the Forbes list “400 Richest in America” 2000, this prosperous entrepreneur has received various notable awards, foremost the WSA Industry Achievement Award, the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award, and the Albert Einstein Technology Medal. Yet it certainly doesn’t finish here. For Naveen Jain and his kin are by the same token as ardent about philanthropy and will try to assist wherever possible. All our anticipations for the years to come are manifested in our youth. Naveen Jain also views children as the deserving focus point of his enterprises, and he makes the best of every occasion he sees to assist them. This, too, is the chief reason why he is always unfailingly exploiting every opening available to offer support if it seems viable. Consequently, Naveen Jain, his kin and the staff at Intelius devote their time and efforts to various philanthropical entities such as United Way, the University of Washington, and the Indian American Education Foundation. Naturally, they will offer a great amount of pecuniary aid, but most importantly, they pledge a lot of time and attention to those kids who require it the most. Beyond this, he helps sponsor the Children’s Hospital, endeavoring to meliorate the condition of children’s health. With Jain being a graduate of the Indian Institute of Technology and XLRI Jamshedpur, it’s hardly astounding that education constitutes a crucial hub in his humanitarian works. This also incorporates movements and charitable organizations that can range from neighborhood programs to the international. Thus Intelius and its CEO are assisting voluntary organizations and humanitarian entities e.g. the University Preparatory Academy, the Children’s Hospital and the Overlake Service League. Getting foodstuffs to the underdogs of the world is another central goal for Jain and those around him and it makes no difference at all to him whether it is a child in India or Darfur, or an old homeless woman in Houston or Islamabad requiring help. Although he is conscious that the job of locating provisions for all the planet’s unnourished is a staggering one, he is also cognizant that the unachievable can actually be positively achievable when the whole world struggles towards a common end. If this CEO gets his way, there will come a final conclusion to destitution and malnourishment on this planet at some point. Most if not all people might believe that being the man in charge of a spectacularly successful business and a devoted spouse and father to boot would provide him practically no resources for donating and support. Nonetheless Naveen makes certain that every one of his charitable endeavors will gets all the support he can possibly muster. To wrap it up, this high spirited man is undeniably a lot more than the familiar maverick of industry. He is, beyond that, also a unique personality and a true community benefactor.

For those of you interested in international business transactions or the business networking organization, LinkedIn, a new Yahoo groups discussion forum has been created. Several Yahoo discussion groups already exist on the uses and preferences concerning LinkedIn, such as the Yahoo Group forum called MyLinkedin Power Forum (MLPF), but the messages on that forum were biased. The moderator of MLPF censored opposing points of view. He is the type of person who would criticize a group member’s message, but not let that member respond to his criticism. In many respects, the MLPF and forums like it were just plain boring: a large cacophony of disjointed and disconnected messages on everything from trolling for people with the same last name to using LinkedIn to advertise products or services.

The MLPF forum has a minority core group of people who do not advocate open networking and who resist requests to expand their networks or make LinkedIn a more useful reference tool — which the latest revision accomplished. Now users of the LinkedIn system can learn profile details about the 3.3 million members of LinkedIn outside their own small networks; however, contact names and e-mail addresses are omitted. One way to make the system more transparent is to include e-mail addresses in the “name” and “job information” fields on Linkedin. That way users outside a person’s network can still locate contact details on that user.

As I scanned the messages on alternative LinkedIn forums for the past two weeks, I did not learn anything new about (1) taking care of my network, (2) profiting from my networking, or (3) communicating better and faster with less stress. It is hard to teach an old dog new tricks. Instead of trying to reform one or more of the existing LinkedIn discussion forums, we created a new forum with a more investment banking, law, and tax flavor content.

Our new forum, which is called Linkedin_High_Power_Dealmakers, focuses on making deals, whether structured finance transactions, project finance, placing key personnel in companies, finding teaming partners, trends in the economic and financial marketplace, and the like. Members of this Yahoo forum believe that expanding business networks to reach out to strangers is a great idea. We reject the (old-fashioned, European) mentality that we will only exchange greetings and discuss business with someone to whom we have received a formal introduction. Unlike other Yahoo groups focused on Linkedin, our new forum will discourage two-bit opinions about special features of Linkedin or non-business uses, such as searching for old friends who attended high school with a given user. We have less discussion about Linkedin itself, and more discussion of deal making (using Linkedin or other tools). In fact, we provide honest comparisons of contacts made through openBC, Ryze.com, and Linkedin, and which one offers a better networking service for high-powered professionals.

This group is devoted to using the web-based Linkedin.com system to expand business and professional contacts for purposes of making deals: new business financing, finding new business partners, project finance, outsourcing staff needs, professional services, management consulting, recruiting key personnel, and the usual panoply of domestic and international business transactions. Some of our members joined because of the one-sided and biased nature of discussion forums such as MLPF. These forums seem riddled with double standards and hypocrisy, not to mention the bulk of the messages are just plain boring.

Examples of current message threads including an opportunity to invest in a movie deal; people interested in sponsoring business ties to Romania, Hungary, Poland, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia; mergers and acquisitions in the U.S. energy industry; 50 jobs available in the energy industry; best business practices in obtaining small business financing, and much more.

On Fridays, we welcome parodies of comments made on other LinkedIn discussion forums, particularly MLPF. We have a little fun with these parodies as we get ready for weekend breaks.

Michael A. S. Guth is a trilingual (English, German, French) qualified transactional lawyer and financial manager with fifteen years experience and legal expertise in the areas of mergers, acquisitions, and divestitures; securities regulation and hedge fund creation; and deal structuring / business transactions. To further compliment his legal skill set Michael is an experienced investment banker having worked within the top tier investment banks, namely Credit Suisse First Boston and Deutsche Bank, working with an international clientele. He played an instrumental role in developing an index-tracking fund and answered technical questions on fund management marketing calls. He advised clients on pre-IPO investments, stock repurchases, and using structured finance products to manage risk. Previously directed the risk management and financial control groups for two trading floors. Contact him through web page http://riskmgmt.biz/economist.htm

Networking is one of the most important skills a person can attain to be successful… in anything. I only recently realized that people don’t know how to do it. Or they are uncomfortable with it and I think to myself are you crazy? Networking has always come natural to me. As a matter of fact, I was networking even before the word or idea became popular among business professionals. Perhaps it was because when I was a kid I would sometimes go along with my Dad on a Saturday on his business route. He was a merchant wholesaler, selling fresh meat to butchers. My Dad was a natural networker in the sense that he could build rapport quickly, he always followed through on what he said he would do, and he knew how to size up an individual in an instant. If alive today, he would just look at me puzzled and say networking, hogwash, what the heck is that, what I do is just plain old-fashioned getting things done.

He’s right actually, we all have to network in our lives whether it’s for business or at home or at the tire store or the butcher shop or church. When we network, we do something plain and simple, we get to know people, when they know us and they like us, they’re more willing to help us. And come on…we all need help from time to time. Except for today, our lives are much more complex than in the days when my dad was peddling meat to the neighborhood stores. We live in an environment that comes to us from all sides and we sometimes have a hard time keeping up. We also live in an age where things go faster, cars, computers, airplanes, the internet and we have to keep up with that too.

Networking doesn’t have to be difficult. I know there are many books written on the subject and seminars that you can take and meetings you can go to. Those are all good of course, but networking is a simple process that involves a simple concept. Awareness.

Networking does require skills and developing those skills but the most important skill is simple Awareness. All the relationship and rapport building or whatever else you try won’t add up to a hill of beans if you don’t develop your Awareness skills. Each of these ideas are important, and they create the foundation on which to build a solid networking base, but Awareness is key.

What does it mean to be aware? Most people trot through life eyes opened and they can’t see or ears cleaned and they can’t hear. Awareness is a special ability, it is the subtly of life, the in-betweens so to speak. Awareness requires patience and practice. The beauty of it is, is that once developed, it naturally grows with you. Awareness means many things to many people and that is the secret. Developing a style for awareness takes years and years of practice and it’s different for everybody. But you can also learn it in an instant, it only takes one moment to change your attitude about something.

For some, developing awareness is a spiritual connection, for others it’s honing in on the details and developing a good sense of things, for others it’s practicing memory skills, how to remember someone’s name or the clothes they wore or the particular sport they like to watch. The successful Networker has awareness acumen and it’s what allows one to develop in all areas of one’s life. It is what gives one an edge in business and a sparkle for life. Folks who have developed this skill, as crazy as it sounds, have funerals that are largely attended, they are remembered by all the people they meet throughout their life whether it was for a simple business transaction, a major business transaction or a major health challenge. They are not remembered because of the Mercedes they drove or how large their home was, but for the way they touched other people’s hearts.

These folks enjoy the simple connection with people that produce complex results. They walk with intention, share themselves, listen to others, smile and say hello. These people pay attention to what the other person is saying or doing, rather than focusing on what they want to say or do. They have developed good listening skills, they are using two ears and only one mouth.

Dale Carnegie simply puts is best by saying “Become genuinely interested in other people” it’s one of the principles that the Dale Carnegie training teaches in order to get people to like you. When you use someone’s name, “it’s music to their ears” also says Dale Carnegie.

It is also important to understand the value of connection. Honestly one can make a connection with anyone just by using a little genuine interest. But if you want to become a successful networker, lose the ego and learn how to celebrate others. You’ll come out winning everytime.
Here are some quick tips to help you get started

• Smile more. Say hello to strangers, play a game with yourself on your walk into that you’re going to say hello to at least three people today. After a while those people will just expect your hello and maybe they have that one piece of information you’re looking for to complete your next project.

• Notice. Next time you’re talking to your co-worker or spouse remember what they’re wearing. See if later in the day you can recall what they have on in your own mind, blue shirt tan pants. As you get better at this you’ll develop your ability to not only notice the unnoticable but you’ll also exercise your memory skills.

• Ask. Don’t be afraid to ask for a business card from someone you have encountered. Don’t let that meeting be a fleeting moment, capture it in a business card. Make a note on the back of the card when you get to where you’re going so that you remember why and when you met this person. Your chance meeting with them may come in handy one day.

• Be sincere. If you’re not ready to give your 120 percent than don’t.

All in all networking can be a simple game you play with yourself and when you realize that you’re in the winning column more often, it’ll be a fun game.

Jackie Harper is a marketing professional and personal chef. She is working on a book project and collecting stories for a different kind of cook book. If you are interested in sharing a story or learning more, please visit her website at http://www.cookingwithintention.com or email her at jharper1713@yahoo.com

Networking is a productive activity. But to benefit the productivity to its full extent you should network the way you would organize other activities.

There is a difference between networking and selling. Networking might be familiar to selling, but it is different in the fact that sales is dedicated to a specific service (that you offer in this case). When you network you do not sell something, but you rather match.
Networking is about exchanging information and knowledge. You could exchange information about (other) people, about you, or even about information and knowledge about specific topics.

The goal of networking is to find a match. And this always includes two sides: You and the group, or you and the other.

Think for this last example about dating someone, and you communicate about mutual interests. The better the match, the more of a chance that both agree in a next step.

So if networking is about matching, you should focus on moving in networks where your input is feasible to match.

If you enter a business network that is focused on information and contribution of specific knowledge and you are in for just knowing people and socializing, the match chances are poor.

If you enter a group or business network that is focused on referrals and your input is knowledge the chances are also minor.

Networking is possible at any time, but most networking events are not really productive. They are if you are focused.

© 2006 Hans Bool

Hans Bool is the founder of Astor White a traditional management consulting company that offers online management advice. Astor Online solves issues in hours what normally would take days.
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