I gotta be quite honest... I think I hit it out of the ballpark with this post for IowaBiz.com.  It's very timely in many cases, but to me it holds true no matter what industry you're in:

I often get the question: "Who are your competitors?"  My response usually gets odd reactions and/or a muffled comment that I think sounds like "Yea. Right. You're ignorant."  I could be wrong though.  They may be saying "You're right. You're excellent." Most of the time I never know.

My response to the question is always: "Nobody. I don't view anyone as competition."  I'll give some time to mumble something and then I'll give my reasoning...

In todays world, the marketplace is highly competitive and always changing. Because of this, businesses need to be connected to various types of resources.  Businesses that stand alone and are unwilling to collaborate with 'competitors' may miss an opportunity to grow strategically and/or financially.

Here is a real world example: My first job was with Country Insurance and Financial Services. I lived, worked and played in Plymouth, MN and I conveniently joined Country at the beginning of an acquisition.  Very difficult, but a great learning experience.  Early on in my practice I realized that I was not going to write every policy to every person I met.  So... I began looking for agents that directly competed with me.  I soon developed a trusted group of insurance agents that had the exact same products, only different descriptions.

If a potential client would say, "You're $300 more than my current rate!" I would say "Okay. Let me give you some names and numbers of others that I know and trust and see how they compare" instead of saying, "Yea, but I'll be the best darn agent you've ever had!" Let's face it... even I'm not going to pay $3600 more per year because I can call my agent on his cell to tell him "Hey. I just drove my truck in the lake."

This is a collaborative selling process based upon networking with the right people.  It's not a new concept, but because the marketplace & practitioners within different industries changes so quickly; businesses and business owners must be able to utilize each other to add value to potential customers.  You may just find that potential leads you 'lose' will come back to you (with friends) in the long run.

Well... today is a special day for me.  And no, it's not because it's my birthday... as a matter of fact, I'm willing to bet that I didn't even remember it was my birthday today.  Nope, today's special because I'm sitting up at Anderson's Lodge in northern Ontario catching fish and having fun.  Looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back though!

My luck I've been ejected from the boat and have to survive the wilderness with nothing but the clothes on my back and my vague memories of Bear Grills on Discovery Channel.  Wish me luck if that's the case.

Okay... Here's part 2 of the Personality of Networking... Just think Art, right now I've probably already hooked into some big walleyes, pikes and musky!

Part 2:

So... How do you blog when you have no Internet connection and no desire to think about work?... You re-post some thoughts from IowaBiz.com...

With that said, here is my first post for IowaBiz.com:

It's been my experience as a networker/connector that there are several pieces to the overall puzzle often referred to as connectivity.  One piece of this puzzle revolves around the personality traits of a successful networker.

Two basic characteristics within a personality that make for an effective networker are Attitude & Motivation.  First, we'll focus on a networking attitude.

Attitude
I broadly define attitude in this case as, 'any person that recognizes their strengths and weaknesses and utilizes them to achieve success in their personal practice.' In my opinion, it is important to recognize early-on what you don't know and surround yourself with the expertise you need to grow. 

Over the past three years, I have seen the following attitudes in effective networkers:

• Fearless - It takes courage to walk into a group of people and introduce yourself to others.  In many cases, someone that is unwilling or unable to approach a group may miss an opportunity for collaboration.  Sometimes a group may seem unapproachable, but in reality the group is in a comfort zone that will make them MORE approachable.  In order to find this out, you have to step outside of your personal comfort zone and make that determination.

• Light Heart - Life can and will throw you curve-balls.  Think back to a time you've met with someone and instantly knew they were having a bad day and couldn't care about anything you had to say.  Did you want to force a conversation that you knew they didn't want to have?  An effective networker is often able to hide their negative emotions (if only for an hour) in order to produce results from a conversation.  An effective networker can also utilize their positive attitude to brighten the other's day.

• Opportunist - It is of high importance to see opportunity when it is not readily apparent.  In a situation that has signs of little promise, an effective networker should be armed with open-ended questions that can lead to a potential opportunity (if not for them, then for someone else).  These questions can be as simple as: “Where are you from?”, “What is your passion?”, or “Does your neighbor have rabbits?”  Some of the best meetings come from those that show no signs of opportunity.  Many times questions can disarm a tense conversation and produce great results.

By recognizing different characteristics of your attitude, your odds for success will be increased as you move into the networking process.

It's Wednesday, June 13th and I'm sitting in my office with sandals, jeans and a t-shirt on.  I'm pretty excited and nervous all at the same time.  I'm wondering what it's going to be like without a phone for 11 days... If you don't know, I am taking a trip to the ABI Convention in Okoboji and then heading to Canada for my first extended vacation in 3 years.

Sure, I've taken a day off here and a day off there... but those technically don't count as a vacation.  Oh and I always had my phone on me.  Therein lies my challenge... How do I survive without a phone for that extended period of time?

I think I can answer my own question and overcome the challenge... I am going to take a breath, soak in the sun and set the hook on several walleye and northern! (Normally, I would relate this into a business scenario that said something like 'it's okay to take a step back from your business and then take a fresh approach going forward' but I'm not going to today!)

I'm excited to leave, but I'm looking forward to seeing everyone when I get back!