This is a presentation I gave at Rocky Mountain Promotional Products Regional Association on networking at events as well as linkedin. The stories and details are delivered live but this is a good overview of the content.

1. PROFESSIONAL NETWORKING
• Power of Networking
• Offline Strategies
• Online Strategies using LinkedIn
• All slides available at www.slideshare.net/therealdaledenham
• People don’t like to be sold, but they love to buy. Jeffrey Gitomer

2. WHO I AM

3. NETWORKING RULES
• Giving without expectation
• Be interested and be interesting
•Smile

4. NETWORKING
Can be
hard

5. DOES IT WORK?
• Received this email this morning:
• I just recently tried to ramp up my networking through Twitter
and Linked. I'm anxious to learn more tips.
• I have gained 200 new connections in less than 2 weeks. Lots
of good leads. What had been real exciting is the amount of
great connections (CEO's, VP's & Director's of Marketing,
Communications Directors, etc) that have reached out to me
with invites to connect.

6. SPEAKING IN NEW ORLEANS

7. GOAL
•Write down 5 names of
people you want to
meet, right now.

8. PICK PROPER OPPORTUNITIES
•Alumni association
•Professional groups
•Meetup.com

9. IN PERSON
•Look great
•Feel great

10. HAVE A NAP – NETWORK ACTION PLAN
•Meet 3 new people
•Learn something new
•Start 5 conversations

11. DO YOUR HOMEWORK
•Check LinkedIn for who is connected
•Check twitter for related tweets
•Check event website
•Know the language

12. EVENTS AND BEYOND

13. ALWAYS
•Carry business cards & a great
promotional item
• Tell your clients to do the same!

14. AND A…
•Whatzit

15. TAKE NOTES
•Back of business card
•OneNote voice recording

16. DREADED ELEVATOR PITCH
•What is your
role and why
do you love
it?

17. ICE BREAKER
• Venue
• Food
• Apple watch
• Blog you read (ideally theirs)
• Avoid politics, religion, etc.

18. OPEN ENDED QUESTIONS
•“What brought you to CO?”
rather than “How long have
you lived in CO?”

19. COMMON INTERESTS
Did you do your homework?

20. BE YOURSELF. BE AUTHENTIC
•What are you known for?

21. SILENCE THE VOICES

22. PAY ATTENTION TO BODY LANGUAGE
•Yours
•&
•Theirs

23. STORIES ARE POWERFUL & MEMORABLE

24. NEVER EAT ALONE

25. NEVER STAND ALONE

26. EXIT GRACEFULLY
•“How can I stay in contact?”
• If you mean it.

27. FOLLOW UP
Within 2-3 days
• Connect On LinkedIn
• Send email
• Stay in touch
• Twitter
• LinkedIn
• Emailing appropriate articles
• Schedule time to do this

28. FINAL “OFFLINE” TIP
• Connect with
•strategic partner
• (non competing)

29. GREAT TIPS

30. 5 MORE NAMES OR POSITIONS

31. LINKEDIN
•Technology Is Just A Tool

32. PAID SUBSCRIPTION?

33. FREE WORKS FOR ME

34. HIDE YOUR CONTACTS?

35. WHO WOULD YOU SELECT?
The P.O.P. Shop and it's team of marketing superheroes
provides creative printing and unique promotional products to
build brands. The superhero-themed promotions firm blends
creative printing, packaging, promotions and branded products
to build respected brands. The company can design and
develop powerful direct mail, sales kits, point-of-purchase
programs, promotions or internal branding. A single source
allows clients to get back to marketing and growing their brand
rather than managing multiple vendors. The P.O.P. Shop’s
creative marketing expertise is where clients will find the most
added value, and view the team of superheroes as an extension
of their marketing department.
19 written recommendations
I have known Sonya for over 15 years. She is my go-to person
for any promotional products as she is fast, responsive, always
on time, on top of every detail, and I can count on her to ensure
everything is perfect and in budget!
• No endorsements
• No recommendations
• No Bio

36. CUSTOMER CENTRIC PROFILE
Expanded the company into the [] market
Aggressively grew the [] area sales from $0 to over $125,000 in just 8 months
Day to day includes cold calls, creating a marketing strategy, managing advertising budget, setting
appointments, meeting with customers, creating product ideas that are a win - win for [] and the customer,
quoting the project, closing the deal, collecting payment and asking for referrals
Successfully manage the balance between rush orders, delivery deadlines, new orders and any obstacles
along the way
Obviously NOT customer centric!

37. PROSPECTS RESEARCH YOU
As your consultant, I will work with you:
- to ensure products meet current safety guidelines
- to keep you up to date on new products and events
- to get the best return on your promotional investment
- research unique ideas for your event, theme and budget
- grow your sales by helping you plan effective promotions
- create programs to motivate employees through
recognition, incentives and awards
- draw people into your trade show booth with creative give-
a-ways
- select gifts to thank your employees, customers and
vendors
- source custom products overseas and domestically
- create a Uniform program for your staff
and more..........!!!
• 9 recommendations
July 2010 – Present.
I specialize in promotional merchandise branding. I
manage corporate accounts in a variety of
industries, i.e. healthcare, transportation,
advertising, agriculture, education, hospitality, real
estate and much more! I source products overseas
and domestically to find creative solutions for
promotional merchandising products that work
with my customers' brand, event, theme, budget
and marketing goals. My goal is to help you find
the right items to maximize your brand and
advertising potential. Whatever the item...apparel,
pens, executive gifts, trade show give-a-ways,
awards, decals, drinkware, food items, bags,
etc.......Here at Geiger, we want your brand to
inspire others and I can help you do this effectively
and with peace of mind.....it's called
Brandspiration!

38. THE HEADLINE
• Not your title!

39. YOUR PICTURE
• Make it professional and visible
• Focus on the face
• Look appropriate for $50,000 meeting

40. LINKED WEBSITES

41. ENDORSEMENTS
• Endorse connections regularly

42. ENDORSEMENT NOTIFICATION

43. RECOMMENDATIONS
• Recommend 1 client quarterly (give)
• Ask for recommendations (get)
• Not people you recommended

45. CONTENT ON YOUR BIO

46. You have a great profile,
so what now?

47. CREATE WARM LEADS

48. BUILDING YOUR NETWORK
Focus on people you really know!

49. ACCEPT THIS CONNECTION?
• The favor test:
• Would you do a favor for this person, or ask a favor of
them?

50. INTRODUCTIONS
• Include a short paragraph of how you would like to be introduced
• Specify why you want to be introduced
• Be appreciative

51. INMAIL
• Use sparingly
• Still seen as SPAM

52. INMAIL SUCCESS STORY

53. LINKEDIN GROUPS?
• Target the right group
• Many groups waste time, all selling
• Get involved
• Ask & answer questions
• Share resources
• Start meaningful conversations
• Contact with other members

54. LINKEDIN “CONTACTS”

55. RESEARCH. ALWAYS!
• Research your prospects
• Before every call/meeting
• On every network
• Background including jobs & education
• Latest status updates
• Important dates
• Common connections
• Always. Always. Always.

56. DIG DEEPER
• Decision influencers
• Related industries
• Multiple points of
entry

57. JOB CHANGES
• A great reason to reach out

58. PROSPECTING
• Cold calling stinks
• Higher ROI with leveraged connections
• Look for shared connections
• Find leads & get idea of the prospect
• Initiate offline conversations

59. A TALE OF A GREAT SALES INTRODUCTION

60. CONNECTING WITH LINKEDIN
• Common
• Location
• School
• Group

62. POWER TIP – ENGAGE VIEWERS

63. KEEPING TOP OF MIND

64. STATUS UPDATES
• LinkedIn 0-3 times daily, not all at once
• At least 1 time per week
• Business oriented

65. EMAIL FROM THIS MORNING UPDATE
Dale,
I saw your post on Linkedin & I'm very interested. Is there going to be a video or audio conference for the
presentations?
I just recently tried to ramp up my networking through Twitter and Linked. I'm anxious to learn more tips.
I have gained 200 new connections in less than 2 weeks. Lots of good leads. What had been real exciting is the
amount of great connections (CEO's, VP's & Director's of Marketing, Communications Directors, etc) that have
reached out to me with invites to connect.
Actually, I believe Mr. Denham, I'm still waiting on you to accept my invitation. :)
If they don't have an audio conference today, do you know if this is something being offered in the Houston area
anytime in the future?
I appreciate your time and any information you can provide.

66. GENERAL ENGAGEMENT
•The remaining slides apply to all social media

67. ENGAGEMENT 101
• Share posts two to three times a week
• Comment on other peoples posts
• Content must interest target audience
• Every comment, like, follow, endorsement is a
touch that keeps you top of mind

68. ENGAGE WITH YOUR AUDIENCE
•This is where the real magic happens.
•Think of “LIKE” as a cash tip
• They add up, share them freely!

69. ENGAGING OPPORTUNITIES
• Tagging / Mentioning
• Commenting
• Retweeting / reposting

70. BLOG COMMENT TIP
• Comment on a low
traffic blog and get top
of mind to the author
• Use # searching to
identify potentially
interesting people and
blogs
• #marketing
• #tradeshow

71. POSTING
• Consistently write about your expertise on a
specific topic, you’ll become known for it, and
people will gravitate to you and follow you.
• Buyers do not want a sales representative. They
want a trusted advisor. Engage and build
relationships.

72. YOUR 3 STORIES

73. 3 NAMES & HOW

74. SUMMARY
• Have a NAP
• People Remember Stories
• Incredible Profile
• LinkedIn Research
• Online Engagement

75. Q & A