Thom Singer Interview: Effective Professional Networking

I am incredibly fortunate to have recently interviewed Thom Singer about his strategies for professional networking and entrepreneurship. Thom has written six books on the power of business relationships and networking as well as being a popular speaker.

I initially encountered Thom through mutual connections on  Twitter and then ran into him several times at SXSW Interactive 2009. He is the only business development-type person I have ever encountered that seems to understand online social networks and uses them incredibly effectively. In preparation for the interview I read his book Some Assembly Required, and it really changed the way I look at networking.

The entire interview is worth a watch if you have half an hour, but if you don’t, be sure to catch Thom’s segment on Social Media Strategy (8:14) and The Art of Follow Up (16:40).

Without further adieu, here is an index of what the video includes:

• 0:16 Thom’s Introduction
• 0:36 Thom’s Inspirations
  • Harvey McKay: How to Swim with the Sharks without Being Eaten Alive
• 1:35 Thom’s Philosophy of Giving Back
  • This philosophy really permeates all areas of his advice and is worth listening to
  • “You can have anything you want in this world if you help other people get what they want” – Zig Ziglar
  • Ask people you meet what their biggest challenge is and try to help if you can
  • You don’t have to be rich to be a philanthropist
• 8:14 Thom’s Social Media Strategy
  • 9:38 LinkedIn
  • 10:33 Which is the best social network?
    • “If you just jump in and start splashing around you will drown, and not find anyone there to help y0u, but if you really have a philosophy of how to use it that matches up with how other people use it you are going to find a lot of opportunity”
  • 11:24 Thom’s Linking Philosophy for LinkedIn and Facebook
  • 13:46 How Thom Uses Twitter
• 16:40 The Art of Follow Up
  • Seek people out where there could be a mutually beneficial relationship
  • You don’t have to follow up with everyone in order to be a good networker. Only for people where you feel there might be the possibility of a real relationship, follow up
  • Hand written notes are not “old school”
  • Strategize your follow up differently for every single person you meet
• 19:43 Mentors and Peer Groups
  • Thom got a great value out of his peer group of ten years
• 21:36 Marketing Yourself
  • “If you are going to network and build a brand, it is about consistency”
• 22:57 Advice for Startups
  • Look for networking groups: ask you vendors, advisers, competitors
  • Don’t be afraid of networking where your competitors network
  • Go where the people are
  • If you don’t find what you are looking for, form your own group
  • If you provide value, people will come
• 24:58 Thom on Self Reliance
  • Believe in yourself and you will do well
  • Think about where your path will take you
  • All opportunities come from people
  • Networking is an important topic for strategy

How do you increase your networking velocity?

Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links for the books mentioned. If you make a purchase through the affiliate links above, this blog receives a small commission. No compensation, monetary or otherwise, was received for mentioning the books above. No compensation was received for producing the video. Additionally, Thom Singer received no compensation for appearing in the video. The content of this post is absolutely authentic and was not influenced in any way by the availability of commissions! Video is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License. All rights reserved on other content.