Synopsis

This episode is part of the Ask Ivan series. If you have a question for Ivan Misner, email [email protected].

Today’s question comes from Dave.

What I’d like to know is if there are special ideas or techniques for when you are at an event that is mostly populated with your competitors, like an industry conference or a local meeting of an industry group of some kind. […] If I go to my local IT group, I’m going to be surrounded by other computer guys. How do I network with them if they’re competing with what I do?

First, pick up a copy of The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret and read the chapter about Hub Firms. No matter what your field, there will be certain areas that are not your strength. Your competitors give you an opportunity to collaborate and serve the client much more effectively. Create relationships with people whose strengths are different from yours.

Next, watch this video for an amazing story about an insurance agent who was violently opposed to working with other insurance agents, and how he collaborated with a competitor to make a mint.

Brought to you by Networking Now.

Complete Transcript of Episode 466 –

Priscilla:

This is part of our Ask Ivan series. If you have a question for Ivan, email him at this address: [email protected].

Hello everyone and welcome back to the Official BNI Podcast, brought to you by NetworkingNow.com, which is the leading site on the net for networking downloadables. I am Priscilla Rice, and I am coming to you from Live Oak Recording Studio in Berkeley, California. I am joined on the phone today by the Founder and the Chief Visionary Officer of BNI, Dr. Ivan Misner. Hello, Ivan. How are you and where are you?

Ivan:

Hi Priscilla. I am doing great, and I am in North Carolina. We had moved our corporate headquarters to Charlotte, North Carolina. I am doing meetings with our global support team, so we have people from all over the world coming to North Carolina. We are meeting and helping to plan the future of the organization.

Priscilla:

That is great. So much fun when people come from all over the world.

Ivan:

It really is.

Priscilla:

Tell us what you have set out here about networking with competitors.

Ivan:

I got a question from Dave. Dave says, “There have been several podcasts about how to handle networking events- chambers, mixers, etc. What I would like to know is if there are some special ideas or techniques for when you are at an event that is mostly populated with your competitors, like an industry conference or a local meeting of an industry group of some kind.” He goes on to say, “Here is what I mean: I am a computer guy, so if I go to a chamber mixer, there will probably be other computer guys there but also plenty of other professions so there are lots of opportunities to make noncompetitive connections. However, if I go to my local IT group, I am going to be surrounded by a lot of computer guys. How do I network with them if they are competing with what I do?”

Dave, this is a great question. I am really glad you asked and I am going to give you a very specific answer with a few different suggestions.

One is if you get a chance, pick up a copy of my book, The World’s Best Known Marketing Secret. I will make sure there is a link here on this podcast because in there, I talk about this very thing. There are different editions of the book, but in the fourth edition, it is a chapter called, “Making Your Company a Hub Firm.”

A hub firm is a key business in a constellation of codependent businesses tethered to one another to make the most effective...