Book Review: The Universal Guide to Business Networking

I know this is Michigan Women's Forum, but every now and again, I run across a Michigan man whose story really needs to be shared, right here.

Terry Bean, Chief Networking Officer at Networked, Inc. and author of The Universal Guide to Business Networking, sets forth a philosophy of networking that blows the typical top-down, aggressive, sell-sell-sell business attitude right out of the water. And for my money, that attitude - that bottom-line-dwelling, greed-is-good attitude - has done serious damage to the business world and to our society as a whole. I think it's a big part of the reason women struggle to succeed in business, why we still struggle with the gender pay gap.

Terry makes the point that all business is relationship business. That resonates with the way I see women business owners work. The networks women build are all about relationships, about giving to others and the idea that if we work together, we all benefit. Some will dismiss this as unrealistic. But I have seen it work. And Terry has seen it work enough to become an evangelist for the kind of networking that:

• Isn't a contest to see who wins the most business cards,
• Isn't about selling to everyone else in the room, and
• Accomplishes your goals without annoying everyone you meet.

As well it should, the book starts with the Universe. This approach to doing business with others makes so much sense: Start with the sure and certain knowledge that we are already connected. Just as every relationship starts with that universal spark of humanity, so every business transaction starts with a genuine relationship. I'm talking about a "do unto others as you would have them do unto you" relationship, one in which your primary concern is how you can help - not what you can get.

How do you make any money that way? Terry offers 85 strategies (that's what the cover says, I didn't count) that show you how, in person and on-line. Or perhaps more accurately, he lays out strategies that will open your heart and your business to success.

I'd like to call this the "anti-networking networking book," because that's a cool catch phrase. But The Universal Guide to Business Networking actually promotes networking, the way it should have been done all along.

And my guess is that women in business will read it the way I did, nodding in agreement all the way through.

Read more about the book on Terry's web site, including a full Table of Contents, introduction and review by Chris Brogan. (Yes, THAT Chris Brogan.)

Buy the book through Michigan Women's Forum's Amazon.com bookstore.