DABGO France is now live, and open for you to join!

We have been working hard to make this network group possible. And it will be with your help that DABGO France will grow to become a success and an active tool in creating new opportunities for you and the other members. So please take some time to forward the www.dabgo.com link to all the Danes you know in the countries listed on the front page of the DABGO website. Note that membership is free.

On this site you will find tips & tricks on networking, using Linkedin, articles and getting the most of your membership.

Our ambition for DABGO is to contribute to increasing Danish export, acceleration of Danish business peoples’ careers internationally and an increase in international investments in Danish companies and Denmark.

We are looking for global and local sponsors and funding from institutions – i.e. Udenrigsministeriet, globaliseringsrådet, eksportrådet and similar organizations – as well as various trusts, who would be interested in supporting the growth of DABGO globally. The funding will go to adding more value to the entire network, and coordinate local networking events with focus on generating new connections and business opportunities. If you know of anyone who can be of help in accelerating this process, then please have them contact me at dan@dabgo.ch.

We are looking for people who are interested in actively participate in growing DABGO France, please send me a mail if you can dedicate some spare time.

If you have any suggestions, ideas, comments and/or an article you would like posted on this website, please do not hesitate to contact me.

I wish you a wonderful day and great success.

Sincerely,

Dan Trampedach
DABGO Switzerland
Co-founder & Group Manager
(Acting Group Manager France)
My profile on Linkedin

&otDABGO members can contact each other directly via Linkedin “InMail” which sends an e-mail to the other DABGO members inbox on Linkedin. This function does NOT allow other DABGO members to see each others e-mail addresses. To see another Linkedin members e-mail address and other contact information you need to be connected directly. You can also choose to ask for an Introduction through a shared connection.

Here is an example of how you can find who your searching for and how you can contact that person.

Let’s say you need a Photographer for a job, but do not know any photographers, then let’s try a search on Linkedin within the DABGO group. Remember always to try to give business to fellow DABGO members.

When you login into your Linkedin frontpage you will find the following functions on the lower right hand side of the page. Click on “See all members”

You will now see a complete list of all DABGO members:

In the upper right hand corner you will find the “Refine Search” button. Click it to make a more specific search.

Make sure that the “Limit search to your groups” is checked, and then enter “Photographer” in the “Titel” search box, or make a broader search by using the “Keywords” search box.

You will get a search result, and you can now click the profile that best matches your criteria and contact the person via InMail or via Introduction.

Have you ever accepted an invitation for an event and then just few hours before, something comes up and you can’t make it. Now you are in trouble, because how are you going to explain this to the person who invited you, and still be cool? Mr. Tannebaum gives some good tips on how to “Blowing Off An Event Without Looking Like A Complete Loser” Read the article here…

Having an updated contact list of everybody in your network is crucial to stay connected. Linkedin does a great job at enabling online networking and staying updated on where your contacts work, how their experience progresses and who is in their network. But one thing is lacking, and that is fully updated contact information. Plaxo is the perfect solution, and with 15 million users, it is a tested technology. Go to www.plaxo.com and sign up for a FREE basic account and get the following benefits:

- Update your address book when friends change their contact info
- Update friends’ address books when your contact info changes
- Sync your contacts, calendar, tasks, notes across Plaxo-enabled applications
- Get reminded of a friend’s birthday just a few days before
- Receive a Plaxo alert whenever a contact’s info has changed

And be sure to install the Plaxo Toolbar for Outlook, it works great. It keeps your Outlook and Outlook Express address books up-to-date. Install the Plaxo Toolbar on multiple computers. Syncs your address book, calendar, tasks and notes everywhere. You can build your address book from sent and received e-mail. Now, Plaxo members can detect AIM presence information from Outlook.

“Haven’t made a dime on LinkedIn? A lot of people on LinkedIn haven’t made a dime from it. Chances are you haven’t made anyone else money either. In expanding your network, the main point is to help you phone or meet someone who may be able to help you in whatever it is you are trying to do. The flip side is you need to help others meet their needs too. Until you think of helping others get what they want, you won’t likely get what you want.”

Read the rest of this interesting article posted on lifehack.org

When companies experience organizational pain, their first response is often a structural fix, such as decentralizing, breaking down silos, or shifting to a matrix organization.

* Many such efforts have only limited success because formal organizational charts mask the invisible networks that employees use to get things done.
* Investing time and energy to understand networks can help companies measure the effectiveness of major initiatives and make organizational changes stick.
* In many cases, a key to success is focusing on “brokers,” who serve as bridges across a number of subgroups in a network and are easy to overlook because they occupy the “white space” of organizations.

Read the complete article by subsribing to the The McKinsey Quarterly

When building the foundation for your network, remember to always focus on one very important word “help”, this is the part which will define the success of your network and put the word ‘work’ in ‘network’ to its test. There are three fairly simple rules which revolve around “help”, in becoming a successful business networker:

1. Forget about yourself at network events. Talk as little about yourself as possible, even when asked about what you do, keep to your 30 seconds elevator pitch and then asked sincerely and interested to what the other party does.
2. Genuinely care about helping others. When you positively care about helping others, you start learning as much about their business to see how you can help. You start asking questions. You start learning about his competitors, customers, employees. As a genuine networker, you’re driven to help others reach their goals.
3. Provide value. Now that you understand the other persons business needs, you can start helping him/her generate value. That could be taking time to personally introduce key people, help with a business proposal free of charge, or something as simple as emailing relevant article links to help their business. The key is to provide value, freely.

Follow these simple rules, and you will soon experience the very essence of the win-win philosophy. The great thing about human nature is, we always return favors. So the secret to a successful network is to just that, helping people.

DABGO is a free network, where helping is the key foundation and the main reason for the network’s increasing popularity.

If you want an example of how not be, then read this post at Okdork.com

Everybody, networking will benefit the company and employees and it can be used at all levels. Executive officers should focus on understanding how they, and the company’s employees, can benefit from the use of the network. People can achieve extraordinary results when they team up with other people and engage in active networking. The skills in networking will also add value to the management of social capital within an organization. It should be managed and funnelled through the organization not only by the CEO, but also by functions like “VP of Business Development,” “Director of Human Resources,” “Chief Information Officer,” and “Business Relationship Manager.”

As evolving companies begin to better manage their social capital and understand the value of tapping into the networks of their employees, changes will take place. Major considerations when hiring will be based upon whom the prospective hires know. Networking skills will become a new “must-have” for getting the best jobs, as computer skills have been it for many years.

The Guy Kawasaki Theory of Schmoozing version 1.0 was ad hoc: get to know the people that you need for a specific deal. It was short-term and focused.Version 2.0 is ad infinitum–maybe even ad nauseam. It’s taken me twenty years, but I’ve figured out that it’s much easier to make a sale, build partnerships, create joint ventures–you name it–with people that you already know than with people you just met. Read the 9 steps to becoming a great schmoozer at How To Change the World

It takes time, effort and patience. The payoff will accelerate the achievements of your goals. A network can help remove the natural barriers between strangers, and give the members a possibility to interact more freely. People trust other people, not large anonymous organizations. One person’s word to another can influence more actions, get more things done, and make more sales than a massive advertising campaign.

Viral marketing is the perfect spin-off on the fact that “people trust other people”.

Sorry, back to networking again, it’s hard work, so stop reading this blog, and write an e-mail to an old friend/colleague/family member, update your Linkedin profile, write a recommendation for someone who matters, call a friend, set a new well defined goal, make lunch plans for Tuesday etc. You gotta reach out.