HOUSTON BUSINESS REVIEW

Words to Build a Network and a Life: Boosting Referrals through Networking Cross-Cultural
By Ken Marsh

Ken Marsh, the Houston Business Show Contributor for Business Networking, provides weekly information on how to build your business. We are excited to have the assistance of Mr. Marsh, an authority on this subject and author of the book Fearless Networking , as a part of our team.

“The most universal quality is diversity.”
--Montaigne, 1580

Fearless networkers find it far easier to network cross-culturally because they have taken the time to understand protocol of business customs, family, values and traditions. Following are actions to take to successfully network cross-culturally:

1. Reach out and make connections with ethnically diverse professionals at networking events.
2. Join ethnically and culturally diverse groups such as the Asian Chamber of Commerce, Hispanic Chamber, African American Business Coalition, Indo-American Chamber, Latino Business Alliance, Philippine Business Alliance, American Business Women’s Association, and Women in Networking.
3. Establish relationships first before attempting to recruit Asians.
4. Support ethnically diverse businesses of fellow business or professional group members
5. Invite fellow business group members to your home for cook outs, dinners, pot lucks, charade games. Purchase ethnic dishes, if you don’t know how to cook them.
6. Participate in ethnic and culturally diverse business group sponsored annual events such as the “Dragon Boat Festival”, “Chinese New Year Dance”, Cinco de Mayo, and Juneteenth.
7. Recognize your own personal stereotypes about certain ethnic groups and move beyond them by observing true behavior and recognizing and valuing cultural differences. When it supports your objective of during business across cultures then embrace the differences.
8. Learn about other cultures by reading books, searching the Internet and visiting foreign consulates. Visit sites such as www.Asian-nation.org
9. Want to do more business in close-knit ethnic communities? Hire someone from that community to market/sale to those businesses.
10. Write the phrase “Thank You” on your business cards in bright colors in the language of the ethnically diverse group you are networking in such as: Gracias, Xie-Xie (Spanish and Mandarin)
11. Seek to help or contribute to the business of the person you are connecting with at a networking event before rushing in to your 30 seconds elevator speech or 60 seconds product presentation. Be patient it may take several meetings and/or personal contacts before your business is discussed. Once your business is discussed you may be pleasantly surprised about the amount of business you will generate in that market.
12. To learn how to communicate cross-culturally, first learn how to effectively communicate with different personality types
13. Continue your learning by discovering what motivates and de-motivates the different personality types.
14. Finally, learn how to network by personality type then add how to these same things cross-culturally.
15. Show a genuine interest and respect for other cultures. Realize that we all wear different cultural lenses.
16. Be responsive to the needs of the home continents of the ethnic groups you hope to do business with and to continue to do business with. For example: The earthquake and Tsunami in Asia and the political turbulence in South America.

Ken’s new e-books entitled “Fearless Networking – 2nd Edition” and “How to Fearlessly Network for Jobs” are now available at:
http://www.buymyebook.com/buy/AuthorLibrary.asp?Aid=1550 See upcoming seminars by visiting www.fearlessnetworkers.com, also for free whitepapers and a link to Ken’s Blog.