Great video from top journalist and Eric Schurenberg that came from my good networking friend Jason Jacobsohn. Love its simplicity and passionate message to make business networking fun!

1. Make It a Game.
2. Make People Come to You.
3. Measure Success by How Many Cards You Get.

Learn how to do these by watching this 1min 27 secs video. Happy networking!

Let's talk about referrals. They are the lifeblood of your business. You know you need them and hopefully you're good enough to deserve them. But you don't ask for them!

One of the four main reasons you don't get referrals is you're not entirely sure of the best and worst times to ask. There are critical moments of truth when you have a 'green light' to 'go for it!'

When you're building your business by referral, you can undo all of your great positioning and relationship building work by asking at the wrong time. So here are four of my favourite, really good, safe times to ask:

I use the phrase 'CTC' in my many networking and referral seminars. It stands for any of the following:

• Card to Client
• Contact to Customer
• Card to Connection
• Connection to Client

You get the idea. It's about turning that business card into a sale. It's about converting your networking leads into paying customers and clients.

It's also the hardest thing for most networking business people to do. Here's why:

There was some research done by Professor Albert Mehrabian many years ago that is trotted out in many training seminars. Trainers will cite that communication is 7% words, 38% tone and 55% body language. ALL WRONG, I'm afraid. It's been discredited many times now, notably here.

I've been saying for some time that the ratios are roughly 'third third third'. Which means that the words you say are much more important than you think.

This brilliant short video shows the power of words. When you ask for referrals, ask for the sale, attempt to persuade somebody or gain buy-in for your idea, choose your words carefully. When you want to get a prospect to say yes, a customer to buy, a networking contact to engage with you, consider the word part of your message. It's vital!

That's why many of my business-building Pocket Guides are about scripts and wordings, for your networking conversations, your sales situations, your referral opportunities, your elevator speech and your rapport building. Check them out here>>

In any profession, industry, sector, walk of life, there is a distribution curve of performance.

There's that 2-3% of people who bring up the rear. They never do anything and they're tough to manage. Like pushing milk uphill. These people sell the least, object the most, create the most problems, take up most of their bosses time and are the least motivated.

Likewise there's that top 2-3% of star performers who are simply world class. These people make the most money, sell the most stuff, have the most influence, get the best results and seem to have the most luck.

Then of course you've got that middle swathe of people who are average. Perhaps slightly above, perhaps slightly below. As well as applying to certain industries, it applies to certain skills. In every team there will be the best performing networker, presenter, seller, typist, coffee-maker etc.

If you want to be a better networker, you can do it. If you want to be world class, that top 2%, here are three world class tips...

If you want to achieve anything of significance in life, you usually have to take a risk. Came across this great video this week while looking at Peter Winick's blog on Thought Leadership Leverage.

If you want to be the number one, 'go to' compelling and obvious choice for what you do, you're going to need courage. You're going to fail, so you need resilience to come back. And you're going to be walking into unknown territories, so you'll need to take risks.

It doesn't matter if you're an accountant, lawyer, banking professional, entrepreneur, writer, coach, consultant or motivational speaker. You have competition. People can choose not to use you. Which means you're going to hear the word 'no' once in a while.

Did you know that networks are like trees? They are both planted for the future. If you want business today, and you're not putting all of your hopes in advertising, cold calling or direct mail, then you're probably going to have to go through your existing network.

When did you start building your business network? Not overnight. Probably over years.

They say 'dig your well before you're thirsty'.  If you want business today, build your network yesterday. Better still, build it 20 years ago! This next story will illustrate how this works...

Why do people go networking? Forget the silly reasons like 'because we have to' or 'because everyone else is'. Forget 'because I have nothing better to do' or 'because it's the only way to win business'.

I'm talking about developing your networking strategy so you have proper, strategic reasons to attend networking events and spend time with online networking sites. I'm talking about walking into networking events with a real purpose, a proper reason for being there and a set of networking goals or objectives. In other words, a powerful 'reason why'!

There are lots of good reasons to do business networking, but every single one boils down to either PLEASURE, PROFIT, PROFILE or PROVISION.

Let's break these down for you so that you can make that transition from amateur networker to professional networker...

Just been reading a great blog post The Most Valuable People in Your Network by Rob Cross. In Malcolm Gladwell's Tipping Point, he talks about the critical number of 150.

When companies, churches, gatherings, networks and communities expand beyond that point, it takes a different level of managing to make things run smoothly. But with technology, online social networking and mobile tools, the networking landscape is changing. So in 21st century networking, what is the optimum size of your business network?

Business isn't difficult. People just make it so. After all, who chooses to go after everyone, trying to sell everything using every selling channel? Not you, of course!

Or who spends time on the wrong things - you know - the things you should be doing? The things that DON'T play to your strengths. Not you again?

Likewise, networking should be straightforward. Get out there, meet the right people, have the right conversations, keep in touch. Help, sell and connect. Know and be known. So what goes wrong?