Product Description

More people have used the Internet to participate in an online group than to read news or even to buy something. Online social networks have enjoyed phenomenal growth in recent years, and every major Internet portal now offers some kind of social networking or "blogging" tool to its users. But these tools are not just recreational – they are rapidly becoming essential tools for business. They are part of a "social software" toolkit that includes blogs, relationship capital management software, advanced contact managers, virtual communities, web conferencing, instant messaging, and much more. The Virtual Handshake gives you the tools to take advantage of these new technologies to become dramatically more successful in business. Filled with clear, real-life examples, The Virtual Handshake shows you how to: * sign new customers, meet new business partners, and find your dream job * create a powerful professional presence online * attract business in online networks * meet more relevant senior people * start and promote your own blog * master the email deluge * analyze and value your social network * use web conferencing and discussion forums to build strong relationships * manage your contact database * ensure privacy and safety online The Virtual Handshake is the first book ever written about how to become extraordinarily successful by using these new online tools. Buying the book gives you a free pass to an extremely thorough and continually-updated resource site, TheVirtualHandshake.com.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #553211 in Books
• Published on: 2005-08-29
• Original language: German
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 272 pages

Review
"…a practical and vital resource." -- Woman Engineer

Review

"HBS Working Knowledge (http://hbswk.hbs.edu/index.jhtml): ""This comprehensive book is a smart addition to any company bookshelf.""

Woman Engineer: ""...a practical and vital resource."""

“This comprehensive book is a smart addition to any company bookshelf.”

-HSBWorkingKnowledge.com

Review

"""An outstanding book, full of great ideas for growing your business.""

-- Dr. Ivan Misner, founder, Business Network International (BNI); coauthor, Masters of Networking

""The Virtual Handshake is a down-to-earth explanation of how people really connect on the 'net, and how to make that happen for yourself. David and Scott turn the abstract theory into practical action.""

-- Craig Newmark, customer service rep and founder of craigslist

""A practical, fun, and informative guide.""

-- David Allen, author, Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

""The Virtual Handshake is a treasure chest of good advice, valuable information, and useful tips about a topic of looming future importance: growing our business relationships online. Anyone planning to build a business -- online or not -- will benefit from this pioneering book.""

-- Robert B. Cialdini, author, Influence: Science and Practice"

Customer Reviews

The How-To Resource for All Online Networking!
Online social networking tools give you the power to expand and manage your network with an efficiency and effectiveness that were virtually unheard of even a decade ago. It's no longer who you know but who you know online that counts when closing deals, making a career move or organizing a local charity function. The authors of The Virtual Handshake -Teten a CEO and online networker extraordinaire; Allen an entrepreneur-tell their story from hard-earned personal experience and research that spanned over 300 sources.

Settling into our careers, we were taught the old school methods for networking. Glad handing and card flashing at evening mixers where all you could do was hope to meet someone with whom you could form a connection. Not to mention that most networking events seemed tailor made for extroverts only! According to Teten and Allen, online networking, already a fast-growing professional tool, proving to be a highly effective means for growing, cultivating and managing personal networks many times larger than most of us ever dreamed possible.

Getting started is simple, or so say the authors. Most of you reading this probably have anywhere from a few dozen to several hundred contacts just sitting in your computer, on your PDA or, gasp...the old Rolodex on your desk. The trick is to get those people out of your Rolodex and into the online network tools scene where you can really flex your networking muscle.

According to Teten and Allen, getting started with online networking isn't the challenge you might think it is. In fact, 84 percent of us have already used the Internet to contact or get information from an online group, according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.

The authors have even put together a ten-step action plan to get started with online social networking. Here are six of the ten steps:
1. Write down your goals and how a virtual relationship could help you achieve it.
2. Analyze your current network.
3. Make the mundane sublime. Common office productivity tools combined with e-mail and the Internet are very powerful
4. Become and information sponge (and send that information to people you know).
5. Master your email.
6. Share your knowledge wealth with your network.

The book is not all how-to and action item lists, however. Teten and Allen understand that networking is about altruism, sharing, doing what is in another's best interest and giving of yourself to the network. Speaking from my own personal experience, they're on to something there. In networking, you must give to receive.

Whether or not you choose to participate in online social networking, it will impact us all in some way. It's just as likely that your next client comes from within a salesperson's online social network as it is that someone is using Google right now to learn more about you in hopes of expanding their network.

The Virtual Handshake is a resource for anyone trying to build a professional or personal network both online and offline.

PRACTICAL AND THOUGHTFUL
David Teton is CEO of Nitron Advisors, a research firm which provides hedge funds and other private equity funds with access to industry experts. Scott Allen is a consultant on online relationship management. This book serves two valuable purposes: it is a management overview of how digital relationships are a viable supplement to traditional communication methods. The second objective is a practical guide to using this new tool.

PRACTICAL

As an example of their practical orientation, I tend to use one or two
passwords for all my digital relationships. It is easier for me to remember but there is a cost. I increase my exposure to identity theft. The authors provide an easy way to use unique passwords for different registrations I complete. Instead of providing a specific word, they provide a clever conceptual framework that is easy to remember and can apply to any digital password chosen. Buy the book if you want to learn the secret.


They also provide concrete ways of managing E-Mail deluge.

CONCEPTUAL

I will talk about online dating and then tie it into business development.

Online dating is now a mainstream way of linking interested people together. Did you know that online dating is the largest legal segment of the U.S. online content industry, with 29% of all paid content spending in 2003? 20% of all European internet users use online dating sites each month. Match lists over 5% of the entire U.S. adult population on its website.

The authors argue that face-to-face methods for meeting people are inefficient: (1) you have geographical limits on the people you get to meet (2) you are locked into meeting people connected with your immediate social networks and (3) physical appearance has a disproportionate influence in the relationship. With online dating, you get a chance to meet people outside your functional, industry, or geographic communities. It is also possible to get to know the person's thoughts and values before seeing how the person looks. It is also possible to double check the person's story prior to a physical meeting. A Canadian study on dating found that people had as many uncomfortable experiences with online dating as with traditional methods of meeting.

Author David Teten and his wife met through an online dating service.

Face-to-face meetings are costly and time consuming. Digital relationships are inexpensive and time efficient. As search and transaction costs are reduced, volume of social contact increases.

Whether your interest is romance or business development, quantity of initial relationships can sometimes be of more value than quality of initial relationships. Get the quantity first and then mine for quality.

FOR SENIOR EXECUTIVES AND BOARD MEMBERS

In the "real world" middle management acts as intermediaries for the eyes and ears of decision makers. The digital world allows for some "disintermediation" of these secondary sources of information so that decision makers can make their own judgments with their own eyes and ears. Pentagon Generals and Presidents can jump over the chain of command and watch the battle in real time. Board members can jump over the chain of command and observe customer reaction by tapping into contact databases, blogs, and virtual communities. They can form their own conclusions independent of what they are told and even independent of their own limited face-to-face social networks.

Presidents should not be selecting bombing targets. And Board members should not be making conclusions based on reading a blog. But this information acts as a useful check & balance on what information is being distilled/cleansed prior to being sent.

Give and ye shall receive
My first response while reading the book was "how can a busy professional find the time to do all or even some of these online self-marketing best practices"? But the deeper I got into the book, the more I realized that representing oneself online is really about developing daily/weekly habits that foster getting-the-word out there about what you do. Whether it's hosting a blog, creating a personal web site or an email list, David's suggestions are right on. Most importantly, as David points out about this information age that we live in, hoarding information hurts your online reputation. Give information (e.g. networking, book recommendations, helpful web sites) and ye shall receive.