Career Overview just came out with their top 100 best social sites for entrepreneurs.

Click here for the list of 100 Best Social Sites for Entrepreneurs

While many won’t be a surprise, you may just find a few new social sites to network and build your business in 2010.

This question came up on LinkedIn a few weeks ago:

What do you do at a Business Networking meeting when you meet a competitor who seems to know everyone … and you don’t…?

I felt compelled to leave this reply:

I tend to use my natural defense mechanism (to be disarmingly charming) to my advantage.

I would befriend this competitor and make him/her my ally. I’ve had no qualms in the past about saying things such as “It seems like you know everyone here and I don’t know a soul. Is there anyone here I should meet? How did you get to know all these people?” etc. Ask questions and figure out how they got to where they are today.

There’s no disgrace in admitting a weakness and asking for help.

This may seem counterintuitive, but GIVING a referral is the best way to GET a referral. I’m not saying you must give a referral to your competitor (but don’t rule it out). Approach your networking group from the standpoint of “Who can sincerely refer to this person?” Make the referral and follow up. Yeah, it’s a little more work, but well worth it. You’ll create meaningful relationships and you’ll get known in no time flat!

A few days later, I received a message from the woman who asked the question. She thanked me for my “refreshing response,” and said she loved the “really simple, practical ‘woman to woman’ solution.”

Since someone else found my advice to be useful, I thought I’d share it with you here and see what you thought of it.

I guess everyone is getting ready for International Networking Week ‘09 (February 2-6), because I keep finding all these great articles on networking and creating your 30-second commercial.

Here’s an article I found in the CampbellRiverMirror.com, writen by Colleen Evans, Executive Director of the Campbell River Chamber of Commerce.

My favorite quote in this article highlights the importance of having as a networking objective to building relationships (as opposed to trying to make a sale, getting a meeting, etc.):

The purpose of networking varies based on one’s own agenda, but the primary focus is to meet people, and have people meet you and to build relationships. It’s not a license to sell yourself and it’s not a contest to see how many business cards you can collect. (Emphasis mine.)

If you’re looking for direction on how to build relationships through networking, check out my guidebook, Designing a Compelling 30-Second Intro.

Kevin Dervin wrote an article, Do You Get Attention With Your 30-Second Introduction?, for WebProNews a while back that I wanted to share with you.

He offers these 5 tips for developing a compelling 30-second intro:

1. Start with the first sentence.
2. Avoid the What You Are approach.
3. Avoid the What You Do approach.
4. Say how you solved a problem or served a client.
5. Tell them why you’re unique.

You can read the entire article here.

My new guidebook, Designing a Compelling 30-Second Intro, takes you through the creation process of creating a networking introduction designed to get the coveted “Tell me more!” reaction.

Grab your copy at http://www.30secondintro.com.

Rick Spence wrote an article in the Financial Post today entitled Why nailing your elevator speech is crucial.

I love this sentence the most:

“Networking is your key to new contacts, referrals and customers – and most people are so bad at working a room that anyone who even tries to do it well will stand out like a pro.”

Click here to read the entire article.

If you want to do more than just ‘try doing it well’ you’ll want to get your hands on my new guidebook Designing a Compelling 30-Second Intro, which was officially released today!

Check out http://www.30secondintro.com for all the juicy details.

Networking speaker, Hank Blank was featured in a Reuters article yesterday. His suggestions echo what I go into detail about in my guidebook, Beyond Muzak: Designing a Compelling 30-Second Intro.

Here’s a quote from the article:

“Effective networking is about less of you and more about helping the other people that you meet first. A lot of people think that is counterintuitive or contradictory. My philosophy is that you can get more by asking for less and doing more for others.”

Read the entire article here.

Here’s a 30-second intro formula by Bob Bly, one of my favorite services-based marketing authors.

Seeing as I haven’t given birth yet, I figured I’d mosey on over to LinkedIn Answers and pose a new question: What are the 3 biggest mistakes entrepreneurs make when giving their 30-second intro?

As usual, the responses received so far have been insightful and informative. Want to join the discussion? Click here to post your answer.

Mistakes aside, what are your 30-second intro pet peeves?

Just as an aside… things are “happening”, if you know what I mean. Last night, I had a false alarm, with a succession of painful contractions. My hubby was just about to call the midwife when everything stopped. Woke up this morning and still no baby!! But, it’s a good sign that things will happen soon!!

In the meantime, I just had to share with you the conversation going on at LinkedIn Answers. This week, I posed the question: What are the top 3 elements to successful networking?

So far, 16 people have shared their answers and I highly suggest you check out the caliber of replies received to date. While you’re there, why not share your top 3 networking success strategies!

For the first time, I posted a question on LinkedIn, not really knowing what kind of response I’d get. I don’t know what’s taken me so long to discover the Q&A feature on LinkedIn (thanks to Lara for the suggestion), but I’m sure glad I did.

My question was a simple one: Do you have a 30-second intro? So far, I have not been disappointed with the replies.

My friend and colleague, David Cohen, started the conversation this way:

30 seconds? No way…that’s far too long…how about something short and sweet and catchy so you don’t drone on and on like everyone else at a networking event. Like, I help business owners grow their businesses by over 10 per cent…if this is a result you’d like in your business then let’s talk…

30 seconds is way too long…if you catch me doing that shoot me!

Most people who have answered agree with David — the shorter the better. I agree, although, to be honest, it’s something I struggle with.

So that got me wondering: What’s your take on your own 30-second intro? Are you consistently reworking it to be shorter, or do you find yourself trying to cram in as much information as you can in 30 seconds?