Dalunara

As I expect you know, donating your time as a volunteer lets you make your community stronger and in the same stride assist the poor. Organizing this kind of event can be somewhat tricky in its own right, and before you know it you don’t have half as long left to actually do some good. Moreover, when you volunteer as part of a team effort with co-workers, it will be more enjoyable.

In reaction, some companies are creating points of organization to help their employees support the community. One of the more significant examples is Adaptive Marketing LLC who also offer financial benefits programs like Shopping Essentials Plus. If you think of company-supported charitable effort, you probably think of giving blood, maybe an annual call for donations, but that’s no longer the case in the modern day. The staff members of Adaptive Marketing are frequently given the opportunity to participate in community initiatives. In cases like these, the dates, times and locations of the events were posted, ensuring that staff members knew what to expect, and the precise amount of time each event might specifically require from them. It’s hardly volunteering if there’s no choice between activities, of course. Members of staff from Adaptive Marketing choose from among many local volunteer activities. Prior projects have ranged between a wide range of areas including aid and assistance for children and young adults, environmental programs, and events related to artistic projects. This provides Adaptive Marketing volunteers with the opportunity to use their time as efficiently as possible and have fun their time volunteering.

Usually, when businesses ask their staffers to think about volunteering at local schools or homeless shelters, it is frequently in support of an individual event or a regular task. What this means is if you’ve only got enough time to burn to help out at the public library’s sale of used books or a Saturday morning spent litter picking in the park, there’s still a chance to make a difference.

It’s hardly an unusual practice for businesses to help out the people living around their base of operations. The good worksefforts of the employees at business enterprises such as Adaptive Marketing spread important good feeling around their home base. Volunteering to help others leaves you feeling like a better person – exactly what you need, of course, to make staffers motivated both in their volunteer activities and back behind their desks, too.

How can you find out the group loyalty requirements before you venture forth?

Many groups have loyalty requirements in order to make sure that the leads you generate are exclusively for the members of the group. It is important that you make sure you know everything about the group before you join, and loyalty requirements can put a damper on other activities you have planned. If you find a group that does not have any requirements for loyalty, then you will have to interview members to see what other groups they belong to. If there is no focus on your group, then the leads will likely be watered down. Loyalty that excludes organizations such as Chamber membership or speaking groups should not be on the list of acceptable groups to join. Loyalty should be restricted to other leads groups. Make sure that others who belong to the group do buy into the loyalty issue. Often when there is a rule, someone will take advantage and belong to other groups in a different area. Loyalty will prove to be the making or breaking of any group.

If you do business with members of other groups, then you should make sure that they do not have restrictions with whom they may do business with. Some groups restrict using an outside source for some services from members. In my experience, to join one of the groups I was considering, members joining were required to drop their current printer service and give business to the member printer. It is NEVER wise to lose good business relationships through group loyalty requirements.

Loyalty in theory is supposed to lead to a closed group that supports your business and the other members. It does not necessarily mean that you cannot do business outside the group (you will have to make sure that this is not a requirement). Loyalty is often only one of the criteria for membership; you may also have an attendance factor, and a fee. In light of the criteria, you still have to measure the value.

Bette Daoust, Ph.D. has been networking with others since leaving high school years ago. Realizing that no one really cared about what she did in life unless she had someone to tell and excite. She decided to find the best ways to get people’s attention, be creative in how she presented herself and products, getting people to know who she was, and being visible all the time. Her friends and colleagues have often dubbed her the “Networking Queen”. Blueprint for Networking Success: 150 ways to promote yourself is the first in this series. Blueprint for Branding Yourself: Another 150 ways to promote yourself is planned for release in 2005. For more information visit http://www.BlueprintBooks.com

One of the most famous of the American third party service providers working in consumer loyalty and club membership programs is a business called Trilegiant. Trilegiant and Mr Lipman, its CEO, connect with a great many brands chosen from the large shopping, travel, health, entertainment, and similar businesses to improve the consumer’s retail experience. The names of Trilegiant and Mr. Nathaniel Lipman couldn’t be called unknown to the business world. Operating out of the state of Connecticut, Trilegiant opened in 1973 and expansion since then sees it cover projects in six states, eight facilities, and roughly 3.000 knowledgeable employees. More than twenty five million members throughout North America employ the business’ programs at this moment.

The firm made its name for producing risk-free innovations that enable consumers to save money, obtain valuable services and products, in addition to making shopping less troublesome. Let’s look at this example — cheap protection for extended warranty, guaranteed returns, and the cost of repairs are available for your purchase using Buyers Advantage. Trilegiant also, of course, offer other programs like HealthSaver — which promises inexpensive healthcare with no drop in quality — to look at one example. In addition, Trilegiant aims to improve the state of the whole populace, with both President Mr Lipman and its staff maintaining it is their obligation to give back. To take one example, during 2005 forty workers teamed up and earned over $30,000 for the Make-A-Wish Foundation of America. And believe it or not, it took them hardly one week to achieve! One way they set out to help is through research. As you’re probably aware, year to year privately-held businesses as well as the US government compile an astonishing profusion of statistical data. Trilegiant combs this information with diligence to be sure of problems and then debates ways of changing them for the better. To take one example, the total number of car collisions in America in any given year is over six million. Nobody intends for their own motorbike to play a part in these statistics, particularly among the numbers for physical injury, and since 2007 members of the Autovantage car club have received the company’s yearly road rage data. To improve your safety, the information and tips contained within are presented to make sure you’re aware of danger signs ahead of time.

And so there you have it; Trilegiant, a great exemplar of a company which comprehends how fundamental the health of its customers and community truly is. Providing services designed to improve subscribers’ retail experiences and genuine devotion to the community’s causes they demonstrate heart is in the right place. They’re exactly what you might want from a consumer service-mind business.

This is Stephen A. Schwarzman’s story. Last year Steve was listed as the fifty third most wealthy person in the U.S.A. by Forbes Magazine, nevertheless it’s his significant success in the world of finance as well as his donations to non profit organizations that make this story something special. The Blackstone Group co-founder is inspiring and further proof that success can be gained by hard work and being truly dedicated to your job.

In 1985 Steve set up the Blackstone Group with Peter Peterson; at first it was a private-equity management and financial advice firm. These days the Blackstone Group is an industry giant boasting ventures as diversified as, for example, Graham Packaging and Allied Waste, to name only two. Having called Pennsylvania home for much of his young life, Steve Schwarzman went to school in the Abington School District. Then he went on to graduate from Yale University in 1969. Afterwards, he decided to advance his education at the influential Harvard Business School, graduating in 1972. Once he had finished his time at college, Steve started his career in investment banking. Before reaching his 32nd birthday, Steve was already on the board. Steve doesn’t simply give of his time to a variety of not for profit organizations, but he has also served as a non-faculty professor at Yale. He serves as the Chairman of the Board of Trustees of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts in New York, NY. And, to give back even more, he announced on March 11th, 2008 that he had contributed $100 million to the New York Public Library to help in funding their expansion. Steve also serves the library as a trustee.

It is not a surprise that Stephen A. Schwarzman is acknowledged as one of America’s elite — Times Magazine in 2008 appointed him as one of the 100 most influential people on earth. His swift rise in the business and financial communities is surely miraculous, and no doubt his generosity has given America a one of a kind new standard to emulate themselves in future.

So the world awaits Steve’s next move. In summary, we see an individual who has taken the best advantage of each opportunity which came his way, yet in return he has at the same time made the best use of his wealth and status to better the lives of those around him.

When Henry Kravis and his partner George Roberts established Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co (KKR) in the 1970’s with support from the First Chicago Corporation, their specialization was in highly leveraged transactions. But only a year ago they have set up a remarkable green project that centers not only on maximized profit margins, but in addition on the environmental impact of the companies they invest in. When Henry Kravis from KKR and the independent Environmental Defense Fund (EDF) joined forces only a year ago environmental issues all of a sudden turned into a mainstream topic. These companies intends to campaign against many serious environmental matters, including global warming, depletion of the ozone layer, unmitigated consumption of water resources, and greenhouse gas emissions.

In order to attain this, they deploy eco-efficiency; this uses concepts like reducing the waste of resources, maximum use of renewable resources, and waste reduction. Regardless of the fact that the program was a huge success, no-one recognized how important the consequences were until Ken Mehlman, the executive responsible for the project, carried out the first annual review.

Beating everybody’s expectations, Ken saw that this program not only lessened the overall impact on the planet, but also increased the profits from all their businesses too. Well-nigh all of the business organizations affiliated to KKR and Ken Mehlman nowadays practice eco-efficiency. Still, when you consider that the group has a 2009 business portfolio worth 86 billion USD, you may be sure this was not an easy achievement. Kohlberg, Kravis, Roberts & Co and the Environmental Defense Fund along with Ken Mehlman have also expanded the initial project. For example, KKR joined the Environmental Defense Fund’s Climate Corps Program which teaches MBA students how to promote cost efficient, green practices.

KKR and Ken Mehlman have been creating a package of metrics and analytical tools which manage various resources. This type of information is crucial as businesses may without a lot of effort analyze their daily processes and find out precisely how any issues can be resolved while at the same time permitting them to determine how green they are becoming. Henry Kravis, the KKC, and the Environmental Defense Fund have encouraged all sorts of businesses to go green. Their fresh concepts have made going green less complicated for firms in any industry and demonstrated to the world that making profits need not entail the hefty price of damaging the environment.

You are bound to have heard of Mr. Naveen Jain’s name in connection with him being the CEO & co-founder of Intelius, Inc. the leading company featuring background checks and public records services. Well beyond having his place on the Forbes 400 Richest in America list 2000, this prosperous businessman has gained an assortment of notable awards including the WSA Industry Achievement Award, the Albert Einstein Technology Medal, and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Award. Nevertheless things absolutely develop further from there. This is because Naveen Jain and his family are equally as passionate about their charitable deeds and will attempt to lend a helping hand as frequently as they are able to. The youth of today are positively mankind’s #1 aspiration or the future. They are moreover a main inspiration for this enterprising man, and he takes any opportunity available to support them. This, too, is why he is always untiringly leveraging every possibility he can to help needy young people, wherever it is possible. Thus Naveen Jain, his family and the staff at Intelius have decided to really follow up in earnest: they donate plenty of time and effort to charities such as TreeHouse, the Bellevue Boys and Girls Club, and the University Preparatory Academy. Of course they will provide ample material assistance, but most importantly they devote lots of time and care to the children who need it the most. Beyond this, he sponsors the Children’s Hospital contributing to elevate child health.

With Naveen Jain being a former student of the Indian Institute of Technology and XLRI Jamshedpur, it’s hardly astounding that schooling is also a crucial pivot point in his humanitarian activities. This includes movements and good causes local, state, and nationwide. As a result, Intelius and its CEO are actively involved in helping charitable institutions and organizations such as the Children’s Hospital, Child Rights and You (CRY) and the Vedic Cultural Center. Getting foodstuffs to the impoverished of the planet is another fundamental aim to Jain and those around him and to him, it makes not a iota of difference. While he is highly mindful that the aspiration to feed every destitute person in the world can seem to be an overwhelming task, he also understands that the impossible can truly come to be feasible provided each and every one of us labors together. If this entrepreneur obtains his objectives, there will come a final end to destitution and malnourishment on this planet at some point.

As an observer one could assume that functioning as the man in full control of a flourishing business on top of being a dedicated spouse and parent would give him no surplus room for altruism and aiding the needy. All the same he sees to it that all of his benevolent enterprises is given all the aid he can feasibly give. This untiringly altruistic entrepreneur is positively much more than merely a business trailblazer. He is, in fact, an outstanding person and a veritable community advocate.

1) When you have significant news in your business – for instance, a big product launch or a joint venture – use LinkedIn to notify your contacts by way of a profile update. And in your accompanying email message to the network, say “I would love to catch up with you – want to make time for a phone call?” It’s that keeping-up process that sparks conversations about opportunities both for you and your contacts. It’s in these conversations (which could be done by email, although probably not as well) that ideas will arise about prospective clients, partnerships, and other revenue-generating projects.

2) Use LinkedIn to understand the relationships between people you know and people you want to know. For me, this is the heart of LinkedIn’s value – the ability to see at a glance how people you don’t know, but would like to, are connected to people who are closer to you. So when you find Mr. Lofty Dude in the LI network and realize that he used to work with your former admin assistant – a data point you almost certainly wouldn’t have acquired on your own – you can reach out to the admin and get, not only an introduction, but some intelligence about Mr. Dude’s current dealings, needs, and hot buttons.

3) Connect, by all means, with your former colleagues from every company that has ever employed you. There is something about old-workmate ties (unless you, er, aren’t the sort that former teammates think of fondly) that can’t be duplicated in most relationships of shorter duration. Seek out these old workmates, tell them what you’re up to and who you’re most interested in meeting, and offer to help them out as well. One good lead would be worth the price of LI membership – oh wait, it’s free – or anyway worth the price of your time doing LI searching and connecting.

4) Let’s say that you would dearly like to work with General Motors, but you can’t find anyone at GM who seems especially suitable for contact as you search the LinkedIn database. No problem. Find a current GM vendor or customer in the functional area you’re interested in, and reach out to him or her. Is there something of value that you could offer in exchange for the introduction you want? In an ideal world, your sterling qualities and dazzling personality should convince this new acquaintance that introducing her client to you is something of value all by itself. But don’t bank on that. Offer to extend an invitation of your own, or design his or her new database, or something.

5) Use the LI database to understand more about your prospects. This is the beauty of LI – what other source will tell you where many or all of the senior execs of your prospect organizations used to work (given that only half a dozen of them have profiles on the company’s website)? Let’s say that you want to do some work for ABC Company. And lo and behold, half the ABC execs worked for PayPal back in the day and the other half worked for FedEx. Great intelligence! You see that they have a strong Notre Dame alum thing going on, and some connection to Stanford as well. Now you can use your FedEx and PayPal alum contacts, your Notre Dame folks and your Stanford fellows to help you get ‘over the wall.’

6) You wouldn’t email a complete stranger, even if you obtained his business card (say, by stealing the win-a-free-lunch goldfish bowl of business cards at P.F. Chang’s) to say “Hey, why not buy some stuff from me?” So please don’t reach out to new LI contacts by saying “Maybe you could help me make a new-business contact.” I wouldn’t recommend that. Instead, read this intended contact’s profile. Let’s say you are reaching out to me, who runs an online community. Two seconds of reading my profile would give you some ideas of things that might interest me. I guarantee that a typical working person could offer me something I’d be interested in. So, when you make your LI outreach, mention that thing that you could offer! Write “I would love to connect by phone, both because I’m interested in your relationship with [my most-desirable prospect company] and because I have great friends in the social networking community whom you should know.” Bingo.

7) Many people in the business community, especially avid networkers, have numerous connections that don’t do any [short-term, revenue-generating] good for them personally but that could be invaluable to their new networking contacts. Think about these valuable contacts as you reach out to people whom you hope might help you. For instance, I know lots of headhunters who have great media contacts – contacts I would drool over – journalists who regularly call them up for insights on the job market. Unfortunately, apart from occasionally mentioning in her stories that Joe Recruiter says that the job market is looking up, the journalist can’t do much for Joe – she isn’t going to write a profile on him any time soon, for instance. But she might write a profile on someone that Joe has just met through LI. Of course, Joe wouldn’t throw around her name carelessly – but he might say, “You know, I can’t guarantee anything, but for your kindness today I’d be happy to introduce you to my friend, an editor at the San Jose Mercury News, who might be interested to talk with you.” Rock on.

When you spot a cluster of people on LI who all know one another and are all accomplished in the same arena, that’s a really special thing. It means that a group of folks who perhaps worked together, or met online, or are part of a group together, represent a kind of mother lode of shared knowledge around a particular area – say, SEO or CRM or German opera. That’s huge, because jointly, these folks may comprise the lion’s share of the current thinking on the topic. You can reach out via LinkedIn to one of them, and say, “You know, I’m trying to get up to speed on the operas of Handel. Might I sent you an email message with some of my key questions, and ask whether you wouldn’t mind sharing your thoughts with me and also forwarding my message to your friend Jack Sprat, who could undoubtedly add a valuable perspective?” With luck, in the case of an inquiry like this, you are able to repay these experts’ valuable time with a gift of some kind (perhaps tickets to the opera). But many such people would refuse any compensation at all. It makes a huge difference how you present your situation and how graciously you pose your request. So much depends on good manners, doesn’t it?

9) LinkedIn in combination with Google News Alerts makes a great business tool. Let’s say you are looking to talk to folks at Fidelity who work in one product area. Use LI to find a name (or two or three names) of people at Fidelity who seem relevant to your situation, and whom you’d like to reach. Set up a Google News Alert on Fidelity, and set one up with the target person’s name (or a few names) so that you can learn when he or she has been quoted, is speaking on a panel, etc. This kind of intelligence will tell you what’s currently on the plate of this person, the issues he or she cares about, etc. What’s more flattering than an LI outreach message that says “I was so sorry to miss your speech at the Financial Muckety-Mucks Summit, but I was fortunate enough to read your thoughts on petro-dollars on Money.com and to catch your NPR interview last week.” Dang! Be diligent, but be careful that you don’t sound like a business stalker.

10) Vendors like to reach out to former clients, and that’s good, but it can be awkward when you haven’t kept up and have no idea what the former client is now up to. But of course, if you’ve got the contact info, thanks (let’s say) to Plaxo, you’re going to use it! LinkedIn solves the problem. Presto, you can track what your former client has been doing since you last saw him – no awkwardness. On top of that, instead of an open-ended “let’s catch up” message, you can say “Wow! You’re at Fidelity! You know, I see that you’ve only been in the job a few months, so we should definitely talk. It so happens that I’ve become something of an expert on Fidelity lately……” Now, that’s power networking!

Liz Ryan is a former Fortune 500 HR leader, a workplace expert and the founder of the global online network WorldWIT (http://www.worldwit.org). She writes the workplace column for Business Week online, her own Business Mom and Job Jungle blogs at http://www.worldwit.org/blogs.aspx, and speaks internationally on women in the workplace, work and life, and the post-millennial corporate lifestyle. Liz lives in Boulder, Colorado with her husband and five children.