A new networking initiative by The Networking Community LLC (TNC) will combine technology with face-to-face interaction to create opportunities for businesspeople to meet and exchange ideas from virtually anywhere in the world.
Set to pre-launch this month with full deployment in September, Milwaukee-based The Networking Community will become both a facilitator and an umbrella organization for networkers across the nation through the establishment of unique networking groups. Networkers across the globe can connect through an integrated Web site, www.TheNetworkingCommunity.com.
Networking is not one size fits
all, said Dan Williams, founder and chief executive officer of The Networking Community.
TNC was created to serve as a catalyst for those looking to begin networking, become more involved in networking or for those searching for a niche.
The changing economy and the advancement of technology have made the business world a free agent market where individuals find value in becoming entrepreneurs or find that they can easily work from home, Williams said. To succeed outside of an office environment, they need to network and market themselves.
The minimum goal of TNC is to create 250 chapters across 25 secondary and tertiary cities in the United States within three years, Williams said.
"We believe that because of changes in the economy, the Milwaukees and Greenvilles of the world are where the population is going," Williams said. "Because of technology and the quality of life, (individuals) could start a viable business in St. Joseph (Mo.) without going into Kansas City."
The free agent market has made networking a key source for leads, especially important for people working from home or building a business, Williams said.
The combination of "clicks and bricks," as Williams calls it, adds value to the TNC networking package because of partnerships that Williams and Jeanine Dent, president of TNC, created through their own networking.
"People are not born networkers, they have to work at it," Williams said.
Williams wrote the audio book that was released in January entitled, "Tales from The Networking Community," an educational resource on networking using his personal experiences as examples. LinkedIn, an online networking resource (www.linkedin.com) that links members together through the idea of six degrees of separation, was a launching pad for Williams, he said.
Williams has more than 1,100 direct connections through LinkedIn and has access to more than 1.4 million people by combining his direct connections and their networks within four degrees of himself, he said.
Four initial alliances that TNC has made are with InnerSell Inc., a Foster City, Calif., Web-based company (www.innersell.com) that has set up a system in which individuals get paid for giving leads; The Image Generators Inc., an Olney, Md.-based technology firm that produces an E-radio podcast show for TNC about networking; Timberlake Publishing Inc., a Fairfax, Va. Web development company that caters to membership-based organizations using a content management system (CMS); and Freedom Training Centers of America, a Waukesha-based educational training center that has capabilities for high-tech workshops, presentations and virtual teaching.
"We are loosely coupled and have come together because we are satisfying each other’s needs. We are not held together by a contract document," Williams said. "It is a power of alliances. I am a vehicle to showcase their businesses (and they are offering services to TNC). Fundamentally, we are doing something together that we could not do alone."
TNC, with its strategic partners, provides the tools and the guidance an individual will need to start up a networking group. The individual then acts as president of the group and has the autonomy to create a networking group based on the individual’s own needs and business skills in the market, Williams said.
TNC limits competition in the groups for an increased chance of success for everyone. An average group size would have about 10 members, Williams said.
Four TNC chapters have been created.
KC Thorson is the president of TNC-N.E.W.S (Networking Empowers Women to Succeed) in Milwaukee; John Phillips is the president of TNC-Progressive Business Builders in Milwaukee; Amy Brady is the president TNC-Annapolis Group in Annapolis and Baltimore, Md. and Kerric Tyler is the president of TNC-Potomac Powerbrokers in Springfield, Va.
Jay Rose, a TNC group president in San Francisco, Calif., has a background in managing networking events and has partnered with TNC to build a West Coast presence for TNC, Williams said.
"People want to join and belong to something they believe in," Williams said. "Entrepreneurs and companies can bring services and support to a tremendous amount of people."
An online membership costs $95 per year and includes the membership-based Web site for member profiles and member event postings; a weekly calendar with a networking tip of the week; a monthly subscription to Tales From TNC, an E-newsletter and E-radio show; access to quarterly education Webinars; InnerSell online leads exchange member private access; the opportunity to record and post a personal E-radio commercial and a copy of Tales From The Networking Community.
A group services membership costs $249 per year and includes all of the online services plus a TNC group Web site with a group calendar, lead tracking and discussion forums; exclusive professional representation and group recognition and marketing support through TNC’s main Web site. Milwaukee group services members will receive event passes to TNC’s monthly power networking events and one ticket to Williams’ seminar at the Freedom Training Center entitled, "Networking, like life, is a process, not an event."
TNC was founded by Williams in Washington, D.C., in 2003. Williams created TNC to serve as an online resource for both experienced and inexperienced networkers providing information about local networking organizations.
TNC came to the Midwest when Williams moved to Milwaukee in October and held its first event in January.
"The market is wide open for TNC to come in between to service an unsatisfied need for networkers," Williams said.
August 19, 2005, Small Business Times, Milwaukee, WI
