Networking the Networks
Dr. Ivan Misner, a professor of business at Cal Poly Tech University and the founder and CEO of Business Networks International talks about creating trust in relationships as the basis for all successful networking.
Misner’s organization, which boasts 4,700 chapters in 35 countries, generates $1.7 billion a year in
business for its 84,000 members, and is recognized as the foremost authority on the subject of business
referrals and networking, utilizes the “givers gain” philosophy in his organization. Givers gain is
based on the assumption that trust is generated between individuals when they work on behalf of each other.
In Misner’s book, Masters of Networking, Bill Gates builds on this idea with what he refers to as “the trilogy of trust”,
basically a process whereby a third person is able to benefit from the trust that two others have because they know one of them.
The relationship with the first individual translates into positive social capital benefits with the second because
credibility bridges what would otherwise be an insurmountable gap in trust by virtue of the association between mutual
friends. In essence, one leverages social capital with one person to establish trust with another.
Credibility is transferred in this relationship, thus empowering a new relationship that did not previously exist.
And this brings us back to Amara Obiyo and her Mary Kay business, because she’s the perfect example of the extraordinary
power of business networking in niche markets, a process called “bridging social capital”.
Networking is critical to the Strategic Business Intelligence Group’s business plan.
Everything SBIG does rotates around the idea that trust is the foundation for establishing relationships,
and that trust is built through a carefully orchestrated system called MAN (Multidimensional Access Networking).
In a MAN-based network, participants employ all of the three primary forms of networked relationships,
(bridging, bonding and linking) and focus on solving an individual’s problem or meeting their needs as the
first priority instead of creating business for themselves. When MAN networks function with full participation
from all members of the group, business eventually results within some level of the network regardless of whether
it has been a primary focus or not. Members simply pay back those who created referrals for them at a later date
when they encounter individuals better suited for an introduction to the original point of contact.
Trust is an elusive element in business and essential for success at all levels. It takes a lot to establish it
and very little to destroy it. By using bridging social capital strategies to leverage power that an individual or
business does not have alone, bridging is the act of establishing relationships that involve dissimilar kinds of groups
that connect together. These groups cross various kinds of barriers…social, cultural, racial, ethnic, religious, gender,
class, etc…to form these bonds of trust, and they maximize networking power by opening up areas previously closed to the
network. The key factor in determining that a network is following a bridging strategy is the movement of people and
ideas back and forth between groups that are distinctly different and ordinarily separated from each other. Bridging
differs from bonding social capital which consists of networks that interact only with those who are similar to themselves.
Linking brings both groups together within a hierarchal power structure where they are not on equal footing, but
characterized by differing levels of power. It creates leverage with institutions for those who would not normally
have it within their own network.
Niche markets are one form of bridging social capital strategy that is extremely powerful.
In the example used already, SBIG has utilized bridging social capital to introduce various people
who have never met each other to a networked environment where everyone stands to benefit from the association.
Among the niche markets with the most potential are those that cross racial and especially ethnic boundaries to
bring groups of people together that would probably remain apart were it not for a key link somewhere that
represents the nexus point in the chain. Amara Obiyo in this case, was that link. Motivated by a desire
to meet new people for her Mary Kay business, she joined SBIG and by virtue of the fact that she’s Nigerian,
SBIG subsequently had doors opened to the organization that are part of her personal network and offer
fascinating opportunities for collaboration between groups. None of this would be possible were it not
for the power of niche markets and the ability to bridge into them through social networking strategies.
Why are niche market networks potentially so powerful? The answer lies, once again, in the trust factor.
Ethnic pockets of people in the United States can be found all over the country, especially in and around university
campuses. Bound together by common language, culture, religious, economic and social glue that forms the basis of a
tight-knit community, these niche markets of ethnic and racially similar individuals are natural pools of a precious
business commodity they share with each other:
Trust.
Trust, as we saw a moment ago, is the fabric of social capital that Misner states is the basis
for any good networking relationship, and business networking is the most critical factor in the success
of failure of the vast majority of businesses, especially small enterprises. In a global survey of small
business owners, Miser reported that 80% of small business owners identified business networking as the
number one factor determining their success or failure. Obviously if networking is this critical to
success, and trust is the basis for creating those networks, creating that trust ought to be the major focus.
Racial and ethnic pockets of people that are members of minority groups within a larger culture
represent sub-cultures that are reservoirs of energy for social and intellectual capital. As people
find themselves isolated from the larger society by virtue of barriers in language, customs, culture
and economics, they create informal networks within their own group and with other groups of similar
people who they share common ground with. These networks are based on inherent trust that is greater
than the trust that exists in the society at large. Depending on the culture, people who belong to
these niche groups may share everything from close friendships to living quarters and personal possessions,
financial partnerships, business ownership and even prospects for marriage.
Some sub-cultural groups develop sophisticated economic strategies that they use to increase the opportunities
for success within the group. Individual members provide resources that other members do not have,
and often create miniature hierarchal social structures that advance social and intellectual capital
to the level where businesses owned by individuals hire, train and promote others from within the
group and cut expenditures in the process, enabling them to make a greater profit.
Penetrating niche market sub-cultural ethnic groups can be a daunting task for those outside the culture.
Natural suspicion and lack of trust exists within these groups for those who are not part of the inner circle.
The only effective way to gain acceptance within a niche market like this is to create an initial bond of trust
with a single member of the group, and develop networking connections for that individual that result in social
capital and opportunities for them they wouldn’t be able to create for themselves. Finding common objectives
and ways that two seemingly separate and dissimilar groups can work together is possible also, but there must
be an initial nexus point where a single individual from one group reaches out to make contact with a single
individual from another group.
Opportunities for generating revenue multiply for small business owners that can identify,
target, and strategically penetrate niche markets, not only with customers but suppliers and other
stakeholders as well. Getting into these networks is the difficult part, but once inside,
the potential for tapping into the natural trust that exists within the group is an exciting proposition.