Background:
Ian Ybarra from Ferrazzi Greenlight
asked me a few days ago to send some gift ideas for connectors for an
article that he was working with. Being a writer, I couldn’t write a
paragraph 🙁 but I wrote an article instead. Here is the complete
article. The key parts of this have been incorporated in Ian’s article
at NeverEatAlone Blog.
Here is the bonus: Ian tells me that they are giving away gifts for
folks that suggest some more gift ideas for connectors. Isn’t that cool
– you suggest a gift idea and you get a gift 🙂 Here is the link to
Ian’s article:
Never Eat Alone: Great Gifts for Connectors
Here is my article:
It started a few years ago when I met with Tim Sanders for casual lunch at the Yahoo!
Campus. We talked several things over lunch but the one big take away
for me was the power of joy associated with connecting people. Over the
years, I have learnt a lot from Tim on the same topic. Keith,
of course, has not only mastered the art of connecting, he has also
mastered the art of teaching others how to become connectors. So, many
thanks to both Tim and Keith for what they have done to the world of
networking. I am connecting, learning to connect more and enjoying
every minute of it.
Over the years, I have connected with many connectors from different
parts of the world and all of them have demonstrated the following
characters time and again
• They want to give first
• They are busy people
• They don’t have hidden agenda (they simply don’t have time to craft schemes in the background)
So when I was thinking about good gifts for connectors, I had to come
up with something that would be relevant to these people. Here is what
I came up with. Notice that some of them won’t even cost you any money.
1. Gifts to save them time
they still need to keep up with what’s happening in the world. And,
they have to do it with very little time. Here are some gifts that
might save them time
• 1 Year Subscription to Audible.com: Audbile.com has supposedly the largest collection of audio books
• 1 Year Subscription to SoundView Executive Book Summaries: As the name suggests, they compile book summaries of some of the best business books out there.
• Dragon Naturally Speaking 9 Standard: Helps them to create documents by speaking instead of typing.
2. Gifts to save them (some) money
• 1 Year Subscription to MyBlogLog Pro: MyBlogLog is to blog what real time stock quotes are to the stock market.
• 1 year Subscription to cover their blog hosting
• 1 Year Subscription to host their podcasts
• 1 Year Subscription for LinkedIn Business Account: They are connectors so help them become better at it.
3. Help them to organize themselves
information they need in an organized fashion, they can connect some
more people. Here are some tools to help them organize themselves
better:
• Buy them a copy of MindManager: MindManager is a great tool for mindmapping.
• 1 Year Subscription to Backpackit: They can store all the documents they need as they travel the world and access them online.
• Buy a copy of SoundForge Studio from Sony: Helps them to record their Podcasts.
4. Help them extend their reach
• Connect them to other connectors
• Connect them to other cool people
• Send a link to their blog to hundred of your friends for whom it may be relevant
• Link to their blog or to their website or to their book
• Buy 25 of their books and distribute to friends for whom the book may be relevant.
If I have to summarize in one thing – give a gift that shows that you care for things that they care about.
Happy gift giving!