INTRODUCTION
Networking seems to be quite a popular term these days in the world of business. Deep inside, we all know what the benefits of having a strong network are, yet most of us don’t proactively work on strengthening it even further.
In this post we are going to cover 4 groups of activities. Some will help expand your reach, whereas some will deepen your connections.
These groups are:
- Social media interactions
- Knowledge sharing
- Offline networking
- Guerilla networking
There are two things we need to set straight, before we dive into actual methods that you can use to grow your web of influence. First things first:
What is a personal network?
Surely, there’s some Oxford definition for this phenomenon, and certainly, I don’t care what it is. To me, the formidability of a personal network consists of 4 factors:
- Number of people you know, and that know you
- The ability of an ally to advance your cause
- Level of connection you have with a person
- Reputation
Plenty can be said about the meaning and structure of a personal network. For the purpose of this article, we aren’t going to waste too much time on defining the term. We’ll save that for a separate post.
Network Score
The main concept for you to grasp is that these 4 factors determine your “Network Score”, combined in a complex formula.
The more folks you know, and the more souls know about your existence, the better.
Now, it’s not just the sheer number that’s important. What also matters is, if these people in your network can actually help you in any meaningful way, other than offering life lessons to you. Listen to this bizarre example:
- You went back in time to 15th century, and you’ve reincarnated into the king of England. Everyone knows you; you have a deep connection with people, reputation is kind of a given, life’s great!
But what does any of this do for your ambition to build an AI software? It’s 15th century!
Highly unlikely scenario, but I hope my point crossed the bridge to your side of the river.
Seemingly, the reputation presents the biggest, baddest piece in this puzzle, opening many doors, quickly. The great example for this is doctors, since they can convey REAL influence on people they meet for the first time.
Now, besides WHAT networking is, we need to understand WHY it matters as well.
Why strong network is important in business (and life)
Dave is a local plumbing expert – a solopreneur, with 20+ years of experience in this field. His phone is on fire like a 4th of July barbecue, even though Dave never actually worked on promoting his business. How come?
Just because posting a Facebook ad seems like witchcraft to you, it doesn’t imply that your business potential is limited.
People formed networks way before online was a thing.
Wise Person
Our local hero, handyman Dave, didn’t read this blog post to grow a stronger network, he just did his bloody job damn well! Believe it or not, people appreciate when you do our work diligently.
By being himself, nurturing friendships and relationships, providing value to customers, and much more, Dave forged a strong presence in his community. Now, his past actions formed a strong network, that serves as a foundation for the prosperity.
An important note
Hopefully, this story sets the right tone, as we transition into actual networking strategies.
There’s nothing quite revolutionary that’s written in this blog post, I would say, but let it serve as a recollection of thoughts.
Not every method described here will work for everyone, so pick your battlefield wisely!
SOCIAL MEDIA INTERACTIONS
Everyone’s on social media these days. This allows us to scale our network to incredible heights.
Posting content on social media
Each piece of content that you produce and post is an opportunity to reach new people, as well as remind the familiar ones that you exist. Depending on the quality of content and other factors, the value of your network will grow accordingly.
It doesn’t mean that your content can’t hurt you, so it’s vital to make sure that this doesn’t happen too often. You know how easy it is to make a bad impression.
Content that strengthens your network
So, how to make sure that your content delivers, instead of being just a waste of time and resources to create, or even worse, hurt your Network Score? Although these rules are somewhat in a gray area, they provide simple guidelines for you to follow:
1. Make content that’s insightful to your ideal customer/visitor
As long as you’re producing video, image, text or audio that actually adds value to RIGHT people’s lives, you’re doing fine. When you’re truly providing valuable insights in your content, the power of your network grows.
2. The content has to be engaging and entertaining
Attention span is horrible these days, and people have unlimited choice to entertain themselves, which they do. Valuable + Engaging combo is a formidable one. Content that’s just engaging, often serves us little good.
3. Unique content
The key to unlocking the most precious doors lies in unique content. Uniqueness can be manifested in several ways: visuals, presentation style, rarely discussed topics, news, etc.
Combination of valuable, entertaining and unique makes for a bombastic piece of content. Nevertheless, the results are never guaranteed! This is just the nature of social media.
Worthless/harmful content
More often than not, it’s better to not hit the “publish” button, than to shoot yourself in the foot. Here’s what you should avoid in your content strategy:
1. Copy/paste what every other similar channel is posting.
Consequently, you’ll just end up in the sea of lookalike posts, hidden on the millionth page.
2. Content that deviates from your brand message.
Even though you wholeheartedly enjoy snorkeling, and 3 other employees like it as well, save those posts for your private profiles. Or don’t, if you sell diving gear.
3. Posting for the sake of posting
There’s a certain internal unrest that happens occasionally to business owners/social media managers. The need to add +1 to content count sometimes makes us forget who we serve.
It’s not always clear, whether a piece of content is the right fit for our business message. This challenge makes the creation process more exciting.
It’s up to you to discover your own voice (as person or business), and work to your best ability to deploy relatable content. Think well before publishing anything.
Going live on social media
We certainly can’t skip live videos in social media interactions category. Not only do real-time interactions with fans create strong relationships; they are underutilized completely. Few businesses do this on a regular basis. Even less do it properly.
Steps to promptly take your lives to the next level
Just like with regular content, don’t go live just for the sake of going live. Here are some basic guidelines to follow:
- Know exactly what your goal is – sales, leads, improving Network Score
- Keep in mind who’s listening – live isn’t about you, or your product; it’s about viewers, it’s about what they get out of it
- Ask for engagement – How old are you? Where are you from? – Basic questions work
- What is the best platform FOR YOU?
- Structure your live session, at least roughly
- Test different times of day and week; test duration; test audio; test everything
- Promote your live sessions beforehand, give viewers a sneak peek
- Make sure your internet connection is stable
- If using cell phone, make sure it doesn’t ring during a live session
- Do a rehearsal if possible
- Join live sessions from others to learn
- Have a clear Call To Action; don’t wait until the end to announce CTA
The untapped source of goodness
Surely, I’ve missed a good advice (or two) here, and that’s fine. These 12 steps, along with dedication from you (or your team) will take you to new heights.
If you’re local business (smaller places even better), live is your magic wand. Just hanging out online for an hour a week with folks from your local community will do wonders for your Network Score.
One great example is small/medium local farmer. Just sharing advice about growing veggies, milking cows, fixing fences and tractors, builds a strong reputation, an authoritative image in community. Remember the doctor example?
Commenting on social media
Not every comment reply is going to produce return, but, collectively, thousands of them will move the needle. They are a great way to attract new eyeballs, grow your network, as well as strengthen current bonds.
YouTube comments, to my knowledge, have the best ROI, based on their long shelf life. Someone is going to visit your profile, based on the comment you posted years ago. Now, hopefully, you already have an established channel, which may lead to an easy +1 on subscriber count.
For networks like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and others, test for yourself. With high enough volume, you may get results.
Public/private groups on social media
These days, everyone and their grandma have a Facebook group, which leads to a world of low engagement. Nevertheless, there are still groups that offer amazing platform form individuals to grow. These groups are almost exclusively private.
Create your own group
At the beginning, it’s going to be hard, and you’ll hear only crickets, unless you already have an established brand. One of the best uses for groups, Facebook or any other platform, is to connect people from a local community. This way, you can immediately have conversations happening in the group.
Someone has to spend time in this group, you, or a moderator. Post content, until you attract enough people that will share their own content.
Create certain events that are specific for the group, in order to drive engagement. People want to be heard, and considered smart. Ask them questions, let them speak up.
It’s also important to spread the word about your group constantly, across all platforms. Share an interesting conversation from FB group to IG story, or make a YouTube short with a funny argument. Linking to group isn’t necessary at all, people are clever these days, they’ll find it.
Participate in groups
If you find a nice group that resonates with you, has daily engagement, why not jump in? 3 or 10 minutes per day, per group, and you’ll find a lot of opportunity to improve your Network Score.
If you want to promote your stuff, make sure that it’s appropriate. Usually, group admins will allow some sort of promotion, but that’s the wrong way to look at groups.
The right way to approach groups is to be helpful, and actually solve people’s problems. Many of these interactions lead to positive outcome.
One more thing I would add right here is online forums. They are kind of a precursor to social media, and they still offer a lot of value, if you apply the same principles.
Collaborations with other brands/people
Pretty self-explanatory. Reach out to people for mutual benefit.
Collaborations bring in new people into our biome, as well as development of deeper relationships with collaborators. You should operate in your niche, as well as in similar niches.
There are so many ways to collaborate these days:
- Shared live videos
- Cross promotion
- Podcasts
- Brand deals
- Influencer marketing
- Guest blog posts
Take what works best for you, but don’t slack on collabs.
Establish a brand
All the previously mentioned actions add up to the process of brand building. This is not a small, actionable step, it’s a lifelong journey. It’s worth mentioning the effect of brand on strength of the network.
How big is the network of Elon Musk? Limitless, but highly unrelatable to our case, or you would think so. You don’t need the key that opens every door, but a key that opens plenty of doors.
If you own THE STORE for fishing gear in your area, everyone comes to you for advice. Use that fact to grow your influence and financial power even more.
The main thing most businesses never understand is conversion of attention to retention. In simple terms: always be selling. There’s always a way to introduce your product or services into the conversation, in a right way, naturally.
KNOWLEDGE SHARING
When you teach someone something, and they accept the lesson, it’s one of the greatest joys of life. Literally, teaching spikes oxytocin.
On the other hand, the mentee is usually eternally grateful. Online, you have mentees everywhere – teaching at scale.
Podcasts
There are 2 ways to approach podcast, to start your own, or to go on a tour with guest appearances. Both are amazing.
I include podcasts in knowledge sharing, because that’s what the main purpose ought to be. One, two, or more people gather together to share experiences, for the benefit of other people. God I love 21st century!
Hosting your own podcast
Podcast can be as simple as you talking for 5 minutes, but it can also include 7 people and 3 dogs. You choose what works for your brand.
With modern tools like Zoom, and the fact that every laptop has a camera, you can damn well start a podcast. You can even go IG live and post that audio or video on different podcasting platforms. Excuses have left the room.
Today, there are podcasts in literally every niche on Earth, at least in English language, but that will never override your uniqueness. Languages other than English have even more potential, with many niches lacking a good, informative show.
Go to another podcast as a guest
Most podcast hosts are more than welcome someone with expertise in an area. If you aren’t an expert, find new podcasts and don’t hide that you’re a noob, share your learnings.
To find suitable podcasts, you have to dig deep into a vast network of podcasting platforms, from YouTube and Spotify to less known places. Searching mechanisms differ drastically from platform to platform, so with each platform you can find new opportunities.
What do you know? You may be just one guest appearance from a completely different life.
Public speaking
Similar to podcasting, public speaking is a way to present your knowledge and authority in a field. Whether it’s 10, or 1000 people, you got the mic, you got the stage.
What you say matters. How you say matters. Public speaking is an art form, waiting for you to embrace it.
In most cases, finding a gig in public speaking is harder than finding a podcast to visit. Unfortunately, I’m not the one to teach you the tactics, the ins and outs of public speaking.
I can assure you that practicing makes you better at speaking. I also know that having a brand helps.
It also helps to reach out to a vast number of organizations. Even though you may fail to seal the deal this year, now you’re on their radar, and the sun may shine brighter next year.
Go get them!
Hosting webinars
Please, please, please! Don’t make the webinar about the sale of a product. I mean’ of course you make it about the money, but content comes first. There’s always a way to promote your sh*t, without screaming BUY NOW.
So many people get this wrong. Shoving your product may lead to more sales, for sure. The question is, does that lead to better reputation? Again, the doctor example.
I’m not saying it does, or it doesn’t, I just want you to ask questions in life. Awake the 7-year-old in you!
Online courses
Now, things are about to get ugly. Don’t hate me for studying psychology.
Online courses are webinars on steroids. People are also consuming your content, where you can sell other related products to them. The best thing is, you get paid.
Not only do you get paid, but people love you more because they paid you. That’s a weird part of human psychology. Even further, you may get hours and hours of their attention, lasting days, weeks, even months.
If you do a good job, teaching people how to apply what they paid for, you will get a lifetime of recommendations.
Guest posts
Guest posting is a thing even in Bible!
On the serious note, it’s one of the best ways to reach new people and build stronger network. Opportunities exist, but they aren’t easy to discover in every niche.
When it comes to titans like health and fitness, finances, gaming, sports, and others, you’re just one Google search away from finding opportunities.
In small niches, you may have to dig deeper, to look for Instagram or YouTube channels and uncover the treasure map that way.
All in all, if writing is your thing, guest blogging is a must!
Email marketing
To finish this knowledge sharing section, let’s talk about email marketing.
The main purpose of email messaging on large scale is to build relationships. It’s hard to sell in your emails if your open rate is 1%. Headline is an important factor for the email open rate, but what about past experiences?
The easiest way to get people to read your messages is to make it a habit, and understanding ChatGPT’s impact on email marketing innovation can be a game-changer in achieving that.
Headline is important factor for the email open rate, but what about past experiences? The easiest way to get people to read your messages is to make it a habit.
Examples of good email marketing
One good example is HARO. This platform connects writers with publishers. I receive multiple emails per day, and I open them regularly. How do they make money? They offer advertising space in their emails.
Becoming a welcomed email sender is easy, but takes a lot of work. One easy way to make people open your emails is to create a free email course. Upon signing up, people will automatically receive X valuable emails over the period of Y days/weeks.
This creates a habit to open emails from you in the future. However, don’t stop there. Keep sending valuable information to them. By not selling constantly, we grow our Network Score.
OFFLINE NETWORKING
Offline networking used to be the OG, before new technologies came to fruition. Now it’s still OG, while people are tripping that online is the right way.
Networking events, industry gatherings
What better way to connect to people, get more leads, than to go to a place where everyone’s in on it. In today’s world, in developed countries, finding an event, where people like you gather, isn’t an issue.
Go, hook up with people, talk about your ideas, your business, and have fun.
We can also include seminars and workshops into this group. Smaller groups are a fertile ground for intense bonding.
Host your own event
What about the power of having your own event, where you overtake the red carpet? If spotlight is your thing, there are few better ways to forge meaningful relationships.
Don’t underestimate the networking power when five guys are having a barbecue. If you organize, pay for the whole thing, maybe rent a beach house, or provide jet skis, you’re going the distance with these people.
Another example is organizing your own workshop or seminar. This may set you back a lot of cash, but to some businesses this may be a gold investment. It’s like those events that gather grandmas and sell them pillows.
College
Believe it or not, college is a great place to meet people. I couldn’t say that for the leaning part.
Should entrepreneurs go to college?
Join a professional association
Unlike a singular networking event, membership in a certain professional association is an ongoing source of new connections. More so, if you are working as a PR of the association, or even better – a chairman.
This organization can be a bureau with 10.000 lawyers, a group of soccer moms, or a farmers’ collab. It’s on you to choose the group.
Engaging in such activities drastically increases your Network Score
Join a hobby club
This is even better than joining a group of professionals. People let their guard down when they’re relaxing in sauna, swing their golf clubs or shoot targets.
One of the benefits of playing billiards for a long time is meeting people from all facets of life. I know a big player in air-conditioner industry, few real estate PLAYERS, house meisters, snake oil salesman, many pool club owners, cops, IT guys, influencers and more.
The huge selling point of a hobby is the energy that flows in these gatherings. When we play pool, it’s all that matters.
The cherry on top is the 2nd tier network, that you unlock by forming deep bonds with people who like doing things you do. These guys that I befriended in my pool career, they know people.
Coworking space
This new trend presents yet another way to meet interesting people. Coworking space is invented for the purpose of networking, it’s in its core.
All the folks who habituate in these places work remotely, they’re mostly open to new friendships and surely have an interesting story to tell.
Volunteering
Volunteering is pretty much coworking, but for real. A group of people united together, joining forces for a higher goal. How wonderful.
What’s great about volunteering is that you come across a bunch of enthusiastic people. Enthusiasm is contagious.
GUERILLA NETWORKING
When I imagine “Guerilla” networking, the picture doesn’t contain anything extraordinary. I ain’t talking about walking around the neighborhood, sticking flyers under car wipers.
The “Guerilla” reference to Guerilla marketing means that you wouldn’t consider these tactics in the sense of networking.
Referrals (2nd tier network)
If you read carefully until this point, you know that I already mentioned this earlier, in my pool career example.
People that have a deep respect for you, wouldn’t mind setting you up with their acquaintance. Use this trick to meet more people.
The fact that you meet someone through recommendation carries a lot of weight. Entering into a relationship on this note lays a good foundation for the future.
Cool business cards
Business cars aren’t a thing of the past. They’re still quite present in business world.
The “Cool” part is what makes the difference in this game. Instead of just writing basic info about person or business, do something creative, something clever. You can do this to make your business cards stand out:
- Put a comic image or write a joke
- Unique shape
- Transparent, foldable, and other more luxurious cards
- Incorporate call to action in a smart way
- Creative social icons, not boring ones
It’s also important to touch on other promo material, like calendars, pens, clocks, notebooks and so on. These may work even better than a business card. Imagine someone looking at your company name for an entire year, yet you invested maybe 10$ into a calendar.
Call familiar people randomly, start a conversation
Here’s another top secret for you. You can actually call someone close, and just ask them what’s up. Simple as that.
A week ago, I called my brother who lives in a different country. We haven’t spoke in half a year. Half an hour into the video call, he dropped a few tears, just being glad that I care enough to call, for the sole purpose of seeing my elder bro.
I do this with close friends as well, just checking up on them. 5 to 10 minutes a month, talking with someone, is a huge upgrade to the situation where you don’t do it.
Build an app
Apps are everywhere. We all use them all the time. I’m writing this in Microsoft Word, you’re reading on your device in a browser app.
Building a useful app, that actually has users, raises your Network Score. Free apps are definitely attracting more attention and traffic than paid tools.
Imagine just how much power Facebook has! To users, FB and IG are just another apps, but FB knows exactly what they’re doing, offering “free” apps.
Travel
Even if you’re a local farmer, you can benefit from incorporating travel into your life. Each new venture is an opportunity to learn and expand your network.
People bond when they have shared experiences. What is a better way to accrue new experiences, than to explore a new destination with someone who’s on a similar journey.
I’ve met friends for life, just by spending few hours with them.
Travel not only lifts your spirit, infuses new energy into you, it also is a wonderful place to find new souls.
Learn a language
Whether it’s a new language, or reinforcing the old one, language learning is about bringing people together.
My mom signed me up for English classes at 7, and I’m eternally grateful for that. The other 3 languages I learned as an adult, by my self-initiative. The number of conversations I had on foreign languages is insane!
Today, it’s easy to find people who are interested in learning a language you know, in most cases. For me, Conversation Exchange is the place to meet people about language learning.
As the Hungarians would say: sok sikert a nyelvtanuláshoz.
Know thyself
The end is near! The end of this blog post has never been as close.
What the hell does “Know thyself” have to do with networking strategies?
I left this purposely for the end, since this is a reward for your effort in reading my post.
Networking efficiently requires good understanding of the right personas you want to attract. How can you know who to attract, if you don’t understand yourself first?
When you figure out who you are, write it down as a statement. In your networking journey, people will ask you “what do you do”.
Be prepared to answer this question, since it’s the one of the first things we ask strangers. When asked, you need to invoke curiosity in your answers.
Instead of saying: I clean rich people’s toilets
Say: I make rich people feel better
What is wrong with me and my examples?
Anyway, craft your own message, your own answer. Use it to brighten people up, as well as present your business in a cool way.
CLOSING WORDS
You’re ready soldier! I’ve equipped you with more than a handful of ideas to grow your Network Score. Knowing is only part of the journey, though.
Procrastination is a real issue, don’t get me started on that, but it’s time to toughen up. AI revolution is an event like no other before, sharpen your spears.
Advancing in life is so much easier when you have a ton of people behind your back. Elon Musk didn’t build a rocket, his team did it. The network he created allowed for such astonishing success.
After all, we’re a pack animal. The beauty of today’s world is that the potential for Network Score is pretty much limitless, much like how ChatGPT can be a secret weapon for entrepreneurs, aiding in the expansion of your network and reach.
It takes 2 people to make a baby, 2 people to install an air conditioner, thousands of people to run a factory, and billions of people for a global change.
How many people can you connect?
Check out Brian Tracy’s take on networking:
