Don't waste another minute on "networking" until you've learned this process.
Here's a bit of scary news: you're always "networking"
Whether you're at an event, a coffee meeting, or making a quick introduction, your daily life is packed with opportunities to meet allies and clients -- even in this virtual era.
Are you maximizing your time?
You may believe that networking is all about the first time you meet someone. It sure feels that way. The word alone invokes memories of awkward, half-hearted business card transfers and the subsequent disappearing act.
I thought that way for twenty years.
I stuffed my Rolodex with business cards (the wheel eventually jammed), went to events, and tried to "sell my business" to the people I met. I put on my best smile and "faked it 'till I didn't make it."
I didn't realize it then, but I was doing things way, way wrong. I was focused on the impression I made and nothing else. The other person may as well have fallen off the face of the earth before and after we'd traded cards and contact info.
I wish I knew exactly when it started, but I don't -- it happened suddenly. Somewhere along my trajectory in my title agent career, I started getting more contacts and making more impactful, lucrative connections.
Something was working, but I couldn't pinpoint what it was. Was it luck? Flashy business cards? (Hint: Nope. Mine were boring as hell.)
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Then, literal years down the line, it hit me.
Networking never happened for me at the point of introduction. It was what I did after every introduction -- the painless stuff, the things I had full control of -- that skyrocketed my ROTI (Return on Time Investment). The introduction was just my way to get my foot in the door -- just like any other introduction in any other situation in life, duh! Where I really shone and got people on my side was during the follow-up I'd been unconsciously piecing together year after year.
A Career Networker Finally Learns How to Network
A good friend of mine was a self-proclaimed career networker. He found his way to multiple events or made tons of introductions and handed out business cards every week for over a decade. But he always struggled to keep his schedule full and pay the bills, even in an in-demand field.
How does a likeable, capable person who makes that many introductions and basically lives at networking events survive from paycheck to paycheck?
It's not just a numbers game.
Networking is a process that doesn't end at the business-card swap and the last handshake. You can't just take a list of fifty people, tell them what you do, and expect profits or relationships to appear. Networking is involved, personal, and can potentially be the one habit that changes the way you operate your business and personal brand forever.
My friend was clearly not having trouble with meeting people. He wasn't nervous or introverted. He wasn't skimping on the details of his business. The only thing he was missing was a good process that took all of the guess-work out of networking and made huge impressions.
So I sat him down for nearly four hours, hashed out my own process, honed the steps along the way, and showed him one dead-simple formula he could use to make sure that he was doing what he needed to do to get more clients.
He went from a few clients in a five month period to making over $13k in commissions -- in the same career he's had all along -- after two weeks. He did not switch careers. He did not change anything about his business.
All he did was shift his networking habits.
I couldn't believe it either. in two weeks he'd made a commission that doubled what he'd made in five months. Sure, it's a case-by-case basis, but no matter what business you're in, YOU can network to improve your client-base.
EVERYONE can be a better networker. Even the introverted among us (guilty) can learn a repeatable process that takes the stress and awkwardness out of networking. I want you to learn the process for yourself -- finally stop those alarm-bells from ringing every time you hear "networking" and create a memorable follow-up habit that will make you a super-networker and get you more clients.
If you want to learn how my friend made more in two weeks than he made in five months, I want to give you a copy of The Networking Playbook: Connecting Step-by-Step.
In it, you'll learn the crucial steps to take when you meet a new potential ally and the easy, stress-free things you can do to maximize your impression in the days after your introduction. In The Networking Playbook, you'll
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Discover the building-blocks of an empowering tribe.
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Learn the H.E.A.R.T model that demystifies face-to-face and virtual networking.
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Explore time-tested follow-up methods that will captivate prospects and potential allies
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Learn how mastering the "mutual introduction" can make you more valuable than ever.
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See how a humble pen can revolutionize your rapport.
I'll send a PDF link directly to your email if you sign up below. Don't fret -- the book is totally free and it's chock full of value. Follow the steps, do the work, and see the results for yourself.
