#ConfidentNetworker The Podcast
with Simone Douglas
In this episode of Confident Networker, Simone talks about how to look at your networks objectively and identify the gaps.
Chris Irving 0:06
Welcome to the confident networker with your host Simone Douglas
Simone Douglas 0:15
so for next hour, you’re tuned into seriously social with me, Simone Douglas. I’m your seriously social host. I’m also CEO of social media AOK, publican at the Duke of Brunswick hotel, executive director of BNI Adelaide north and author of seriously social and confident networker. If you’re looking to explore all things with me social or digital marketing for your business, head to our website, socialmediaaok.com.au. And drop me a line or better yet book in for a coffee. I always like making new business friends. A well known saying in business is it’s not what you know, it’s who you know. In today’s climate, this is truer than ever before. People are better researched thanks to our ever evolving digital landscape. And therefore one of the most integral elements of sales is trust. The quickest and most effective way to build trust is for your connections within your network to share with your prospective customers their experience in dealing with you and your business. Your reputation is what people will say about you when you are not there. It stands to reason then that you build a network of connections that like and trust you and will proactively speak highly of you. The problem is that too many business owners think that they have that network when in fact they do not. There was a study by Harvard Business Review on the power of recommendations recently, the study found two very interesting things. Firstly, according to Harvard, everyone knows 1000 people or more. So think about your connections, and now think about who they’re connected to. Secondly, Harvard found that 90% of your customers would recommend you to their connections, but only 10% of sales people ask the question. It’s easy to get distracted by all the noise in the business world at large. But jump day is your chance to settle in and work on your business – and this season, on your networks – in ways that allow you to make the most of your opportunities today, tomorrow and forever. So let’s have a quick look at what the key issues are from a business owner perspective. I think the first thing that we need to consider is “Do I have networks that work for me or am I swimming in the wrong pond?” There’s a school of thought that suggests that doesn’t matter where you network, because networking is simply about meeting people and making connections. Personally, I totally disagree. Pure business sense and sheer economics means that lots of low value connections not turning into money equals a higher cost of conversion and low return on investment. In order to get the highest return on your investment (that’s your time and your money), You simply have to be doing your networking where your ideal prospects are or where people who are connected to your ideal prospects are. There are a great many different networking organisations to choose and ways to network as well. It gets to a point that you may feel overwhelmed by the choices, I wholeheartedly recommend that you take full advantage of attending as a visitor or as a guest as many times as any networking group will allow before making any commitment, join, investigate and do your homework and make sure that the fish you want to catch are connected to the people swimming in that pond. Notice I said connected and not in the pond, then one of the biggest mistakes that people make when they’re evaluating networks that they may want to join is that they look at the people in the room and say those are not my ideal clients. Now, if you bear this in mind, one of the best referrals I ever received came from a pest controller. So if you think about it, if I had made the assumption that the pest controller had nothing to offer me and I hadn’t spent the time to get to know them, I would have cost my business over the course of five years nearly $220,000 In referral business. Now that’s a big chunk of change to throw away just because you’ve made a judgement on somebody. So we never know who’s connected to who and that’s why we need to spend the time getting clarity and an understanding of who’s in my network. Then I suppose what we need to do is get some clarity around what are my networking goals? Whether or not you are a goal oriented person setting networking goals can help you get the most out of your networking activities. After all, you’re going to be spending a reasonable amount of time building relationships with your network. So wouldn’t it make sense to optimise the time that you’re spending goals can help you achieve short and long term objectives by creating a framework within which you can move towards the achievement of your goal on a sustainable basis. Most people set goals that they never achieve. They either give up way too early or simply let the rigours of life get in the way. So goals offer an effective solution to keep our eye on the ball no matter what else is going on in your life. You It allows you to have a health check as to whether or not you are conducting and undertaking the activity and the follow ups that you need to in order to build your network successfully. So you may not associate effective networking with goal setting. But once you open yourself up just setting networking goals, you may be surprised to find them at quite a good bedfellows. Building a valuable network takes time and effort. There are no shortcuts, no quick fixes. And this means that you need a realistic plan a path you can follow to ensure that you maintain and add to your network over the long term in a way that supports you achieving your business goals.
Then we need to really think about how am I proactively engaging my networks before I need their help. This is something that people often fail to do. So they acquire connections and networks. They add them to their little black book, whatever that little black book looks like. But they invest no time, effort or energy into building those relationships. And then they think that they can just open up that little black book, and make a phone call and ask for help from somebody or ask them to leverage their networks when they haven’t done the work to spend the time to get to know them, or to make some deposits in the favour bank. So like all relationships, your professional network requires attention. Otherwise, it’s not going to be there when you need it. You need to have a plan for keeping your networks engaged and on side. So there are some easy ways to do this. Like communicating regularly online and in person. Introducing people from your networks to each other, always being ready to offer assistance or to help. Remember, remember things about them that they tell you and have a process for locking this information into your head so that when you catch up with them again, you can utilise those stories that you’ve collected in a way that shows the people in your networks that they’re important to you. Also organising informal events yourself, which can be as simple as after work drinks or an informal catch up for brunch or lunch or dinner. All of those things will help you engage those networks proactively. Remind yourself that networking requires you to apply the principle of reciprocity that is give and take continually. Don’t wait until you really need something badly to ask for a favour from a network member. Instead take the opportunity to give to and receive from people in your networks. Regardless of whether you need the help. Then I think you need to ask yourself a really important question do my networks have the breadth and diversity I need to really find success. So the biggest benefit to a diverse network is the exposure to new ideas. People with different backgrounds have novel ways of approaching problems that you and your industry may never have considered. These new approaches often lead to industry changing insights that would never have formed within a uniform network. In addition, not socialising and a wide variety of professional or personal networks. Your intelligence and awareness of other advances becomes deeply limited. So for successful networking, across difference you need to understand the role unconscious bias plays in everyday decision making recognise how you may be engaging in and affected by affinity bias. Identify inclusive behaviours and effective networking strategies and access sorry, assess the breadth and depth of your professional network. So we all have biases recognising what yours may be, and then taking steps to connect with those who aren’t currently part of your sphere can open up your world to new insights and opportunities. The purpose of today’s show is to give you an understanding of just how healthy your networks are in terms of being able to support you in achieving your dreams and aspirations for your business. By conducting an audit of your existing networks and applying some logic to what you find, you’ll be in a great position to build these networks and strengthen them in 2021. Understanding how to look at your networks objectively and identify the gaps will mean that we will be able to evaluate today the basics of your networks, who is in them who’s missing rating, the strength of your relationships and how much of a person’s story have and how much you’re missing. A network is no good to you if you don’t leverage it. And interestingly, lots of people fail to do the maths on that. If this is your first time listening, welcome to the world of seriously social sales and marketing where relationships we knew the sales. If you’re a returning listener, thanks for being part of my seriously social Global Business family. We’re now going to take a short two minute break and when we return, we’ll get into the detail on what we really need to be looking at in order to successfully start having clarity on just where our networks are and what we need to do next. I’m your host, Simone Douglas and we’ll be getting back to business after a very short break. So make sure that you have a pen and paper out there ready because I’m actually going to take you through in the next section exactly how to break down and assess your networks. And I will be with you very soon.
Alright, so moving on, what is it that we actually need to know? So the first thing that we need to get a handle on is the three forms of networking, operational, personal and strategic and how they fit and why they matter. What separates successful managers and business owners from everyone else and puts them in the top 10% networking, creating a web of personal contacts to provide the support feedback and resources we need to get things done. That said many managers and business owners avoid networking Some think they don’t have time for it, others disdain it as manipulative to succeed in business. A Harvard study by mine, Hermione Ybarra recommends building three types of networks. First off, you want to look at your personal ones, kindred spirits outside your organisation who can help you with personal advancement. Operational people you need to accomplish your assigned and routine tasks and then strategic people outside your control who will enable you to reach key organisational objectives. These networks, their purpose and how to build network membership are summarised. In their study, personal, operational and strategic networks, most importantly, Ebar. His work suggests that leaders need to possess all three types of networks and not just one or two. So let’s take a look at each one of these and what they’re all about. So if we look at personal networks, they are largely external made up of discretionary links to people outside the workplace with whom we have something in common. As a result, what makes a personal network powerful is its referral potential. According to the famous six degrees of separation principle, our personal contacts are valuable to the extent that they help us reach in as few connections as possible, the far off person who has the information we need, while personal networks are important, particularly to the extent that they provide you with valuable resources and access to needed resources. The challenge for all of us is to convert them into network resources that also help with operational and strategic needs. Too often, though, those individuals in our personal networks just aren’t the right types of ties to be beneficial, operationally, or strategically, which is why you need to look at broadening your network to address operating and strategic needs. If we take a look at operational networks, all managers need to build good working relationships with the people who can help them do their jobs. The number and breadth of people involved can be impressive. Such operational networks include not only direct reports and superiors but also peers within an operational unit, other internal players with the power to block or support a project and key outsiders such as suppliers, distributors and customers. The purpose of this type of networking is to ensure coordination and cooperation among people who have to know and trust one another in order to accomplish their immediate tasks. Either you’re necessary to the job and helping to get it done or you’re not on the basis of a close study of 30. Emerging Leaders Ibarra and Hunter found that operational networking was geared towards doing one’s assigned tasks more effectively, involved cultivating stronger relationships with colleagues whose membership in the network is clear, and their roles define them as stakeholders. From there, we really need to look at strategic networks. So this is like top of the game. So making a successful leadership transition requires a shift from the confines of a clearly defined operational network. It’s a challenge to make the leap from a lifetime of functional contributions and hands on control to the ambiguous process of building and working through networks. Leaders must accept that networking is one of the most important requirements of their new leadership roles and continue to allocate enough time and effort to see it pay off. And I think that’s the important thing there time and effort. Whereas an operational networks fairly narrowly focused with the locus of contacts formed around specific objectives. A strategic network necessarily involves lateral and vertical ties to stakeholders inside and outside of the business. As a bargain hunter found in their research strategic networking is the ability to marshal informations support and resources from one sector of a network to achieve results in another push to its logical limit. The basis of this difference is that effective leaders are highly dependent on others to get things done. The irony here is that the individuals in your network, who are the lifeline for building up the big picture are also the individuals who are likely to be outside your immediate control. While this may seem obvious, it’s often difficult to transition from a purely operational network to a strategic one either due to simple time constraints. strategic networking takes time off and without immediate obvious benefits, or because of negative personal attitude. towards strategic networking, for instance, that’s too political or it goes against my values, you need to understand as a leader in business that you are playing a game of chess, it’s not about playing it unfairly, it’s just about playing it well and understanding the rules of the game. So then we move on to how to map out your network of influence. So when to do it, how to do it, and how to do it with the networks of people, ideas, and customers we live in are so massively entangled, that we often don’t realise that we are connected to others in a way that can wield influence and action locally and on a larger scale. How can you leverage your influence as a member of a network? If you can’t see who or what comprises that network? And how those parts of the network are connected? Is your network sensitive, responsive or robust enough? How can you know and are there ways you can strengthen your network if you want to increase its adaptability. So first, you have to understand the basic elements of a network and they are very simple. You have two things nodes and connectors. Nodes are the individual agents that make up a network. They are the people with whom you interact at work. They are the concepts and ideas that come together to form your own network of beliefs and values. They are the vendors that make up your supplier network, and they are the communities that interact to shape your world. In looking for the dynamics in your system, consider how the nodes themselves can represent the differences that make a difference in shaping the patterns you see. Nodes can be represented in different ways on your map in
usually buy geometric shapes. So in simple maps, these shapes might be same sized circles. More complex maps represent differences that matter in the network. So differently sized circles can represent more or less influence more or less information, more or fewer resources. Different shapes can represent other differences, gender, age department ideologies. For example. You can also use size to represent the relative number of connections and node might have. nodes that are connected to many other nodes are called hubs, and can change the dynamics of a network influencing the patterns that emerge. When you want to use a network map to represent or explore the adaptive capacity of that network, you choose the differences that matter for you. Those differences will then inform your decisions about how you want to represent the nodes on your network map. From there, we move on to looking at the connectors. So connectors are the lines that represent the communications and connection pathways between and among nodes, your networking map will invariably turn into a giant mind map of sorts. Simple Network maps use simple solid lines to show how nodes connect and which nodes are connected to each other. More complex. network maps use different types of connections to tell a more complete and meaningful story about the whole network. arrows show the direction of flow of information or resources or influence. Single end arrows show one way flow and double ended arrows reflected two way flow. density or weight of the line should show the relative size or impact of the connection. And solid lines show direct connections, while dotted dashed lines might reflect less direct or secondary connections. When you build your network map to represent the underlying dynamics that contribute to adaptability, you consider the strength and direction and impact of the connections that exist. So basically, that’s all there is to building a network map, you consider questions about the patterns around you and use your insights to map what you say, or what you experienced those questions can include things like, what is the pattern I want to understand? And who is a part of that pattern? Who or what seems to shape the pattern? Who or what is a player in the pattern? Who or what contributes to the strength or weakness of that pattern? Or network? And who or what has power or influence now? How are the power and influence distributed and shared? So we’ll give you some clues about where you need to be paying attention. You also want to look at what is the network of differences and connections that shape the pattern and be really specific? What is the container or the boundary that shapes and frames a particular network? What is the identity of the network? What is its purpose or reason for coming together? What are how are those nodes connected? And how did those connections serve the purpose of the greater network? Well, there are probably multiple networks at play in any complex system. So just choose to start with the one that is most familiar and where you have the greatest opportunity for influence. From there you can look at what are the greatest differences that shaped those patterns? What are the nodes that frame this network? And how do they look relative to each other? How can I represent those differences in ways that makes sense? What connections carry information and other resources to shape sustain or weaken this pattern? What connections exist and how do I connect and represent those differences in a way that makes sense? Okay, from there you can move on to looking at your the key things that you need to look for in your networking strategy because you’re in formed now now you can ask yourself questions about that network and how you’re going to apply the different things that you’ve learnt. To move it forward, then we look at how diverse our network is and why it matters. So when it comes to business networking, you never know who people know. And one of the important keys to being successful at building a powerful personal network is that of diversity. So we’re looking here for diversity of industry generation culture, do we have enough diversity to ensure that we have access to all the information and resources that we would ever need to achieve the things that we’re trying to achieve in our business? And then we need to kind of move on to looking at how we maintain soft communication and consistent touch points with our professional network. So how are we building online rapport, strengthening relationships, touching base and moving strategically through those communication points to get the most of things. By making it easy for clients and prospects to connect with you by including all of the updated contact information on all your social profiles and make it visible to everyone, not just your connections, it allows you to expand that network, but you still have to proactively reach out to people old school, we’re now going to take a short two minute break. And on the other side, we’re going to have a look at the nuts and bolts of what you need to do to move forward.
Today, we’re talking about how to do a networking inventory and why it matters. Go to our app, IBG AR dot app and get yourself set up so you can download the show notes. So we move on to what you actually need to do today. So first up, you need to review your contacts and map out your circles of influence and contacts views using what we covered in the previous segment. If you’re stuck, I’ll be dropping the worksheet for mapping out your networks into the community of commerce a little bit later today. The truth is most business owners are terrified to start working their spheres of influence, or soI is fear of failure rejection the phone, there are some very real mindset obstacles, keeping them from their number one source of free leads and massive revenue potential. In some cases, we’re talking multiple millions in volume. And there’s no good reason to leave that kind of money on the table when it comes down to it. And soI is just a group of people, you know, personally, whether it’s a client you haven’t seen in 10 years, or a family member you wake up with every morning, the core idea behind the term sphere of influence is that by simply knowing you, you have the ability to impact them in some way. And that’s an uncomfortable idea for many of us. But the truth is, as humans, we’re already influencing each other all of the time, it’s our nature to judge one another and decide how much trust to afford each and every other human we meet. Or in the words of Tenex rule founder Grant Cardone, everyone is a salesperson, even doctors. So if you’re clinging to the belief that your soI is weak, or that you don’t have an Soi, because you’re new to town from the wrong side of town or whatever. believe this, you’re not only kidding yourself, you’re also leaving money and opportunities on the table. Contrary to popular belief, you do not need to burn your relationships, or use scripts, or contact people a magic number of 33 times to score referral business and grow your sphere of influence. But you do need to step up and own your role as the face of your business which also happens to be the best possible thing you can do for your business as a whole. Over 65% of your business comes from your sphere of influence according to add works. So let’s take a look at who’s in it. Grab a notebook or an Excel spreadsheet and jot down all the names you can think of including past co workers, even if your last job was waiting tables. Your friends, yes, even the high school pals you haven’t seen in 20 years you’ll be amazed at where they’ve ended up in their careers. Your spouses or partners, co workers, your spouses or partners, friends, your kids friends or their parents depending on age your kids, teachers and school workers, your extended family, your neighbours, friends and acquaintances from any social group such as neighbourhood associations, rotaries, PTA is etc. Anyone you interact with regularly, even if that means once every couple of months. For example, your hairstylist, your accountant, doctor, dentist, even your bank teller, don’t get sidetracked thinking about what you’re going to say when you reach out or why you really don’t know this person that well. The first step is to just get the names down on paper and at this point, it’s absolutely crucial you don’t undervalue or overthink a single candidate for your list. From there we need to evaluate and document how you engage with your networks and maintain contact. Reach out like you normally would unless you are that person who never does notice self. You don’t want to be that person that sits back and waits for other people to contact you. Contacting your sphere of influence in a way that feels natural is not only more cost efficient, it is also more effective. Put yourself in your contacts shoes if you have a friend usually chat with via WhatsApp, it would be weird to call them up on business and start asking them about whether they know anyone who needs to buy your stuff. Instead, go ahead and send them a quick message sharing a recent win a funny story or a revelation about something in your area of expertise. Try to do this for each and every person on your list. And remember, you’re not selling you’re starting steering and maintaining conversations. Take the pressure out of the big announcement and build awareness for your role and what you do professionally by simply sharing that part of your life. That’s all you have to do. Remember, at the end of the day, business is about connecting with people marketing is simply how you start the conversation. Just don’t leap straight to the sale at the end. This is the problem that we keep having and I keep having with so many people that I meet out in the wider business community, they’re in such a hurry to close the deal, that they burn the relationship before it even starts. All we’re talking about here is working out who’s into in new contacts views and then reaching out to them and starting conversations getting them on your socials. Okay.
So, at its best marketing to your soI helps you establish yourself both online and offline as the local expert of choice. There are three primary ways to get your name out there, become active in the community. Expand your presence on social media and use online and offline advertising. You need to set aside one or two days a month to attend a local community or charity event. start engaging more on your social media channels, send out emails to your sphere, or use a specialised advertising tool to do it for you, and increase your online visibility with this particular group. As the leads and referrals start coming in, it’s important to keep track of every single one. Use the spreadsheet or your CRM to input key details like the lead source, any initial questions they might have asked and personal tidbits like their kids or even their dog’s name. Never write anybody off. You don’t have to be a suited and booted business executor have a great network. In fact, most of the traders that I know really well have ridiculously good networks, and you never know where your next lead is going to come from. So give your full attention to every person you meet. And remember, everybody matters, not just the people that you’re naturally drawn to. From there, you’re going to need to write out that networking strategy for 2021. So to make a genuine success of your networking efforts and get tangible value out of it, it is imperative that you be an active visible member of the group or groups to which you belong. This comes back to the quantity issue, ask yourself, can I be active, visible, highly involved? And a solid member of a whole host of different networking clubs? To get the most value out of my membership? How much time would I have to dedicate to attending events? Over the course of a week? Or a month? How many hours am I spending at these events? How many work days does that equate to? Now the killer question? Do I have to compensate by catching up on the work in the evenings and weekends. So as we look at our networks and our networking plan, get some clarity around where you’re committing, okay, and it’s a bit like signing on the dotted line, okay, when you sign a contract with somebody else, you’re held accountable, you need to create a net working contract with yourself. In doing this, and making sure that you’re going to deliver on those things, what you’re going to achieve is that really robust network that you’re looking for, you need to identify where the strategic gaps are in your networks and who you need to be playing with at this point, and who are the new networks that you’re going to invest time in understanding then a new network takes usually two years to bear fruit, okay, you need to do a lot of farming before you start to reap what you’ve sown.
From there, we need to interrogate your networks diversity and identify how you can start filling those gaps. You want to build a network that contains a broad range of skills, knowledge and experience. You can do this by making a list of the qualities you want the members of your network to have, and to ensure that anyone you consider for inclusion must possess at least one of these qualities. They could include any of the following. They should have skills and or experience in a particular field. After all, you don’t want a network full of commas or consultants you want a spread of skills or industries. They should have some common interests with you so you should have common ground he can talk about, and they should share other commonalities with you, such as living in the same country, city or town. Your prospective connections don’t have to comply with all the requirements but they should comply with at least one. Set a goal to review your network monthly and make it a part of your routine. Remember not to focus all your attention on acquiring new connections, some of your time, use some of your time to look at the existing members of your network to see what they’re up to on social media and on their websites in order to find ways to add value to their businesses and to their lives. You also need to keep climbing the mountain. So document the different ways that you can recreate one on one and small group opportunities to connect with and build both your networks and those are the people within them. There are dozens of old school ways to do this the work we all have to eat. So look at your plans for breakfast, lunch or dinner. The age old adage never lunch line has merit. And for me, I like to lunch in fours, because that allows me to bring people together in a way that is beneficial to everybody. Then I want you to reach out to the important connections you’ve let fall away and start building some bridges. Those connections aren’t necessarily dead in the water, you just need to resuscitate them. And often that just takes time and attention. Let them know that you are still thinking of them and interested in what they are up to 2020 has given you the perfect excuse. And you can reach out and say that last year really got you thinking about what matters and the people you want to have around you and they were front of the queue, or in the part you played in however it fell down or fell away and negotiate our way forward. Remember to plan to spend some time putting the lessons learnt and the aha moments into practice from today’s show. And let me know how it goes. Nothing changes if you don’t set aside time to make it happen. So once you’ve worked out what you need to do, start putting timelines and deliverables on your action plan, get clear on what you want your network to think and feel when you come to mind, and what actions you want them to take and how you’re showing up for them regularly. Today, we’re talking about how to do a networking inventory and why it matters. So some of the things that you really need to consider at this point. Okay. Who is it that you don’t have in your networks, we’ve gone through all of this process we’ve worked out, you know, who’s in our network, what our sphere of influence is, how we need to start reaching out to those people. One of the things that I guess we really need to think about is, who do you want to be in your network? Are you happy to be the wallflower or the person set off to one side? Or do you want to be that centre of influence? I know for me, I like the fact that a lot of my connections, call me the Oracle because I can routinely solve their problems and challenges at the drop of a hat. And that’s a really powerful way to be in your network. So when we come back, we’re going to look at how we get you there as well.
Okay, so we’re at the pointy end of the hour. And it’s time to set yourself some homework to ensure you have a handle on where you’re going and what you’re trying to do. So it’s really important if you want to get the most out of each week’s show as we go through this season that you take some time block it in your diary to have a look at your notes, whatever it is that you’ve jotted down. While you’ve been listening today. Networking is a vital component to achieving one’s dreams. Because the more people you meet and connect with, the more likely they become, become willing to help and assist network and advise. This would never be possible if you don’t routinely and confidently assert your dreams and goals to others with robust networks. And by proactively and strategically networking you can access tangible real time benefits. Some of those include simple things like strengthening relationships. Networking is about sharing, not taking. It’s about forming trust and helping one another towards goals. By regularly engaging with your contacts and finding opportunities to assist them. It helps to strengthen the relationship when you do this. You sow the seeds for reciprocal assistance when you need help to achieve your goals. You know, a great example of this is with my very first book seriously social I really didn’t know who I wanted to write the foreword for it. But in the end, I went who else would you ask for them the father of modern day networking, Ivan Meisner. That said I didn’t have the relationship with Ivan Meisner to get that signed off on. But I did have the relationship with Frederick Marku, who’s the national director for BNI Australia. So I called in a favour and I asked him if he would leverage his networks to reach out to Ivan and ask Ivan, if he’d write the foreword. Now, that worked out really well. Ivan was quite happy to write the foreword, and read through the book and it ticked a really fantastic box for me in terms of having a solid person review the book and give me some feedback on it as well. So strengthening those relationships means that you can leverage them when you really need them to achieve something that you’re looking for. Your network is also going to be an excellent source of new perspectives and ideas to help you in your business. exchanging information on challenges, experiences and goals is a key benefit of networking because it allows you to gain new insights that you may not have otherwise thought of. So again, this comes down to how Having a really diverse network so that when you are having a challenge in your business, when you’re not sure where to go, what it is that you’re trying to achieve, or whether you’ve stuffed up with a customer, which let’s be honest, we’ve all done before. You can access people that can help you figure out how to fix it, you will have people who have the experience, if you’ve got generational diversity in your network, you will have people who’ve been on this journey before, and I’ve dealt with pretty much anything that you can think of that you’ve dealt with might not look exactly the same. But their advice will be transferable in a way, you know, that makes your life easier. And this is the reason that I love having diversity in my network. Because whenever I’m stuck, I can, you know, literally just like ask the question, and someone in my network has that answer. Similarly, if you’re offering helpful ideas to a contact, it’s an excellent way to build your reputation as an innovative thinker. And we all know that givers gain at the end of the day. Networking also allows you to have a raised profile. So being visible and getting noticed is a benefit of networking that’s essential in career building. Now, just because you’re a business owner doesn’t mean you’re not building a career. Let’s be honest, we all know that the better and more public your profile is in amongst the people who matter, the more opportunities you are going to have. So regularly attending professional and social events help you to get your face known. And then you can help, then you can help to build that reputation as a knowledgeable, reliable and supportive human being by offering that useful information to people who need it or solving challenges for them. You know, I’ve really seen this come into action today. Tonight, I’ve got a gala dinner for 164 business owners that I’ve put together. And at that dinner this evening, we’re going to have the premier of South Australia, Stephen Marshall and the Leader of the Opposition Peter melanosis. Both in attendance. And that wouldn’t have been possible if I hadn’t been visible in a number of networks. So I was able to then be well known enough to their offices and have been in their circles of influence often enough that they were happy to attend the event. And that’s a simple example of how you raise your profile through having those diverse networks and making the most of them. So have a think about long term. Where are you going? What is it that you want to achieve? And what hard yards do you need to do to get there now hard yards may not be hard for you, you might really love networking and engaging with people.
I enjoy the outcomes from networking. But I find sometimes networking events really draining doesn’t mean that I don’t attend them, it just means I need to gear myself up for them. And so I find having a plan is the easiest way to do that. And then I need to also have a plan to re energise afterwards. So now I can also create access to opportunities for you. So expanding your contacts, we know opens doors to new opportunities for business, personal growth or simply new knowledge. Active networking helps to keep you in mind when opportunities such as job openings or work orders arise, and increase the likelihood of you receiving introductions to potentially relevant people or even a referral. So you need to know people before they can introduce you to people. And one of the things that we need to do in our networking action plan or our networking strategy is get some clarity also, and work through this this season. But get some clarity around how are you positioning yourself? So how are you teaching your networks to refer you what benefits are you providing to your networks? And what does that look like? There’s a lot of working and moving parts in being a successful networker, and they’re all things that you just need to have percolating in the back of your head this season. And routinely start jotting down notes as you have aha moments and epiphanies around this stuff. Write it down so that you can use it. Okay? Likewise, networking is a great opportunity to exchange best practice knowledge and learn about the business techniques of your peers, and stay abreast of the latest industry developments. So a wide network of informed interconnected contacts means broader access to new and valuable information. So you need to network in your industry as well. I know for myself, even though, you know, all of the other digital marketers in my industry, who routinely run events and do things they’re not my ideal clients. I’m not gonna go and get, you know, immediate work out of them. But by networking with them and around them, I also stay abreast of what other trends are happening in the industry, what new things are evolving. And more importantly, occasionally, I do end up getting referrals because I know them well enough to understand where they’re so Every provision starts and stops, and where the gaps are and where we can provide support that they don’t provide. I’ve also been able to demonstrate over time that I’m very protective of their share of wallet when they refer me into their clients. And that is something that builds that credibility and allows you to be successful. Remember, too, that gaining the advice of experienced peers is an important benefit of networking. So discussing those common challenges and opportunities, opens the door to valuable suggestions and guidance, offering genuine assistance to your contacts also sets a strong foundation for receiving support in return when you need it. So I guess, as we’re getting ready to come to the end of all of this, you need to spend the time. So I’ve given you a very technical overview right at the beginning about how you can map out your networks, there are all sorts of different ways to do it, though, do it in a way that’s comfortable to you. But get a really clear picture of your networks and where those gaps are. Okay, because from here next week, we’re going to look at intimate intergenerational networking, which is lots of fun, and how different generations like to be communicated with. Remember that people go in without the backstory all the time, they’re too busy with the agenda that’s right in front of them, and they forget the value of the relationship that’s going to last them a lifetime. It’s how we get taught to do business, go and find the people tick the box, get them to sign on the dotted line and move on. It’s that 1980s mentality all over it might have worked back then. But we’ve all woken up we have different values. Now, there are some people out there who still use those 80s techniques, I could do it if I didn’t care about whether anybody would talk to me ever again. But if you don’t worry about each and every person, you don’t know what your opportunity cost is. The focus this season and it for the first quarter of the year really needs to be on making friends, building community and getting to know people so that you have those backstories because the backstory is the powerful part. Committing time and attention to evaluating and massaging your networks on a regular basis ensures that you enjoy a depth and breadth of support and access to opportunities that makes being successful in business seem easy, and allows you to navigate the roadblocks as seamlessly as possible when they arise. So we all know that person in business, don’t we, you know, they seem lucky.
Everything seems simple to them. They seem really successful. I always love it when people come and tell me how you’re so lucky. You’ve got three businesses and you’ve done this and you’ve done that Luck has nothing to do with it. What I did was put the work in to spend the time to get to know the people in my network, I put the work in to help the people in my network be successful. And that meant that in turn, a bent their will to me to their networks, to support me in being successful to help me navigate the roadblocks that were out there. And all of those things allow us to be successful. So as I said, next week’s show networking through the generations and what you need to know. So how different generations engage and network and what you need to do to be effective. I’m your host, Simone Douglas, and I’m going to take you on this journey over the coming weeks to ensure that you become or continue to be a confident networker that is accessing your networks in a way that drives success. So I look forward to hanging out with all of you next week. Have a fantastic week and keep on networking but just make it count.
Chris Irving 43:32
Thank you for listening to the confident networker. You can find more episodes and information at BM my am.com.au/podcast
Transcribed by https://otter.ai