Do These 5 Things Before Networking with Anyone…

Here are the 5 Things You Must Do BEFORE Networking with Anyone and certainly before attending a Business Networking Event

You may also borrow these tips to help with leveling up your dating game as well.

Before we run through the list. Here are some general pointers to help you:

1. Be Super Specific: Don’t Ramble, Meander or go off on tangents. Most people don’t have the patience for this and WILL NOT WANT to continue the conversation, let alone help you. This is a turn-off and is effective at driving people AWAY from you.
2. Don’t Use Jargon: Keep your language simple, so that anyone can understand it. Just because you know what you do, doesn’t mean that anyone else will have a clue about it, so keep things very simple. Use words a 7th grader would understand
3. Pause: Speak for 20 seconds to a minute and then Pause, so that you allow the person you’re speaking to, to react to what you just said or ask you questions. Don’t go into long monologues, coz no one likes that.

Now that we went through the starters, here is the main course

1. What Do You Do? Drill down to the core of what you do. You don’t need to talk about the industry for context unless you are asked. Most people have a short attention span, so get to the point fast!
2. Why You Love It? Explain why you do what you do. Is there some deep philosophy that drives you? Maybe it’s something that happened to you in your formative years or some epiphany of altruism. People want to know and eat that sh*t up 🙂
3. Who’s Your Ideal Client? Again, be super specific like what is your customer’s industry, their income/revenue level, preferences, etc. Don’t say – ‘Anyone who needs this… ‘. When you say ‘Anyone’ people actually hear ‘No One’ since you are not telling them something specific to focus on.
4. What’s Your Ask? It’s more strategic to look for referral partners rather than end customers.  Referral partners are usually trusted advisors to the end customers, so reaching them through a warm referral will aid in closing the sale as opposed to reaching the customers directly. 
5. What’s Your Give? It’s not all about taking. When you are upfront about giving, it causes others to want to do the same – which is the basis for successful networking and long term relationship development

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Are You Accepting Referrals?

If you are, you want to Network with SuperConnectors to find Trusted Referral Partners and expand your network exponentially. Contact us if you’d like to visit any of our East Coast or West Coast Chapters as a Guest on Tuesdays at 10 am EST, 10 am PST via Zoom.

5 Strategies To LevelUp Your Online Networking Game

5 Strategies To LevelUp your Virtual Networking Game

Yes, Virtual Networking is now a thing, and it’s here to stay much like how Online Dating was a thing 10 years ago and continued to become more and more popular with each passing year.

According to a Feb 2020 Study, Pew Research estimates three-in-ten Americans have used a dating site or app at least once in the last year. 12% (40 Million Americans) have married or been in a committed relationship with someone they met through online dating. According to Match.com 1 in 5 relationships (20%) start online.

Yes, Online Dating is here to stay. But, you’re not here to read about online dating are you?

Here are 10 Tips for you to absolutely crush your online game be it at online networking or online dating:

1. Photo: Make sure the photo on your Linkedin or Facebook actually looks like you today. People hate being lied to. Please realize that in Business Networking people don’t care what you look like, so long as you don’t mislead people about your looks. Doing so, makes people distrust you and is an immediate Swipe Left effect when it comes to follow-ups. So do yourself a favor and own the way you look – for better or for worse. 🙂
2. Be Consistent: Be sure that your information on LinkedIn lines up with all your other social media profiles, be it, Instagram, Facebook, Bumble, Shapr, etc. Its the same thinking when working with your resume. Make sure everything lines up nicely. This helps to maintain trust and confidence in you as a serious & polished professional. Furthermore, it helps you stand out against people who have overlooked the finer details like this.
3. Technology is here to Serve you, so start using the most popular platforms to enhance your familiarity with it so you can shine when using them. Some popular Video Call technologies today are Zoom, Google Meet, Microsoft Teams, Whereby (formerly appear.in), Jitsi Meet, Facebook Messenger Video Call and WhatsApp Video Call – to name a few. You’ll be happy to know that most of these are completely free with the exception of Microsoft Teams. Most of them also support Virtual Backgrounds made popular by Zoom. 
4. Virtual Backgrounds – Take some time to think about what you’d like your virtual background to say about you, what you do, and your personality/individuality. Your virtual background could let people know about your favorite car, place, food, moment, destination, or something about your company, your service, your Value Proposition. Whatever you select, make sure that your selection is tasteful and not too distracting since you want people to focus more on you and less on your background. That said, avoid busy pictures or psychedelic designs that make it hard for people to focus on you and your message.

5. Look Your Best – Clothes – Take some time to think about what your dress style is – Casual, business-casual, business-formal or formal. While what this means may change depending on who you ask, I will attempt to give you an overview

Casual: Tshirt & Jeans
Business Casual – Polo Tshirt & jeans/Khakis
Business-Formal – Long Sleeve Dress Shirt with collar & trousers/pants.
Business – A Suit & Tie

Regardless of what your personal style is, choose the best versions of the items of clothing in that aesthetic expression. The attention to detail will not be missed and people will appreciate you for it.

Clothes Maketh The Man

William Shakespeare

 

If you found this post useful please consider posting a supportive and kind comment, subscribing, and following us on Linkedin to stay up to date with Productivity Hacks like this.

Are You Accepting Referrals?

If you are, you want to Network with SuperConnectors to find Trusted Referral Partners and expand your network exponentially. Contact us if you’d like to visit any of our East Coast or West Coast Chapters as a Guest on Tuesdays at 10 am EST, 10 am PST via Zoom.