Are you flitting about from one networking event to another without gaining any traction from the connections you’re supposedly making? I say supposedly quite pointedly because a “connection” is only as strong as the relationship you have with that person.
If you’re a creative professional, it’s not going to work to go at relationship building with an attitude of ‘business first’. Especially when, if you’re like many of my clients, namely a creative with ADHD, marketing is outside your area of expertise.
“Relationships first” is the primary tenet of any decent strategic networking group. Otherwise why bother? A strategic networking group is what it implies: a networking group that has a strategy involving ongoing commitment to and from it’s members. Conversely, thinking only in terms of business gains at one-off events is what makes ordinary networking so boringly unproductive.
What we are doing at random, non-commital networking events is cultivating aquaintances. Perhaps there’s value in that, like chumming for fish, but you can’t catch anything until you really put your line in the water.
What follows is the three-part strategy I’ve taken in establishing Muse Networking.
- We meet twice a month. The first meeting is to establish connections (aka networking). We never talk about business directly. Instead, I pose questions like ‘who in your life have you underestimated and how did you come to realize you had?’ That sparks a juicier conversation than ‘How do you find new clients?’
- The second monthly meeting spotlights a member, who shares something about their area of expertise so that we develop more of the ‘know like and trust’ factor for referrals.
- The most important part of my strategy for Muse is the directory of its members, which enables one-on-one conversations between meetings. That’s where the magic is.
I don’t know about you, but I befriend and/or work with people I like and respect. I invest my time in people who show up how and when they say they will. That is the standard I seek to consistently uphold in myself. A strategic networking structure is much more likely to attract and retain such people.
I used to offer a one-off visit upon request. With only one exception, people who wanted that privilege would get their one-time meeting in, never to return, even when we were clearly a very good fit.
These are not people I wish to give energy to, which is why I ended the policy. True or not, their actions demonstrated that they were only interested in what they could get out of the present company at first glance, including whether anyone could turn into a potential client or customer.
I attribute the success I’ve experienced in my life and career to approaching networking with a spirit of curiosity, and a conscious intention to offer the kind of support I am seeking.
I invite you to consider this approach for yourself if you haven’t already.
