7 Of The Best Ways To Build A Network In A New Country

Building a network in any new place comes with a scientific approach one must be mindful of. Every country is unique and large in the diversity of people you will meet.?

An abundance of people who live especially in smaller cities often visit for transformation and decide to stay. You will even find holiday goers and ex-pats that fell in love and decided to move there permanently. Of course, there are always also incredible locals to connect with.?

With a big and bright new community to choose from, how does one start to build a network?

• Look at the existing network.

Do an audit by asking yourself who you already know that might introduce you to someone. Start with the low-hanging fruit, look for introductions.

• Follow up.

After introductions, make an effort to follow up. Following up after a meeting is the key to a prosperous connection. Make plans to meet up again, to learn more about them.

People can be very focused on spiritual transformation. This, however, does not mean that people do not have to manage their everyday doings and work life. Balancing your spiritual and economic goals is of utmost importance. This is why following up and making an effort is cardinal in understanding where other people come from.?

• Maintaining balance.

You need to figure out whom you love spending time with, who you’d like to continue spending time with and who you should create distance from. It is important to give yourself that space to follow up and meet up with the people you want. It is impossible to stay connected with everyone you’ve ever met. You need the space to work on your most important connections. It is a difficult, but powerful step to take.

Smaller cities, in particular, have a lot of conscious entrepreneurs who want to forge deeper connections instead of shallow transactions.?

Every time I move countries, change industries or change jobs, I need to rethink and prioritize my connections to maintain this healthy balance.?

• Making space for new connections.

In the past, there were situations where I needed to create space from an old network. This means talking less, connecting less and having fewer follow-ups. Nobody wants to break ties or burn bridges, but sometimes it is necessary.?

What makes this particularly difficult is doing it without hurting anyone in the process. If you want to know more about painlessly burning a bridge or disconnecting from an important connection, I suggest you follow up with the guys from Thrive and tell them you want more.

Making space is very important because it is very difficult to manage a lot of relationships at once. Everyone’s capacity for relationship management is different, but the point is still relevant. It is virtually impossible to make a lot of effort and keep your entire network happy when your network becomes too large.?

• Managing my connections.

My capacity for managing connections is quite large as I manage more than a hundred connections. It is not impossible to maintain a large network and I do so by following a strategy.?

My team and I create systems to implement authentic ways of following up, adding value, serving, inviting people to events and connecting people.

I make a big effort to connect with people every single day, without asking for anything in return. For me, this is a great way to maintain a strong network.

• Creating distance.

Difficult as it is to distance yourself from your old network, there is a way to do it. Moving from Singapore, I still had a lot of connections from my mosque, but distancing only meant that we talked less and weren’t actively responding much.

When receiving long messages, don’t respond in full right away. Before you reply to the message in full, let them know that you are busy at the moment or focused on another project. Suggest coming back to them in a month.?

In this way, you are letting them know that they are not a priority, but that you are also not burning bridges.?

• Do it with heart.

When you make connections, make deep and real connections. We need strong connections with people that have our backs, support us, want to listen to us, want to help out and invite us to places. As humans, we tend to feel lonely and lost at the worst of times. We need people to love and care for us, who can reassure us when we feel insecure.?

Moving to a new city can be overwhelming, with all of the transformation and changes. You need to build a network that makes you feel grounded, has your back and wants to see you flourish.?

If you have any questions or comments please leave a comment in the comment section! Alternatively, you can contact me at [email protected] . You can also follow me on LinkedIn to receive more tips and tricks for building a network and managing connections.?