Chapter 11 - It's Who You Know

Thanks for joining me on my journey. If you missed the previous chapter, you could read Chapter 10,?"Year One in Review,"?here.

In the previous chapter, I spoke about referrals. Back in Chapter 4, I talked about not having a business mentor and not expanding my network (both mistakes).

Have you ever heard the phrase,

" It's not what you know but, who you know? "

There is a lot of truth in this phrase, and sadly it can often be the case that no matter how good you are at what you do, if people don't know you, then there are fewer opportunities to demonstrate your skills and acquire new clients.

Networking

I am terrible at talking about myself, promoting myself, and "bigging myself up".

(I always have been)

Maybe this is something you've experienced?

" Have you ever sat there and wondered how did they get the work and I didn't??"

I am much better at promoting myself now (but still pretty poor compared to others), and one of those things that helped me improve "selling myself" was networking.

How Networking Helped

I joined a local networking group in my first year of business, but I grew into it in my second year.

The group worked like this (a similar format to BNI but no pressure to promote):

1. Informal networking at the beginning - Great for those of are shy.
2. Each person gave a 60s description - Great for succinctly defining what you do and helping with public speaking.
3. Education Spot (2 minutes) - Each week, members took turns educating members on an aspect of their industry and how it can help other members.
4. Main Talk (10 Minutes) - Members talked about their business in detail each week.
5. Close - Informal networking and a chance to discuss referrals.

In my second year of business, I took a turn in chairing the group and organising it. This gave me better confidence and helped me build relationships with other group members.

It also allowed me to showcase my skills by:

• Building a website for the networking group
• Converting all their documents to digital and recording group data
• Increase the reach of the networking group

" Never undervalue the importance of relationships within business "

Relationships and Networking

I cannot overstate enough the importance of maintaining good relationships in business.

Don't get me wrong, we won't be able to work with everyone we encounter, and some we will work with better than others, but if we all approach relationship building with "what can I help you with?" rather than "what can I get from you?" things will be much better.

" You never know when or where a referral might come from "

For years after leaving my first networking group, I still received referrals from within the group (and from outside it) because of how everyone treated each other and wanted to help each other.

Networking Isn't Perfect

I tried several networking groups in my first couple of years with mixed success.

(None compared to the very first group I joined)

Different groups have different goals. Some, like BNI, require constant referrals; others can be set up with motives to get one (or a select group) of people work and not for the benefit of all members.

But you don't know until you try!

Don't Give Up

I gave up too quickly on networking.

Over the next nine years, I dipped in and of networking, but I didn't put the effort in or give things a chance.

Only recently, I revisited networking with enthusiasm and commitment three years ago (and then COVID happened). It was great to be back, and I had missed being part of a group that genuinely wanted to help each other.

Since joining that group, I have received thousands of pounds of work and met some wonderful people for whom I am very grateful.

I will leave you with these tips:

• Don't give up!
• Be prepared to try lots of different groups.
• Give groups a chance - If groups are weekly or bi-weekly, then three months. If they meet monthly, give them six months.
• Come to networking with an attitude of helping/giving first and receiving second (but don't let people take advantage of you)
• "In-Person" networking is best (it always has been), and with many networking groups being virtual (thanks to COVID), the networking landscape has changed.
• Broaden your network by finding groups that aren't just local. I joined three networking groups in my hometown of Bangor, but none have been as good as networking in our capital city, Belfast.

If you have any tips about networking or experiences you would like to share, please, DM me. I'd love to chat!

Happy weekend everyone! Until next time,

Simon

If you are interested in Email Marketing or WordPress, you can subscribe to my weekly newsletters on my?Mailchimp page.