Ignore Everything You've Learned About Networking. Do This Instead.

Tired of the same old networking advice?

Network smart. Give before you ask. Never expect anything in return... bla bla bla.

The networking gurus do a really good job of rehashing the same advice over and over again. And even though you know could do a better job implementing it, the issue isn’t knowing what to do. It's finding the time to do it.

The Time-Starved Professional’s Guide to Networking

Here’s some radically different advice for you.

Instead of more networking, try doing less. Go to less events, meet less people, and eat lunch alone more often.

But when you do 'network', be more strategic about who you do it with.

Instead of trying to connect with anyone and everyone, spend your time building relationships with the few people who can amplify your message to a wider audience.

The reason why this works better than traditional networking is simple.

The goal of networking is to build relationships with people who can help further your goals. They may be potential clients, or they may be influencers (a fancy term for referral sources).

The problem is there are lots of people out there who might be potential clients... and you can't possibly build relationships with all of them.

But there's a much smaller group of influencers. And by targeting one influencer, you can reach hundreds, if not thousands of clients. That's my kinda math.

What Happens When Influencers Talk About You

To understand why influencer networking is such a powerful strategy, we need to take a look at a phenomenon called "the majority illusion"...

“Researchers at the University of Southern California recently uncovered the majority illusion, a paradox within social networks that makes some ideas, behaviours, or attributes appear widespread even when they are not. Since we can’t keep an eye on what the entire world is up to, we’re limited to witnessing what our social network says and does. At times, well-connected members within our network can skew our perception of how common an idea or behaviour actually is.” — Harvard Business Review

In plain English, ideas can appear to be bigger than they are when the right people are talking about them.

For example, if three of your foodie friends are raving about the latest sushi joint, you’ll assume that it's the place to go. Even though, for all you know, your three friends might be the only ones who actually like it.

This is where influencer networking derives its power. When the right people are talking about you, they're lending you and your brand some of their authority (whether you deserve it or not).

And that lending of authority is what makes people take notice of you... if you're targeting the right influencers.

Two Types of Influencers (And How to Use Each)

How do you choose which influencers to target? 

You'd think it would be as simple as finding the influencers with the largest networks.

But Kelsey Libert of Fractl Marketing argues that the size of an influencer's network doesn't matter nearly as much as the structure of their network.

In particular, there are two very different types of influencers. And it's not the size of their networks that distinguishes one from the other, it's the structure.

#1 - Awareness Influencers

These are the influencers who have broad influence among many different networks.

When you look at their network visually, they're right in the middle. Their connections are diverse and many.

The mark of an awareness influencer is what the data geeks call a high “betweenness centrality”…

”Betweenness centrality is a person’s location between different sections of a network. A high betweenness centrality signals a strategic position. For example, consider an executive with connections throughout several industries, as opposed to a leader who is only well-connected within his own industry.” — Harvard Business Review

Influencers with a high betweenness centrality are the ones you reach out to when you need to get a message out to a large and diverse group of people.

For example, if your firm goes through a merger and you want to get the word out about the new entity to multiple industry verticals.

Or if you’ve poached a well known industry leader from another firm and you want the world to know they’re on your team now.

Journalists are also a good example of awareness influencers.

While awareness influencers are great at getting the word out, they’re not the best people to turn to when you need someone to take action.

#2 - Conversion Influencers

Need to bring in some new business?

Want to promote that white paper you’ve spent months producing?

You need a conversion influencer. These are the people who have deep relationships within a narrow scope of connections.

Their actual reach is usually smaller than awareness influencers, but the connections they do have are much stronger.

These influencers may not have high “betweenness centrality”, but they make up for it with high “closeness”…

“Closeness is the average number of degrees between an individual and other members of the network; someone with one degree of separation, or more closeness, will probably wield greater influence (consider the ease of getting a favour from a friend as opposed to a friend of a friend’s mother’s cousin).” — Harvard Business Review

A practical example of a conversion influencer is a subject matter expert that is recognized as a thought leader within their domain.

People in other industries might not have heard of them. But within their network, they carry a lot of weight.

Exercise: Who Are Your Top 50 Influencers?

Here's a really practical way to take your influencer strategy forward.

Make a list of the top 50 influencers you'd like to build relationships with.

Once you've made your list, identify which ones are awareness influencers vs conversion influencers. Aim for a roughly even split.

Then... and this is the hard part... focus ALL of your networking on building relationships with those 50 people... and no one else.

Read more about network structure on Harvard Business Review.

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