How do you build a network of peers in various fields? How do you maintain relationships over time?
I’m trying find opportunities to improve my networking skills. I like to keep to myself and build products but understand building your network is a key component which should probably include more outreach. Any tips or tools you use to engage and maintain contacts and friends could be useful! Trying to find some sort of balance.
"Your net worth is in your network".
The best business coach I've had drilled this into my head early on.
The reason why your network is so valuable is that each person in your network has people they know who might be the one key contact to rocket your business to the next level.
For me, building this list is my key strategy to building authority and an audience quickly.
It's yielded faster results than all the inbound marketing that I've done.
The Core 100 list is 100 people that you want to network with -- people who either have your audience OR you want to learn something from them specifically.
The best part? As you build this list, you can start envisioning your business growing with each key contact you make.
Your network grows. And so does your business.
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PART 1 -- FINDING YOUR NETWORK
The first thing you need to do is figure out your network categories. Create categories that make sense for your business.
I have 6 categories that I work with:
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PART 2 -- RESEARCH THEM
Every day, take 30 minutes or so to find people you want to add to your list.
Scour LinkedIn, SaaS forums, Quora, Facebook groups, and do general Google searches.
Gather details like -- contact info, who they know, and why you chose them.
Keep all this info in one place, like an Excel spreadsheet or Airtable base.
Every time you find someone who would looks appealing, add them to your Core 100 list and tag them in one of the categories.
Once you start building up the list, add a time frame around the length of time you think it might take you to connect with them.
This is critical because it will help you decide how frequently you will be in touch with your network. From this basis, you'll create a simple system that will tell you how frequently you will stay in touch.
Suggested time frames:
0-6 months
6-months to one year
1 year+
Each person you add to your Core 100 list should have an associated time frame.
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PART 3 --REACH OUT
This is the best part -- starting to build those relationships.
I personally am a big fan of LinkedIn so I start there. Sending emails, Facebook friend requests and asking a mutual acquaintance to introduce you are all great ways to get started.
Keep your first contact light and easy. And ...
FOCUS ON THEM.
A typical outreach should include:
Here's examples:
"Saw your interview with XXX. Would love to connect."
"Great article on XXX. Would love to connect."
"Hi XXX,
Really liked your video where you mentioned XXX.
Looking forward to watching more of them.
Would love to connect."
You'll notice 2 things:
You want to keep the focus on them, not what you want. It takes a bit to learn this but it's INCREDIBLY POWERFUL if you can focus on them 100% the first time you connect and remove the word "I" from your connection requests.
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PART 4 -- FOLLOW UP
Once you've established initial contact, you need to nurture the relationship.
This is where your time frames that you created are invaluable.
If the relationship is one that might take years -- YES YEARS -- to develop, reach out every 3-6 month. You're looking to stay on their radar but not be top of mind just yet. This is a long-term play that will reward you highly if you stick with it.
For people who are less than a year, decide whether you want to reach out every couple of months, once a month or even twice in a month. You are looking to build a relationship with them NOW, so you want to be top of mind.
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The key to building a high net worth network is to have a system. Your system will keep you on track and you can measure the outcomes.
My Core 100 is by far one of my favourite activities for building my business. Always happy to chat about how I do it. 🙂
@AnitaToth thanks for sharing. Not sure why I didn’t see your update earlier. But I do actually have a similar system. My list I call my Dream 50. But what I’m missing is the daily outreach. I like the 30 minute commitment daily and going try to implement that. Thank for your insight it. Now I can optimize what I’m doing!
@jus_mike My Dream 100 are the clients I'm looking to get! 😁 Core 100 are the key relationships I'm looking to develop to get my name out there. Got a lot of ground covered with the 2 lists.
Love that you've got the concept down. Really, putting a small bit of effort in every day has made the biggest difference. It's also allowed me to remove and add people as things change. Being able to do that has been very helpful -- it means I'm not spending time focusing on people who aren't really a good fit.
All the best with your Dream 50. 🙌
Interesting idea. I get a ton of these requests to connect, but they come off as ingenuine. Most of these individuals never bother to introduce themselves or have a meaningful conversation. If they want to connect just because they liked my video on youtube or an article I posted isn't much of an incentive. I don't like collecting virtual friends simply for the sake of increasing the number of connections. This is one of the reasons I don't bother reaching out because most people don't have the time to engage in random conversations.
On the other hand, whenever someone messages me asking for advice, I go above and beyond to help guide them and I make sure that I always respond promptly. Later, if that materializes into a meaningful connection, I don't mind connecting.
I like your advice. I wonder if there are more genuine ways to make these connections.
I think there are more genuine ways -- put the person you're wanting to connect with first in your mind when reaching out.
I take 15-30 minutes and research their profile, watch an interview or one of their videos to see how I can best reach out. And then I reach out leading with something that shows I took time to get to know them (like the examples I gave above).
This does 2 things: 1) get their attention and 2) shows that they are important because I took the most precious commodity -- my time -- to find out more about who they are.
I get spammed all the time on LinkedIn with people who connect with me and 'puke their sales pitch' at me on our first message exchange.
But, like you, if they take the time to get to know even a tiny bit about me, I'm happy to take a few minutes and message back.
(Oh ya -- I also have an entire offline way that I do this outreach too. It's even more genuine because it takes longer and is more involved and really shows I'm wanting to get to know them. And . . . it always ends up in a very genuine and meaningful discussion.)
(It's also one of my fav things to do in my business. Hugely fun and rewarding. 😀)
Thanks for the insights. I miss the days when I was out and about. With four kids, I hardly find the time to socialize. I've started an IndieHackers meetup hoping to build some traction. :)
It can be tough (got 2 of my own). I've joined a few tech groups around here and it's been fabulous for meeting new people.
Here's hoping your group will be the same.
I'm going to give this a try! Thanks for sharing.
Great to hear! It's a long-term play but definitely worth the time spent. 👍
This is fantastic! Have you built up your 100 yet?
I have. I started with 25 people and then added more people every day until I hit my Core 100.
I take people off the list when I make a pivot and and add new people as my business grows.
The list is always being updated.
Great! I'm going to try this out to! :)
Let me know how it goes. I'd love to hear how it's working for you. 🙂
It's been one of the most effective ways I've found to grow my network quickly and with the right people.
Have been doing this for the past 2 days - and it definitely works. It takes less effort on my side but still sounds genuine enough. Really useful trick. :)
Good to hear. This is a long-play strategy but it pays off very well if you stay consistent with it.
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