The boy is back in town
Networking is not 'not working'.
This one is an unashamedly personal post, with a call to action weaved in.
Those who know me would know that I have, unusually, kept myself to myself over the last year and a half. It has been a turbulent year personally, and a testing year in business.
Before you shed any tears for me, fear not - it’s all good and lots of great stuff happening - but, I simply haven’t had the time or the energy for the trimmings.
This week, I caught up with the ‘Dream Team’. I’ve known each of them for years, some longer than others, and all of the guys are cracking people as well as prominent people in the finance / business world. I first met Kev as editor of Accountancy Age, James as Assistant Business Editor at The Times, and Nick as Nick… that bloke is *everywhere*. And as for Bobby… well, Bobby is simply a legend. The face of Shelley Stock Hunter (later part of Blick Rothenburg), he has left his marks on both the accountancy world and the business press.
A great time was had by all. But that’s not the point of this post.
Business is not B2B or B2C. It’s H2H. Human to Human
I’d been guilty of letting the B2B get into the way of the H2H. And after a while, it starts to bite.
Don’t get me wrong. It has been a tremendously exciting time at the dt group. (Yes, we’ve rebranded). New offices, new ventures, all sorts. And in the last few months, we’ve set a six month strategy and smashed the first couple of months of it, exceeding all expectations.
But these things take a toll.
Something has to give.
And for me, over the last 18 months, that’s been my social media - which has been patchy at best - and being out and about. Doing what I do best.
Well, I’m glad to say that the boy is back in town!
I know many people class networking as ‘not working’. And to the untrained eye, that’s probably how it looks.
Here’s the thing. People don’t suddenly gain a huge amount of trust in you from an advert. They don’t suddenly like you from a PR piece. These things take investment of far more than money. It’s an emotional connection which leads to a mutual trust, reassurance, and potentially even a friendship. Only then will people truly want to do business with you.
The second myth is that when networking, you should sell to the people you are networking with. To that, all I can say is “behave yourself”.
Do you go to a networking event to buy stuff? Probably not.
Do you get excited at the thought of chucking away 10 crumpled business cards after an ear bashing from lots of salespeople? Nah.
Don’t inflict that misery on others!
When it comes to building a network - and I like to think I’ve done OK at this stuff - it’s more about putting out the right energy and just meeting people. If stuff happens, great. But don’t force it.
Nine times out of ten, your ideal buyer is actually a friend or contact of the person you’ve built a connection with.
And you never know where that connection can come from.
So for now, the boy is back in town! Yes, the below picture was shared by Kev on Instagram, and yes he had Thin Lizzy as the audio. I can’t get it out of my head, so consider it my gift to you - I’m paying it forwards…
Carl Reader is a WH Smith Bestselling Author and international keynote speaker with a real passion for helping people do better. There are two ways to learn more about Carl! You can either follow him on Social Media if you’re just curious (@carlreader on most platforms), or if you’d like to learn a little more about what he does on stage, through content and in the media from a commercial perspective, you can visit his website at www.carlreader.com.
You can buy a copy of his last book BOSS IT online, wherever you are in the world. And of course, I’d love you to subscribe to this community to be the first to see everything I have to share - just click the button below. It’s free of charge!
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