TIN #101 - 3 Networking Experts You Aren't Following, But Should Be!
We Can All Learn Something From These Networking Superstars
Hey, Greg here!
I may be The Introverted Networker, but I’m still learning new tips and tricks to enhance my networking skills.
Today, I’m sharing what I’ve learned from 3 other networking experts, and how these tips can help you.
This issue takes about 5 minutes to read…
Before We Get Started:
My online course, “5 Steps To Grow Your Professional Network,” is FREE for all my newsletter subscribers. Learn the process I use everyday to grow my professional network.
Each week, I post a new podcast with tips you’ll find in the weekly newsletter and bonus stories, wisdom, and motivation. The Introverted Networker podcast is like the weekly newsletter but with additional narration and thoughts from me. Subscribe to my podcast on Spotify and Apple Podcasts for more networking tips and insights.
Subscribe to my YouTube channel to get in-depth networking strategies and advice.
Expert #1 - Austin Belcak
Who he is: Austin Belcak teaches people how to land amazing jobs without applying online. He’s got a LinkedIn profile with more than 1.3M followers. His tips on networking are always practical and action-oriented.
What I Love About This:
Realizing networking is about more than finding a job. Yes, that may be your immediate goal, but think long-term about who you’re connecting with.
Identify why you’re networking. What do you want? Too often we go into networking with no goal. What are yours? When you know what they are, you can focus your efforts on people who can help you reach them.
Think in terms of relationships, not transactions. It may sound obvious, but too many people are focused on taking what they want from others. This never works out in the long run.
Expert #2 - Mike Marcellus
Who he is: Many of you probably know Mike since his newsletter, The Strategic Networker, refers a bunch of people to The Introverted Networker. Over 400k people subscribe to his newsletter.
One of this tweets caught my eye👇
What I Love About This:
People know they need to network, but most won’t do it. If you spend a small amount of time each week networking, you’ll be farther ahead of 99% of the people in the world.
The effort compared to the upside is asymmetrical. What I mean is a small amount of effort can lead to an enormous amount of benefit. Do a little work. Realize a huge reward.
Even if your efforts don’t turn into gold right away, you’ve lost almost nothing but a small amount of your time. It’s worth the investment to grow your network.
Expert #3 - Ben Wiant
Who he is: Ben is a Career Transition Consultant I’ve had the good fortune to talk to in real life (via video call, but I consider that IRL).
He’s also a nomad.
He and his wife work from anywhere and travel all over the country.
When we talked, he was in Montana.
Networking Story:
I met Ben because he reached out to me via LinkedIn and asked if we could hop on a video call.
Like you, I get tons of these messages in my LinkedIn messages every day.
I ignore 99 out of 100 of them.
I ignore them because I have no idea who they are and what they want.
I assume they want to sell me something.
At the very least, they want my time, which is the most non-renewable resource I have.
But I said “Yes” to Ben.
Why?
Ben has been showing up and having conversations in the comments of my posts for months.
He leaves valuable comments and engages in a way that lets me know who he is.
Even though we hadn’t met in person, I felt like I knew him already when we talked.
To be honest, I have a whole group of people that fit into this category of connections:
People who comment on my posts on LinkedIn regularly.
I’ve talked to some of them in person. I’ve interviewed some of them for my newsletter. I’ve been on their podcasts.
All because we show up and engage on each other’s posts on LinkedIn.
So when Ben sent me a message saying he wanted to talk about some things he was working on, I was happy to give him a few minutes of time.
We had a great conversation and will probably record our next conversation to share with our audiences.
What I Love About This:
I talked about the Follow and Comment strategy in TIN #083 - Revamp Your Networking: The LinkedIn Masterclass Edition and this is a perfect example of the outcome you want from this approach.
Ben didn’t message me right away hoping I would give him my time. He earned my time. His comments are valuable to me. They drive up the engagement on my posts. They introduce my posts to people in his network. He gave me value before he asked for my time.
Mutual Benefit. Once we talked in real life, he proposed we do more work together that would be beneficial to both of us. He wasn’t selling me anything, but was giving me value at the same time he was getting value as well.
Expert Advice
There’s a lot of advice about networking in the world.
For me, most of it’s not useful, but these 3 people know what they’re talking about.
Be sure to follow them, and if you find something you would be useful to the readers of The Introverted Networker, be sure to let me know!
Thanks for this. New connections made!!