Hello.
Welcome to another episode.
How was your week?
Hope you had a fabulous week.
This week, I want to talk about
networking and in particular, why
networking events are a waste of time.
Yeah, I know the queen of
networking has said it.
I think networking events
are a waste of time.
And I get that right now.
You might be wondering how on earth am
I meant to build my multimillion dollar
network if I don't put myself out there?
How on earth?
Am I meant to do this if
I don't meet new people?
And if I don't attend
these type of events?
Janine, I get it.
And really don't get me wrong.
I still want you to
put yourself out there.
It just doesn't involve 30 second well
rehearsed elevator pitches, and it
does not involve plastic name tags.
The main issue I have with
networking events is that they
push quantity Over quality.
The idea is to walk away with as many
business cards as possible, right?
I get that.
But how much do you
really know about them?
What are their interests?
What are their hobbies?
What, what's going on for them right now?
Do you really know anything about
their business ethic and whether
that actually aligns with yours?
Whether you'd like to actually
work with them right now?
Do you know?
What help they actually need and
what's really, really going on for
them versus the Instagrammable facade
that's created to share the, Hey, look
at where I've been photo on socials.
Now, I even remember hearing the
most observed story while I was
at an event where I was actually
teaching networking at this event.
So.
And during this event, this woman
approached me and after talking, she
mentioned that to attend the session,
her boss had said to her that to get
the ROI on the session, she had to bring
back 10 business cards the next day.
It was like they were turning this
connection event into something
that was innately inhuman.
Something that.
Literally became another measurable KPI.
And my response to her was, you know
what, you know, those bowls over
there, as you come through the door,
the bowls where everyone's sticking
that business card in to win the free
prize draw at the end of the evening.
I said to her, go there, put
out the 10 business cards.
There you go.
the ROI has been done for your boss
and you may even win the door prize.
Tell you it's crazy.
It's crazy.
This concept of collecting the number
of business cards and contacts that
you can hopefully add to your LinkedIn
profile or your chase list without
even connecting properly with another
person is totally absurd to me.
Another example, I was at another
speaking event and the MC decided
to introduce me as the Queen
of Networking and he went on
to say, I know how you network.
You've got two hands.
You've got one hand for shaking
and the other hand for handing
out your business cards.
I'm like, what?
It's crazy.
Now we do have to go to these events.
I get it.
It's all part of business building.
It's, it's something that
some of us have to do.
but I want you to see them as
that, like the majority of these
large format networking events
are simply a meet and greet.
There's simply a transactional
lead generation exercise.
But if you're curious about
networking in a more powerful way,
this is why I encourage you to focus
instead on creating a tight knit
social circle that may not even
have more than four people in it.
this is how I've built my business.
I've built my business by tapping
into a tight, a high quality
network that through the ripple
effect of conversation, the
connections actually happen.
I very rarely go to large
scale format events.
So why is focusing on
a small network great?
One of the main advantages of
having a small network is that it
actually frees up more time for
you, more time and more energy to
invest in meaningful relationships.
When we have a massive network
of connections, the risk is that
we might feel obliged to attend
every single event, to go to every
single meeting or social gathering
to maintain those connections.
Sometimes that hashtag FOMO may
kick in the fear of missing out, but
all of this can very quickly become
time consuming and energy draining.
Something that you might've heard
me speak about before on this
podcast, where I talk about stretch
fatigue, that feeling of being
pulled in multiple directions.
The opposite though, of having a small
network of people that we can actually
focus on, where we can build deeper,
more authentic relationships with those
people that truly matter the most.
That's where the opportunity exists.
I say embrace the hashtag JOMA
or the joy of missing out.
On large scale format events, and
instead build a tight network of
small quality group of people.
The other opportunity of this is
that we can be really intentional.
Building a small network
enables us to be much more
intentional in our relationships.
When we have a vast network of
connections, it can be a challenge
to maintain meaningful connections
with every single person.
However, when we focus on
building a small but powerful
circle, we can invest more time.
We can invest more energy into
cultivating those relationships
and as a result, create a more
significant impact with the world.
And finally, having a small
network helps us to become more
authentic and true to ourselves.
When we've got a massive network of
connections, we might feel the need
to present ourselves in a certain
way to fit in or to be accepted.
However, when we build this
small network, a powerful inner
circle, we can be more authentic.
We can be true to ourselves.
But when you have a large network,
you've got to, work harder at this.
So here are my three quick tips.
For consciously connecting so that
you can build a network that is
based on quality and not quantity.
Number one, It starts with four people.
You've heard me speak about this
before and I'm reiterating it.
It's something I reiterate time
and time again, your quality
network starts with four people.
To create a network that is
really going to help you grow.
You need at least four
people, not family.
No significant other, but people that
fill one of these four roles, four
independent people, you need a teacher,
that person who is stretching your
thinking so you know more and that you
can build your competitive advantage.
You need the promoter, the person
who encourages you to do more and
pushes you towards your goals.
They believe in you.
They see more in you.
Then you see in yourself, you need
the pit crew, the person who is
going to be there through thick and
thin, who keeps you grounded and
keeps you present in the moment.
And you need the butt kicker, the
person that's going to hold you
accountable and keep you focused.
The person that's going to make sure
that you're doing the very thing,
the right things that you need to do
today to move forward into tomorrow.
And if you don't have these four
people in your network, that's
exactly where you need to start.
The second tip is with this
smaller type network, embrace
the "thank you for" concept.
If you want to reach out to someone after
being at an event or after reading a book
or consuming a piece of content about
them on social media, then send them
the words, thank you for, and insert the
very thing that you're thanking them for.
These words, thank you
for, are a game changer.
Think about.
Why you admire that person.
Think about what impact they had on you.
Think about what they shared that you
loved or that resonated and share that
with them in the form of a message.
Thank you for, and I can guarantee that
this genuine connection is going to make
way more impact than a normal slew of
messages that might land in their inbox.
And the final thing is look
for opportunities to Be the
little fish in the big pond.
So many times I see people hanging out
with the same people all of the time.
It's almost like they
outstay their welcome.
They get to this point where
they're not learning anything new.
There's a little bit of
group think that kicks in.
And essentially we're all keeping
each other at that same level.
That's not a space for growth, just
like jobs and homes and clothes.
Eventually we can outgrow our network.
And while that might leave many of us.
If you're feeling lost, it actually
does provide the opportunity for us
to reach out, to be brave, to put
yourself in a place where you're the
small fish again in a bigger sea.
And whether you take this as an
opportunity to invest in group
mentorship or simply start showing
up in places where you would
like to be more often, look for
those opportunities to be pushed.
The people that you meet in that room
are very likely to be the key players
in the next Stage of your growth.
So rest assured that keeping a
close knit circle isn't hindering
your business growth at all.
It isn't stopping your
opportunities at all.
It's time to take an audit of
your network, of your time and
energy that you're putting in.
See where the gaps are for connection
and start consciously connecting
with the people that you want In your
life and to be part of your life as
this next growth in your business.
I'd love to hear what you found
most useful in today's podcast.
Share below, share this
podcast with anyone that you
think would find it useful.
Love you to leave a review, send
me any questions and have a truly
awesome week until next week.