Be Part Of The Out-Crowd

SM038 How To Really Build Your Network

Welcome to the Second Mix Podcast where we reflect, revise, and remix our lives. My name is Matthew Bennett. At the end of this episode there’s going to be a call to action - a call to take a little step to remix your life – please join the Facebook group Ideas and Concepts so we can continue the discussion. The link is in the description.

Even though this episode leans heavily towards marketing, you should stick around for the whole few minutes – because everyone in every job will be able to pull some value out of this. 

I’ve been having a few conversations with people lately who called or wrote with questions about networking and doing this so-called organic marketing on Facebook and other social media. 

You might have had organic marketing happen to you. Someone will send you a friend request, then a message, and then within a few minutes, try to lead you into a conversation about what they are selling. I guess it must work on some people because people keep doing it. Heck, people keep teaching it. 

It gets pretty annoying, people wasting my time acting like they care about my situation. In reality, they only want something from me, and if they don’t get it they will move on. 

This is almost like door-to-door sales, I’d imagine. It used to work because it was easy for me. A nice vacuum cleaner or cookware set would come to me, and some people would buy. Then we as customers began going where the products were sold. Then we found a way – the internet – to do our research, buy, and have it all come to us. 

In many ways, a door-to-door salesperson was at the very least a lot more honest. They weren’t coming under the guise of wanting to network, or wanting to be a friend. Every party involved knew they were there to sell something. In this new organic marketing – which really is being taught in abundance – you’re acting like you’re trying to do something other than sell, and then “go-in-for-the-kill.”

If you have to network to sell, then have the patience to do real, genuine networking. This is what has worked for me. My clients either know me, or they were referred to me by someone who knows me. Just like a network. 

I am not ashamed of what I do, so I am not ashamed to ask clients and friends if they of anyone I could help. But let me start from the beginning of the process. 

Whether you are meeting people live or in Facebook groups, the process is the same. Meet as many people as you can. Be a friend. Help them. Commit to the group – don’t be there to sell your stuff. Be there to be a valuable part of the group. This means that you need to join groups that meet your interests and your skills. If all you have to offer the group is your product, it is worthless because you will be seen as a desperate salesperson and you’ll be ignored or worse. 

I could do very little good in a ballet group or an auto mechanics group. But in the podcasting groups that I am a part of, my knowledge and skill as a music producer has helped quite a few people, because I am able to answer a lot of questions about how to get better sound. I’ve even done the work for some people in cleaning up their sound after some minor errors, or a poor recording. I don’t charge for it. I just help fill some needs. I don’t want to edit podcasts for a living, but I am using a skill I have to provide value to the communities that I am a part of. 

And that’s the key. I don’t approach these groups to see what they can do for me. It’s a mindset thing. My name is getting out there, over time I’ve helped many people, and that comes back to me – but the mindset is this: I don’t do it because it comes back to me. I do it to help, I do it to be valuable. 

Like many other things, this is a time-driven process. In a month or a year I will run across someone who needs something I sell. And I will have the time in, and the trust of the people who need my services – before they need me. 

So really, the point of the whole thing is to just be helpful to people. Be a giver, and it will be returned to you. But be a giver who isn’t waiting or expecting to get a return. Just have faith that the process works – and get into a group where this kind of thing is happening all the time. 

I used to subscribe to the notion that either you are a need-something or a have something. And when you’re in the actual sales process, it’s important to be a have something – the attitude that “I have something that will help you,” as opposed to “please buy from me, I need something from you.”

For your networking process, there’s a new attitude to adopt. And it is this. “I want to see you succeed, whether you’re paying me or not. I want what is best for you.”

Do you belong to a group of people that could use your help? What skills do you have that you don’t charge for, that you could use to help people and build your network? Write down all the ways you can help people, and let us know in the Ideas and Concepts group on Facebook – the link is in the description. 

Thanks for listening to the Second Mix Podcast, once again, I am Matthew Bennett. You can grab this transcript on the blog at secondmix.net. If you have any questions send me an email at matt@secondmix.net, I would love to hear from you! Please give me 5 stars whenever and wherever you can , subscribe to get notified about the latest episodes – and if you haven’t yet, please leave me a really nice review.  Once If you know anyone who might find this information helpful, please tell them about this show – I do this to help people.  I’m gonna be here every Monday and Thursday until….

Take steps that will make your week incredible.  I’ll be back on Thursday  –  this weekend continue reflecting, revising and remixing your life. I’ll see you soon!