The Number 1 Secret to Building a Successful Network
There’s 1 key thing that all successful networkers do
We’ve commonly heard the phrase “it’s not what you know, it’s who you know.” But is this true in business?
There was a survey conducted about recruitment trends for 2021/2022. Here are some fun facts about networking from that survey:
73% of survey participants reported that they had been hired in the past as a result of someone they know making an introduction or a connection (LinkedIn, 2020).
Networking is important because 70% of all jobs are not advertised on job sites (Fisher, 2019).
Most effective way to find a new job: traditional networking (46%), internet job boards (25%), agency or recruiter (14%), direct approach (7%), and newspapers/periodicals (1%) (GreatBusinessSchools, 2021).
This shows that networking is important & not enough business professionals are taking full advantage of it. It’s clear that when it comes to finding a job, changing jobs, getting a promotion, comes down to who you know.
Recruitment trends
Your success comes down to the connections that you’ve made, the interactions that you’ve had, and the impact that you’ve made on those people. Do you have people in your corner of the ring that would say your name (naturally) in a conversation in a room filled with people that know nothing about you?
Here’s the thing. People do business with those that they know, like, and trust. The more people that you’ve built a positive rapport with, the better.
I was reading a book called Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi & Tahl Raz and they highlighted the following quote.
“There is no such thing as a ‘self-made’ man. We are made up of thousands of others. Everyone who has ever done a kind deed for us, or spoken one word of encouragement to us, has entered into the make-up of our character and of our thoughts, as well as our success.” - George Burton Adams
Human beings are social beings. We require the togetherness and company of others.
It ties with the saying “it takes a village to raise a child.” But, the Adams quote got me thinking about my journey. In the ways that my experiences and those that I’ve crossed paths with have impacted my trajectory.
Story time
Here are some of the stories that stand out (though all are tremendously important and have played a huge role, even if their story of impact is not mentioned below).
Honorable mentions:
My cousins' friend who shared my resume, landing me a job
A networking coffee date that shared my resume
The boss that believed in my teaching abilities, allowed me to run (multiple) group training per week with full control over the content that helped me enahnce my skills
The clients I worked with as a coach for igniting the fire within me, for showing me my superpowers, and for sharing the impact I had a role in assisting with
The family friend that told me just how much he admires my ability to take opportunities that come my way
The manager that took a chance on a hostess and brought her onto his bar staff
The friends that have supported me and pull me back up, every time
The girl in a mini-mastermind that turned into my business bestie (who offers endless support, listens, provides advice, and assists in my networking efforts)
The co-worker that treated me to lunch when I gave my resignation, shared his opinions on my departure and everything that led up to it, voiced that he tried to support me and get me on his team
The ones not listed above that have played a role
Thank you all.
The secret to networking
Networking calls:
The one that worked in Hockey Operations
The hockey operations staff member that I networked with. We had a 1-hour conversation about his role, experience in the industry, how he got to where he is, the highs and lows of the industry. Every single time I leave a networking call, I’m left with some big “ah-ha” moments. But for the context of this article, we won’t go into those. At the end of the conversation, he inquired more about me (this is also VERY telling about a person).
I opened up and explained my background & where I plan to go with this business in the future. I didn’t go deeply into the weeds with everything that it encompassed, it was more of a big picture view. But at the moment, he believed in me. He saw the need for this.
That helped to propel me forward. It helped to validate my idea.
If you’re reading this today, you know who you are, thank you for taking the time to speak with me. Thank you for your kind words. They mean more to me than you know.
The one that worked as Baseball Community Manager
This networking call came from the introduction of a mutual friend. During the conversation, I shared more about myself and what the future vision is. Again, my idea was validated.
If you’re reading this today, thank you for the time, conversation, and friendship that I felt in that call.
Building relationships in business
Relationships:
The one that believed in my podcast idea
I recently released the Passion to Legacy podcast, a sports business & charity-focused podcast. This was an idea that had been brewing for about 2 years. I just didn’t know how to do it. And I made up a few excuses along the way (because let’s face it, stepping out of your comfort zone is not easy). I remember clearly, the idea for the podcast coming to me while sitting at my desk while working for an agency.
I was listening to a podcast and had this real lightbulb moment. I thought this idea was something that was needed, it was something that I would have loved as a resource at the time. What I knew was this: informational interviews are necessary when working in the sports industry or trying to break in. So many people are doing it, but not many know-how. Or how to maintain and grow those relationships.
I could visualize it being much bigger than just a podcast.
The non-profit angle was important to me. There’s so much charitable work that happens with people working in sports and my opinion, it doesn’t get talked about enough. Sports have this ability to connect us. So I wanted to build a platform that could help amplify that.
This idea came to me as someone that had already made a career path change. It came to me as someone that lacked a big portfolio of business experience. I didn’t know exactly how I could build up this idea, so ultimately I sat on it.
But when I shared my idea with him, one of the first people that I openly shared it with, I was fully supported. In a true “I believe in what you want to do here. Working in the industry, I see the need for it. This could benefit a lot of people” kind of way.
This was also someone that would secretly support me. And by that I mean, the fan rooting you on in the stands vs the cheerleader screaming and cheering beside you. It was not uncommon to get random texts about Red Sox blog posts that I had written.
If you’re reading this today, thank you for believing in me before I believed in myself. For supporting my ventures, sound boarding, and openly listening to my vision. Your friendship impacted me more than you know.
The Yankees fan that read my Red Sox Articles
I started blog writing for a few reasons, I was looking to expand my skills as a marker & I was looking to test the waters by getting my foot into the sports world (in low stakes, low commitment way). It was at a time when I was filled with curiosity and the possibility for the career path that I wanted to go on.
Ah, this was the support that came in the way of reading every.single.article. I wrote…. About the Red Sox. As a Yankees fan.
While I didn’t always get the agreement in everything that I wrote (I may or may not think that defense is important as a pitcher, love a good bunt, prefer baseline hitters over ones that only hit homers, like a good pitching duel, root on stealing bases, and want to learn about the coaching staff & their backgrounds *shoulder shrug*), I always had a loyal reader.
Moreso, I had the support and ability to bounce article ideas off of. Someone that would come to me with ideas that I could play with.
If you’re reading this today, for a writer thank you doesn’t seem eloquent enough. You’ve played a bigger role than you know. I appreciate everything
Building a network
True networkers are people that will find ways to make other people more successful. This is true leadership. It’s cultivating a strong community around you. People often try to get in rooms with people that are smarter than them, wiser, at the “next level”. And that’s great and will help to contribute to your growth, but there’s a missing component.
There’s a karmic cycle associated. One of giving and taking. Ferrazzi mentions that it’s implicit that when you put your time and energy into something, it pays its dividends.
That might not happen overnight, it is the long game after all, but it all comes back to us.
When people are in a room, they speak about the things they’ve learned, the people that have inspired them, and their take on it.
A few months ago, I was an accountability coach teaching women entrepreneurs about branding and marketing. I was fortunate enough to lead training for the collective, over 20 women had access to this training at that time. I always made an active effort to mention the people that I was learning from.
Sharing about them, what they do, who they are. This brought a warm audience (to me, people that knew and trusted me) to them. Otherwise, they would have been a cold audience with whom those individuals never had heard of.
If I saw an article or a job posting or someone inquiring about a collaboration, I would share that with the clients that I thought could benefit. The connections that I thought they could make and the impact it could result in.
Was that my “job”? No. But when you’re actively engaged in a community, when you have connections, then I believe you should be using that to play a role in helping amplify the voices of others.
Did this result in anything? Maybe. Maybe not. I don’t know. And that’s not the point.
If you have a platform, if you have a voice, if there are people that know and trust you, then you should be using that platform to amplify that of others.
The number one secret to building a successful network is this: do what you can to make other people more successful.
It’s time to start building your network.