Hi Reader,

In my last email, I talked about how important having a solid network is. It’s one of the most important parts of your business that isn’t actually working.

But, what happens when you’re not the best at connecting with people? It’s harder, for one, to grow your network. This is something that always held me back. I’m not really a people person. I mean, I’m friendly enough and I get along well with most people, but getting out there and meeting new people? That’s definitely not my jam.

The good news is, though, that building out your network is waaaaaay easier than you’d think. I’m inclined to think that if I can do it, anyone can.

Here are a few tips I’ve used to make networking (or better yet, relationship building) less painful.

• Don’t think of it as networking. Networking is full of bad connotations. It’s hard not to think about standing awkwardly at a cocktail party enduring awkward small talk with people you don’t know. When you shift to thinking of it as relationship building, you can change the way you think of it (and approach it). The biggest difference is that, with networking, you’re making business connections. You’re basically building an in-person LinkedIn account. With relationship-building, you’re making meaningful connections with people. Getting to know them as people before discovering how they can help you means you’re forming stronger connections with them from the start.
• Do it online. When I first started connecting with folks, I did it online. It felt way less awkward than doing it in person and, to my surprise, it was really easy to meet new people. How you do this is up to you, but I like to use a mix of being an idiot (making people laugh) and providing good advice. It can be hard to find a good mix, but once you get it dialed in, you’d be amazed at how much easier it is to meet people.

• Don’t talk about work. This might seem a bit counterintuitive, but one of the best things you can do when you’re relationship-building is not talk about work. I’ve met some great people at conferences and online and we connected because we talked about guitar playing or video games or visiting certain countries… you name it. Sure, work comes up a bit. But a lot of times it’s only the starting point for the conversation. Finding these conversations gets easier if you talk about what you like to do online a lot, or even a little. I talk about fishing a lot online, which also leads to some great conversations.

To be fair, this isn’t a surefire way to make networking (relationship building) easier, but, at least for me, it takes away a lot of the pain. As someone who’s not the biggest fan of people, I’ve got a lot to say on this, so there will be a part 2 to the guide, of sorts, coming in the future.

Thanks, as always, for reading.

Cheers,

Doug

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