🚀 Networking 101
How to build a good network of contacts
👆🏼You can listen it, up here: 🎧
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In today's post, we're going to talk about a key factor that I HAVE A LOT of room for improvement on as well! 😨
This is none other than Networking and Relationship Capital.💰
No, I'm not talking about Network Marketing, that's a completely different topic. I'm talking about the importance of networking and how to build a great network of contacts! 🕸
But before we get started!
Let's see...
🚀 How's the challenge?
📉 Declines in the number of subscribers
If you've been following the Challenge over the past few months, you may have noticed that there's been a slight dip in the number of subscribers. There were about 150-200 fewer subscribers, which was a warning sign for Us.
Fortunately, we know roughly what could have led to this and are working hard to correct it. One aspect was a lot of Bugs, and another was that people didn't stay long enough, so we couldn't make the App a habit in users' lives.
This is the more pressing issue, fortunately we have suggestions on how to do this and will be testing these in the coming weeks. I can guarantee you that BookClub will soon reach a new level! 🔥
💡Side note: Edu has sucked himself up and has speedrunned all the bugs you reported in 2 days, we are already in Beta testing and you will see it in the App soon! 🪲❌
⬆️ New Update is coming
In which the Bugs will be fixed, Offline Listening will work and the new Onboarding will be included, so overall we're revamping a bit! 🙏🏻
I think the new Onboarding will help a lot in optimizing conversions, so that more people try Trials than before.
🦠 I'm a bit sick
Honestly, I very rarely get sick, but I'm down with something right now, so I'm writing this email still at 50%.
Lesson learned is that we need to give ourselves some time to rest sometimes.
There is a saying:
"If you don't make time for your wellness, you will have to make time for your illness."
And that is exactly what happened to me, so I will be more vigilant from now on. All the travelling and the lecturing took a lot of my energy.
Okay, now we can start today's topic! 🚀
💭 Why is networking so valuable?
I will start with a quote from Africa. 🇿🇦
"If you want to go fast, go alone, if you want to go far, go as a team."
This alone illustrates the importance of the topic very well. The bigger your network of connections, the easier it is to move to the next level and the harder it is to fail. 🏆
Think of this as a lifeline, if anything goes wrong your connections can help you. Or you can think of it like an elevator, if you want to get to the next level faster, your relationships can help you. 🏄🏼
The problem is that not everyone is really the outgoing type, and I can honestly say that I used to hate this conscious relationship building. I felt constantly self-conscious and on top of that I had the problem of being too honest in general. So, if I don't care what you say, it will show on my face 1:1. 🤨
So, I was bad at it. But I had to change. Because all I could see was that people who were in much more disadvantaged situations than me were just moving up in life thanks to their relationships. 🏃🏼♂️
The question is...
🧐 How do you build relationships?
There are 1,000+1 ways and you have to find the one that suits you. It's important to remember that you can learn something from all people. Some of them just teach you how NOT to do things.
There's a saying that goes a long way:
"You are the average of the 5 people closest to you."
🧰 Let's see what methods there are:
There are Networking events or Business breakfasts, everyone goes here to make connections. I TOTALLY don't like those; those are the ones I avoid. For me it's too forced! 🥐
There are the Lectures or Conferences, whether you are a spectator or a speaker, both are a good option. If you went as a spectator, you know there will be people like you as the interests are the same. They probably went alone too, so it's easy to get to know each other during the coffee break. 🎤
If you went as a speaker, it's Aduas! Because, you are already positioned higher in the eyes of the audience, they want to get to know you and often even ask questions. (But don't despair, I've given you examples of things you can try too). 🃏
Sometimes it's when someone you know introduces you to someone. I have had very positive experiences with that. For example, Laszika introduced me to Laci Király, IFBB Pro Bodybuilder, with whom we made a very good podcast, or Gábor MakeItCount introduced me to an event at Binance. 🤝
I can already say that these are very good, because here you are introduced by a friend to his friend, if your friend is not a bad guy, you will probably get along with his friend. After all, similar attracts similar, that's the eternal rule of networking! 🧲
From here, it's just a matter of being yourself and trying to be helpful to the other person. Always give first (that's the key). 🎁
Then there is when you invite a particular person, so where you are the host. It could be a podcast broadcast, a video together or even a dinner at your house. Each has its own benefits! For me, the shared Podcast has worked best so far. 🎙
Think about it, you invite someone over to chat for 1-1.5 hours about their life, which by the way is listened to by hundreds or thousands. Few people would say no to that. And the interesting thing is that during such a conversation you can get much closer to the other person and understand their way of thinking better. 🧠
For example, Laci Király, Zoltán Dallos or the Peti Csányi Podcast. We had a very good, deep conversation with all 3 of them, where they had a good time, I had a good time and even our audience learned from it, it's such a win-win-win. 🏆
A friend of mine organizes dinner parties, where he invites his friends and friends of friends. In a very short time, he has built up a huge network of contacts. No kidding, I look up to people like that. 🍽
💡 Side notes 2: I've been invited to 2 dinners already but I haven't really been able to go yet because they're usually in Budapest, but I'm already very curious to see what kind of conversations there might be.
Or even Social Media Content Production. If you have a good Social Media presence, people will suddenly be more open to you because other people have already validated your value. 🎬
On top of that, if you produce valuable content, you validate your own knowledge to the world. After all, anyone who watches your videos or posts will see that you're not just talking out of the top of your head, you actually have the knowledge! 👨🏽💻
(More precisely, that's the goal!)
That's why it doesn't matter if you have 10 followers and a below average profile or you produce meaningful content and have X tens of thousands of followers. Yes, I also know that social media alone doesn't define a person's worth and that you can run into a lot of Fake stuff, but as a starting point it's perfect. 🏁
Just listen to this example:
🅰️ case - a person with no profile picture and 10 followers writes to you asking for help with something.
🅱️ case - a celebrity with a blue tick and 100,000 followers asks you for help, which would you rather answer? 🤔
So, if you want to boost your chances, start building a good Personal Brand for yourself on social media, I promise it will open a lot of doors for you if you do it right!
🧐 What I noticed:
The more personal a relationship building, the better you can get to know the other person. 🤝
Avoid people who only go for relationships.🤔
Avoid people who talk too much.🤨
You shouldn't be prejudiced; I've had plenty of times where I thought someone was a total jerk and it turned out to be completely normal and humble.🙄
Relationships need to be nurtured, it's not enough to meet once, it needs to be maintained. See what you can do to help him/her, or just send him/her an article that you think would be helpful to him/her.🫂
If you want to see where BookBase is going...
Then just go ahead:
✅ Download the App: Click here
✅Start the 5 Day Trial
✅Take your life to the next level thanks to the knowledge in the books
And then, slowly but surely, we come to our usual Checklist, which is all about... ✅
🤫 What exactly do you do?
If you want to increase your network of connections, I'll show you how I did it. 🙏🏻
This method worked for me and I was able to meet names I couldn't have imagined before. It's important to note that I'm writing a checklist specifically to help the average person, not one for a content producer with X hundred thousand followers. 😉
1. First and foremost, analyze yourself a little bit, how you like to meet new people. What are the situations you are comfortable in? 🤔
o Networking events
o Presentations
o Familiar introductions
o Podcast
o Dinner - Offline events
o Social Media
2. Once you've done the previous one, start writing down on a sheet of paper the people you'd like to meet and where they're likely to be located? The more specific you are, the better! 📝
Eg: If you want to meet billionaire entrepreneurs, you might not want to go to the National Traumatology Congress, because there will probably only be doctors there. It's more likely to be a BNI business club or even the golf course.
3. Find or create events where you can potentially meet these people, the more you can list the better! 🔍
4. Go to the event or host it and be open and a good conversation partner. 💬
5. Let them do most of the talking and ask questions, BUT don't ask questions! 😊
6. If there's a topic you have expertise in, you can offer your help or give 1-2 pieces of advice there. (This is a good reason to write to the person afterwards, e.g.: send them an article or a page you've talked about.)🤓
7. Try to build 2-3 deep relationships, DO NOT go for quantity, go for quality! 🤝
8. It's good to make yourself a Notion spreadsheet where you can keep track of your contacts and useful information about them. I have one, I'll link the template for you here: Notion spreadsheet 🗂
9. After that, you only have 1 thing left to do, be a good contact and help your contacts where you can, visit them every month, every two months to know how they are doing. 🧡
Reading back now, it's turned out to be quite a checklist! I believe that if you follow these, you can rapidly increase your relationship capital. Which will also help you to grow faster in life! 🚀
🔥 Challenge
It's quite a challenge for us now to tackle dropout. Because at times like this, there is always doubt in your mind, no matter what level you are at. 🧐
Wondering if what you've thought of will work? Will it solve the problem? 🤔
The higher level you are, the less doubt you have, because you trust yourself, because the decisions you've made so far have probably been the right ones. 😎
I'm right in between the two ends of the spectrum, I have my doubts about whether it's really the right solution, but I also know that if it were, for some reason, it wouldn't be. I'll still work it out with the guys. Just a little later! 😉
I truly believe that the BookBase is an "invention" that can revolutionize learning outside of school and all-in-all bring young people to a higher level of awareness! 🔥
I know we have helped not 1, not 2, but hundreds of young people! So, I feel it is my dog's duty to scale this up to thousands! We owe it to the youth! 🙏🏻
Go BookBase! 🚀
Go OM! ⭐️
📖 What have I read now?
I'm still reading Yuval Noah Harrari's - Sapiens, I got to an insanely interesting part where he talks about the evolution of civilizations and castes.
How the Indian Castes, the American Races, were formed and how they were all the product of a fiction that protected the people in power at the time! 🇮🇳
Also, I read an interesting study about the use of ChatGPT, what it can be used for in the future and what it can be used for now. 🤖
It will have specific uses within the Bookbase and if all goes well, you will soon be able to see a taste of it in the Web App. 🖥
🎧 What have I just listened to?
I wasn't listening too much, I was thinking instead about who I could do a podcast with, either as a host or as a guest.
If you have any ideas here or have connections somewhere (you know, connections), they're welcome. Drop me a line on my instagram (you don't have to follow me to post). 💬
I'd like to take on as many Podcasts and Offline presentations as possible this year. I feel with content like this you can get much closer to your audience and add significantly more value. Not to mention, a live performance can even inspire! 🎙
✍🏼 Top quotes
"Your network is your net worth." ~ Tim Sander
"It’s not about the grades you make but the hands you shake." ~ Derek Bok