From the course: The Ultimate Guide to Professional Networking
How to network the right way
From the course: The Ultimate Guide to Professional Networking
How to network the right way
- How do you go about building an organic network of valuable relationships? Well, first you acknowledge that you probably have misconceptions over the term networking itself. It's loaded with baggage and outdated associations. Second, take a course like this and learn the tricks and tools for networking. Third and most importantly, get out there and practice. So, let's take a look at what an organic human network even looks like. You'll see that we have four main groups. First, you have your tribe. Your tribe is your largest network, it's the broad connection you have with people professionally and anyone that shares aims and beliefs with you, it can mean coworkers and everyone in your industry. It even includes those who do the same thing as you but in different industries. Next, you have your clan. Your clan is the group of people you are likely to interact with socially and in business who have some depth with you. For example, I have about 50 people on Facebook who are connected to me from a business standpoint, but who also want to see my silly vacation posts. When it comes to making business introductions, we might use LinkedIn or Facebook. The people in your clan can cross over into online communities and you probably have met them in person at some point, you have a base trust with your clan. Next, you have your super family. Your super family is the 15 or 20 people who you might include in a social dinner, as well as business events. The business connections on the super family level are friends, including spouses and kids and the people that you know well. And finally, you have family or kin. These are your core five or so closest connections, they're usually family, but can include your BFF, and these people may or may not be connected to you as business associates. You don't need to intentionally add people as close friends and kin to your network, it just happens. You start by engaging the tribe and you simply let relationships sort some of those people into your clan, and then some of those in your clan will become part of your super family, but all that happens organically and it's not something you have to worry about. So, what's the takeaway from this structure? It's that networking is all about getting yourself out to the right tribes. The people you can speak the same language with. Over the years my favorite tribe has not been lawyers but entrepreneurs, that's because I've not spent my time wanting to build a life around my law practice, but around my business endeavors, I like the zeal and ambition of entrepreneurs, and even within the entrepreneur community I like to hang around digital marketers because several of my ventures have been web based businesses and our biggest challenge is marketing. That means I have a tribe of internet marketers that I know personally, and within that, I have a local clan that turns out for barbecues, events around the clan and has even given me a community where I can both learn and contribute. Don't worry too much about how it will all shake out, just start by involving yourself with anyone in your tribe and you'll find that the rest takes place naturally.
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