Ep. 70: The Networking Playbook for Making Real Connections

Transcript

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If you are looking for a job or you are looking for new business.

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You can say my favorite four words when networking keep me in mind.

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Oh, hey, hey, hey, hey, hey.

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This is Sarah Noelle Block, and you are listening to Tiny Marketing.

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Have you ever been to a networking event and you did not know what to say?

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You just sat in a corner questioning.

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I don't know your existence.

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Or maybe you thought I want to reconnect with coworker Y, but I wouldn't know how to do that, because we worked together five years ago.

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What should I say?

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Or I went to this awesome event and met a great group of girls and I wish I kept in touch with them.

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What do I do now in order to re-engage with them?

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And, you know, just see if they're going to go to the next event?

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Those are the topics we're talking about today.

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I recently chatted with Jenna Kimball, who is an expert at networking.

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So here are some things that you're going to learn today Easy ways to keep and remember the contacts that you have in your world and make it a game so it's fun.

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How to create scripts or prompts in order to network better.

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And how to re-engage your old co-workers, your old friends, within the business world.

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And, last, how to maintain those relationships after the networking event is over.

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So we're touching on a whole bunch of good stuff today.

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And oh, I don't want to forget to tell you, jenna is my guest expert for an upcoming workshop that I'll be emceeing.

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It is April 23rd at 1.30 pm, central Time.

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If you sign up for it, you'll also get the replay, so don't forget to sign up.

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The link will be in the show notes, but she is going to teach you exactly how to network without being awkward, and we'll have some games involved.

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She is so much fun You're going to love it.

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So make sure to pause this right now and sign up for that workshop.

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You don't want to miss it.

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Yes, hi, my name is Jenna Kimball.

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I am a recruiter at a marketing and advertising agency called Dentsu International, and I also help people learn how to interview and be their best selves and help them navigate this crazy job market.

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Yeah, you kill it at that.

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We met at an American Marketing Association event.

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We were both speakers at it and we bonded instantly.

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And I don't know, I don't know about you, but I'm not always like that.

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You're clearly good at networking because we just met for the first time that day.

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We're like it was so funny.

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My husband came because I was like come to my thing, you know.

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And then he's like you and my girl, we're like really buddies.

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I'm like I know.

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He's like did you know her?

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I said no, I just met her today, just a good vibe.

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I know, I know.

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So that's what we're digging into today.

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We're talking about how to network without being awkward.

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This is part of a series of podcast episodes on this topic, because I hear this question a lot Like I feel uncomfortable networking.

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I'm worried that they think that I'm just trying to sell them.

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But you have some great tips to just like pull out of your toolbox to make it so much easier, but, more importantly, how to maintain that relationship after the fact, because you know if you grab a card and then walk away and never talk to them again, it was kind of pointless, right.

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Yeah, yeah, and I think, too, we can certainly get into that.

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I want to just flip the limited beliefs, because I used to have this too.

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I used to be a really shy kid and I would think what you just said, you know like oh, no one wants to hear from me, I'm not interesting, nobody cares what I have to say, and I just want everyone who's listening to feel like, let's flip that.

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Like what if people really thought what you had was interesting to say?

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What if people really wanted to talk to you?

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Like, just, you have to go into a networking event conversation scenario with that mindset, or else you know you're not going to really do your best.

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And it also shows such an ease when you can believe that about yourself, just like, hey, I'm about to go into this event, I can't wait to meet people, I can't wait to learn about others.

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I'm sure people are going to have questions for me too, and it's going to be a really fun event, so I hope that people can just flip it.

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I agree I didn't.

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I would have never pictured you as a shy kid.

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I was too Like constantly people like you're blushing.

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I'm like that's just because you're looking at me.

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I existed.

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I was so shy.

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But also what a relief, you know, when people come up to you at these networking events.

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You know, sometimes you might feel awkward approaching a group or jumping into a conversations that that's already in the middle of, but when that people are so relieved because I think a lot of people are like that like oh gosh, what am I going to say when I hear oh no, isn't it such a relief when someone takes you by the hand and is like, hey, I really want to know more about what you're doing or what you're looking for.

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Yes and right.

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There is a good point in that you're asking questions about them, so you're kind of guiding the conversation and letting them tell their stories.

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So it doesn't.

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It feels less awkward for them because they're being asked to tell their story.

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Yeah, and it's something that they know the most about that.

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Everyone in that room, out of anyone, you know the most about your unique story.

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I'm not asking you to explain quantum physics to me, you know.

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I'm just telling.

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I'm just asking you to tell me about what you're doing that day.

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So I think it's these low risk questions.

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It puts people at ease.

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Speaking of when we went out to breakfast a couple of weeks ago.

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You mentioned making it a game, so can you explain how people can do that?

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Yes.

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So I'm a huge game show fan.

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I have to give myself like numbers and make it a challenge for myself.

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So when I say, go to going to a networking event, or even if you're networking on the job search or after you've gone to an event, you can use this at any phase of the networking process, which is like for the rest of your life, pretty much human networking.

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But I say, if you're at an event you can.

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Let's see how many people are there.

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If there's 20 people, just say I am not going to leave until I talk to three people, or I am going to spend 30 minutes here and I am not going to sit in the corner, I'm going to sit in that middle table or I'm going to walk up to the front.

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You have to give yourself a challenge and that's why I say make it.

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It can be either a numbers challenge or it can be something that scares you, like walking to the front of the room or I think too, even making it a game is like could I volunteer?

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If I volunteer, if I check someone in, how many people can I talk to after I did?

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So, just putting numbers behind it or giving yourself a scary challenge, that's so fun and I create those little games for myself too, like for BizDev, for example, Like I know the percentage of people I have to have conversations with to meet my sales goals, so I make it a game.

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This is how many people I have to talk to this week.

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If it's 20 per week, that's five for this four.

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You know, yeah, all of that, you just kind of keep it going.

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And I think it's the same when we talk about how to re-engage your existing work Write down I know this sounds crazy, but write down every single person that you've worked with and you know like not the one that you met that one time, but that you've actually worked with over the years and that they would know your name, they would recognize you, and just put it, just put a list.

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And if you want to re-engage your network, your existing network, just go and however many that could be 100, that could be 20.

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I don't know how long you've been working or how many people you've worked with, so you have to kind of make it customized to your experience.

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That's a feasible goal.

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Yeah Well, let's say, for me, I mean, I've been working for like 15 years so I probably could think of quickly 50 people.

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So if you want to reengage all those 50 people, make it a game and you can say hey, over the next 10 weeks I'm going to reach out to five per week, and you just put a list and you can even make a spreadsheet.

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It's another form of making a game, I guess, and you can put everyone's name on a spreadsheet, no-transcript.

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But if you don't have that and it's been a few years you can have all those notes there and then when you do re-engage with them, oh, how was your trip to Cape Cod four years ago, or whatever, six months ago?

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So you have something to kind of kick off from and it's not so awkward.

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Yeah, yeah.

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And for those who are listening, who are founders, for example, you probably have a CRM where you can have this information in there.

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I have an air table where I keep meticulous track of everybody I reach out to, so I know the percentages that I need to hit my sales goals.

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Those are just some easy ways you can gather data around it too.

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So you're suggesting that first contact should be just soft, asking a question about something that's happened recently.

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Yeah, I think this is like my life philosophy.

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I feel like it's easier to care about people than it is to ask for things.

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Agreed.

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It's so much easier to serve too.

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Like I'm offering you this thing rather than asking for something because I have, I cannot.

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Yeah, every person you, me, everyone listening has something cool that they know a lot about.

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That could help a lot of people.

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So thinking about it that way, I feel like for me you know, I do a lot of recruiting, I do a lot of interview preparation.

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I know how to do job interviewing.

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I interview thousands of people a year.

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I mean I know how to do those things.

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So if there's someone who says, oh, I'm struggling with my interviews, I'm like I can help you immediately.

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I'm like I can think about that.

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Or if you're to say hey about that, or if you're saying, hey, I want to meet someone in this field, I talk to those people all the time oh, I know someone.

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So it's just thinking about what you can give rather than what you can get.

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But I do think the soft approach of how's your family?

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What's going on with you?

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Oh, great, oh, you work here now.

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Oh, I didn't know, I got a new job.

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What made you make the move?

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Or why did you decide to start your own business?

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Or what gaps are you seeing in the market?

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What's the hardest thing about your business today?

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Anything like that.

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Just really natural, organic questions.

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Yeah, just showing a genuine interest in their lives, so novel.

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So novel, I know, but I find that I get to the best conversations, I mean with you too.

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You know, we've had that great breakfast, We've met.

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We met like two years ago.

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And it's just we don't talk all the time, but I feel like I know a lot about you and your life and what you're looking for, and I feel like you know that about me too.

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And you raise the vibration, you raise the quality of your relationships when you leave the you know automated questions behind and you just start talking to people.

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Yeah, so when you say leaving the automated questions behind, that makes me think of scripting your conversations.

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You think more in the terms of prompts.

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Can you give me some examples of prompts that might make it easier for someone where it just doesn't come that naturally.

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Yeah, and I know that this is awkward for people, but you know we're going to flip the script and we're going to say it's not awkward, that you're super interesting, you have a lot to offer.

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And I think yes or no questions are.

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Let's put those on the back burner for a while.

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Let's think about open-ended questions that give people a lot of breath to answer.

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So when you're at an event in person, let's say, you could say something like oh, how did you hear about this event?

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Or where's the last place you traveled?

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If they say something about traveling, or just you know whatever the event is about, ask a question about okay, if this is about an entrepreneur, tell me about your business.

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Okay, you're an entrepreneur, why did you decide to start that?

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Or what's your favorite way to spend your time when you're not working on your business?

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So all of these questions are not yes or no and they give you a lot of room for people to expand their answers and then you can ask more questions off of that.

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So it's just kind of like you ask one question but then you get information to ask three more.

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So it can really jump it off and get to know people quickly.

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Yeah, and that is something that I mentioned before we hit record.

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I do all the time in podcasting or when I'm interviewing my clients to help them with their content creation.

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It's I prompt them with something and then it spurs into the next thing.

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These podcasts aren't scripted in the slightest bit.

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I just have like three prompts and everything else just fills in.

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And a lot of times you probably get something that you're like oh, I didn't even think about All the time, or I had never yeah.

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Because you have these open ended questions.

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I didn't even think about that All the time, or I had never.

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Yeah, because you have these open-ended questions, it just raises the quality.

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Yes, so we have how to re-engage the people that have been in our lives before that we haven't talked to in a while in a more comfortable way and some prompts if we're starting to have those conversations at either networking events or connection calls, when we're reengaging that audience.

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But now let's talk about the after.

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In the after, how do you maintain those relationships and make sure that they don't fall away again?

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Yeah.

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So if it's been a couple of years since you talked to somebody, a lot of times too, and we can get to this.

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But if they post a lot on LinkedIn or whatever platform that you are going to connect with them on, maybe Slack or YouTube, I don't know how you know everybody, but I do a lot on LinkedIn, so I would probably message someone on LinkedIn, especially if I worked with them two years ago.

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I might not have their work email.

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We don't work at the same place anymore, I don't know.

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So I would go.

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If it's virtual, I would go on LinkedIn and I would just say hey, you know, I noticed that you're still at X company.

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How's it been going for you?

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I'd love for us to catch up and really stating your intentions like don't without asking for things.

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So just say I'd love for us to catch up.

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I miss talking to you.

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I love when we work together.

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You have some what's your availability over the next couple of weeks to just grab a coffee or just grab a call and not saying are you available?

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What's your availability?

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Yeah.

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Again, not a yes or no question.

00:18:42.509 --> 00:18:45.748
And it's casual, it's no pressure.

00:18:47.692 --> 00:18:52.125
Yeah, and sometimes people won't answer you.

00:18:52.125 --> 00:18:59.355
You might get people that don't check their LinkedIn, or you might get people who maybe they are not in the mood to network or they're nervous like you and so they might not answer you.

00:18:59.355 --> 00:19:03.007
You might not get 100% response rate, but a lot of times you get people.

00:19:03.007 --> 00:19:07.362
If you really knew them, you know they would say hey, oh my gosh, sarah, it's been years.

00:19:07.362 --> 00:19:09.203
I would love to.

00:19:09.203 --> 00:19:10.305
How about next Friday?

00:19:10.305 --> 00:19:11.205
Are you available?

00:19:11.205 --> 00:19:11.926
Are you in town?

00:19:11.926 --> 00:19:14.348
Or we can just grab a virtual coffee.

00:19:14.348 --> 00:19:29.525
So I think just saying things like what's your availability, how's it been going since X, y, z thing, know, sarah and I know each other through the AMA, so how's it?

00:19:29.525 --> 00:19:30.788
Have you been attending a lot of these AMA events lately?

00:19:30.788 --> 00:19:31.368
How's that been going?

00:19:31.368 --> 00:19:31.990
Things like that.

00:19:31.990 --> 00:19:38.101
So, however you've met them, make sure to drop that in case they forgot, you know, to remind them who you are and how you know them.

00:19:38.101 --> 00:19:42.192
And yeah, just no, yes or no questions and just keep it super casual.

00:19:42.513 --> 00:19:52.920
Yeah, that is a really good point too, and that when, like my success rate reaching out to people on LinkedIn versus email is so much higher.

00:19:52.920 --> 00:20:17.888
If I had my air table up I could tell you the exact percentage, but it's just more casual, slipping into the DMs and having a conversation and I think that people are more protective of their email and feeling like it's down to business, protective of their email and feeling like it's down to business, and I'm just always reaching for that zero inbox.

00:20:17.909 --> 00:20:20.733
So I'm deleting a lot of emails that probably matter.

00:20:21.839 --> 00:20:23.846
But it's unattainable.

00:20:23.846 --> 00:20:24.930
Inbox zero.

00:20:24.930 --> 00:20:28.826
I'm always trying to get there too and yeah, I totally agree.

00:20:28.826 --> 00:20:31.064
I think people just kind of gloss over their emails.

00:20:31.064 --> 00:20:32.788
Sometimes with LinkedIn they see it.

00:20:32.788 --> 00:20:42.310
And another thing you can do is if someone on your list that you made of 50 people or however many if they post on LinkedIn a lot, maybe you could write something on their posts.

00:20:42.310 --> 00:20:49.166
You know if they comment what initiative they're doing, or you see them say something, you can say, oh my gosh, that's so funny.

00:20:49.166 --> 00:20:54.013
And then message them privately and be like hey, I saw your post about XYZ.

00:20:54.013 --> 00:20:55.161
It made me think of you.

00:20:55.161 --> 00:20:56.022
How are you doing?

00:20:56.022 --> 00:20:58.690
How's it been going since XYZ meeting time?

00:20:58.690 --> 00:21:00.319
I'd love for us to catch up.

00:21:00.319 --> 00:21:02.482
What's your availability over the next couple of weeks?

00:21:02.763 --> 00:21:04.885
That is a great way to do.

00:21:04.885 --> 00:21:13.983
Even a softer touch is start reengaging with their in the comments and then they'll be like yes, yes, yes.

00:21:13.983 --> 00:21:28.463
Actually that happened to me last week where someone who was the content director when I was just when I was freelance writing she was a content director for the company and I noticed that she kept commenting on my LinkedIn post.

00:21:28.463 --> 00:21:30.788
I'm'm like I haven't.

00:21:30.788 --> 00:21:35.634
She was so high above me that I only saw her cc'd on emails to me.

00:21:35.634 --> 00:21:39.846
I haven't interacted with her in ages.

00:21:39.846 --> 00:21:44.922
I wonder what she's up to and we're setting up a call to reconnect.

00:21:44.922 --> 00:21:47.990
But that's exactly how I happened.

00:21:49.614 --> 00:21:50.776
These are how it's just.

00:21:50.776 --> 00:21:55.247
I think in general, we talk about networking after the fact or in the moment.

00:21:55.247 --> 00:21:59.143
I think you have to just lead with caring about people.

00:21:59.143 --> 00:22:01.346
I have so many examples.

00:22:01.346 --> 00:22:09.202
We do not have enough time in the day for me to give you specific examples that I remember, and there's probably other ones that I forgot, because you know, I haven't slept in years.

00:22:09.202 --> 00:22:10.326
I've got two kids under five.

00:22:10.486 --> 00:22:21.567
But I can tell you I walked up to someone this is a good one, I think, because I was at an event and it was actually out in Las Vegas and we live in Chicago, and I was.

00:22:21.567 --> 00:22:36.009
I told you, I'm a marketing recruiter, and this person who was leading a panel, also a marketing recruiter, lived in Chicago, owned her own business, and I was like what we're so parallel lives, how is it that we don't know each other?

00:22:36.009 --> 00:22:42.981
So I just walked up to her and I was like hey, I mean, I just kind of said what I said you know you work in marketing recruiting, so do I?

00:22:42.981 --> 00:22:43.865
How do we not know each other?

00:22:43.865 --> 00:22:44.808
I'd just love to meet you.

00:22:44.808 --> 00:22:47.510
And she said hey, are you interviewing for jobs?

00:22:47.510 --> 00:22:51.255
And I said no, and she's like well, here's my card.

00:22:51.255 --> 00:22:53.819
Why don't you come by the office next week and I ended up working for her.

00:22:53.819 --> 00:22:54.821
That's awesome.

00:22:54.821 --> 00:22:58.528
So I didn't even ask for a job.

00:22:58.528 --> 00:23:00.051
I wasn't even looking for a job.

00:23:00.051 --> 00:23:01.621
But that's how it goes.

00:23:01.681 --> 00:23:11.194
Yeah, it really is when thinking back, because we're similar ages, so I've also been in the workforce for about 15 years.

00:23:11.194 --> 00:23:12.821
Looking back.

00:23:12.821 --> 00:23:19.720
Every single job that I've gotten and most that my friends have gotten were from people I knew I was like, oh, you know what?

00:23:19.720 --> 00:23:23.631
I know someone who is looking for that kind of role.

00:23:23.631 --> 00:23:24.986
Let me connect you guys.

00:23:26.720 --> 00:23:28.227
Yeah and there was some TED Talk.

00:23:28.227 --> 00:23:29.403
You can probably find it.

00:23:29.403 --> 00:23:36.968
I don't know if you want to put it in the show notes, maybe I can find it for you, but it was like the main things that happen in your life, your main life events.

00:23:36.968 --> 00:23:47.992
So, whether that's getting married, getting a job, anything that's a primary turning point in your life, it's all facilitated by third party or third level connections.

00:23:47.992 --> 00:23:53.661
So, you know, your first connection is like your brother and sister, second is like your friend and then third is someone you barely know.

00:23:53.661 --> 00:23:54.743
And it's so true.

00:23:54.743 --> 00:23:59.464
I mean, I got that job from a person I barely knew at that time and think about all the people that you know.

00:23:59.464 --> 00:24:01.570
Oh, let me just connect you guys.

00:24:01.570 --> 00:24:04.804
And then it's like, before you know it, you got a job there or you're working together.

00:24:04.864 --> 00:24:07.907
Yeah, that's so interesting, I'm going to look for it.

00:24:07.907 --> 00:24:11.051
Yeah, I'm trying your third.

00:24:11.051 --> 00:24:15.406
Yeah, I'm thinking of like, uh, how I met my husband.

00:24:15.406 --> 00:24:21.769
My best friend was cousins with his best friend and we ended up at the same party.

00:24:21.789 --> 00:24:24.199
Yeah, third connection.

00:24:24.199 --> 00:24:27.686
See, yeah, everyone listening is thinking about this.

00:24:27.686 --> 00:24:29.417
They're like how did I meet this person?

00:24:29.417 --> 00:24:30.621
Or how did I get that job?

00:24:30.621 --> 00:24:38.500
It's your third connection most likely, unless some people have been married since like the third grade, I don't know, but most of it is third level connections.

00:24:39.805 --> 00:24:50.209
Before we wrap up, I wanted to touch on a couple other ways that I stay connected to people after I meet them, some other options.

00:24:50.209 --> 00:24:59.676
Like for events that I've gone to, we created group texts where we would find where to meet up during the event.

00:24:59.676 --> 00:25:03.104
So we just kept that group text going from the event.

00:25:03.104 --> 00:25:13.075
Another one is event.

00:25:13.075 --> 00:25:13.896
Another one is oh, what was it?

00:25:13.896 --> 00:25:15.380
Oh, I set a boomerang on my Gmail every 90 days to reconnect.

00:25:15.400 --> 00:25:16.502
So I don't forget, that's a great idea.

00:25:16.502 --> 00:25:17.826
And you can have this spreadsheet.

00:25:17.826 --> 00:25:23.756
If you're, you know less tech like me, I'm like I look at like spreadsheets or I could set up boomerangs, that's a good idea.

00:25:23.756 --> 00:25:30.949
But I have a spreadsheet of like the last time I talked to someone, if it's been 90 days or 60 days, I'm like, oh, you can refer to that too.

00:25:30.949 --> 00:25:37.435
And that's the other thing.

00:25:37.435 --> 00:25:43.063
When people at events like AMA or some kind of organization that has Slack, you can keep up with people and ask hey, are you coming to the next meeting or the next event?

00:25:43.063 --> 00:25:45.184
Hey, I'll be there in two weeks.

00:25:45.184 --> 00:25:50.951
Okay, great, you know, I'll see you there, and it's so easy to just ask people if they're going, oh, that's a really good point.

00:25:51.010 --> 00:25:53.842
If there's a community attached to the event, even better.

00:25:53.842 --> 00:26:04.968
Yeah, yeah, I have found that communities and then attending those events are the most profitable way for me to spend my time.

00:26:04.968 --> 00:26:07.942
They so often turn into work from.

00:26:07.942 --> 00:26:09.307
Third, party connections.

00:26:09.307 --> 00:26:11.903
People like oh, a client actually needs this.

00:26:11.903 --> 00:26:13.320
Let me connect you to.

00:26:16.026 --> 00:26:27.022
Yeah, a lot of it's timing, and I think overall, the main point is just to be open and not necessarily feel so desperate Like, oh my gosh, I have to talk to five people this week.

00:26:27.022 --> 00:26:29.759
Don't put a panic on it.

00:26:29.759 --> 00:26:31.423
Just say, hey, I love this as a goal.

00:26:31.423 --> 00:26:32.365
I'm going to try it out.

00:26:32.365 --> 00:26:35.006
Let's do five people a week, let's just see what happens.

00:26:35.006 --> 00:26:40.881
And then, once they say you know you've reached out to them on LinkedIn or whatever platform, then they say, hey, let's meet.

00:26:40.881 --> 00:26:44.846
Then you can ask a lot more open ended questions How's it been going?

00:26:44.846 --> 00:26:46.828
I'm so glad we could catch up today.

00:26:46.828 --> 00:26:48.671
So what have you been doing the last few months?

00:26:48.671 --> 00:26:49.873
And then they'll give you things.

00:26:49.873 --> 00:27:00.421
And if you are looking for a job or you are looking for new business, you can say my favorite four words when networking keep me in mind oh my gosh, I totally forgot.

00:27:00.461 --> 00:27:01.763
you told me that.

00:27:01.763 --> 00:27:03.647
Can you just touch on that?

00:27:03.647 --> 00:27:06.380
All right, I was wrapping up and now I'm not.

00:27:06.380 --> 00:27:08.163
Can you just touch on that?

00:27:08.163 --> 00:27:10.107
Keep on, keep me in mind, thing.

00:27:11.674 --> 00:27:11.914
Yes.

00:27:11.914 --> 00:27:16.260
So you know, I, like I said, it's way easier to care about people than to ask for things.

00:27:16.260 --> 00:27:30.076
Keep me in mind is just, hey, I'm open to it, but I'm not asking and I'm not going to force you to say yes or no to me right now or no to me right now.

00:27:30.076 --> 00:27:31.362
So I have a like that funny story I have is so David Schwimmer?

00:27:31.382 --> 00:27:49.443
He played Ross on Friends and if you all watch the, if you know the show Friends, of course, but if you watch the reunion, he talked about it and he said I interviewed with the creators of Friends, obviously not at that time, but he said, 10 years ago I met with those people and I did a casting call and wasn't the right show at that point because it was, you know, 1984, like before Friends started.

00:27:49.443 --> 00:27:56.977
And he said, you know, it wasn't the right thing and they didn't pick me, but we liked each other, we just had this kinship, and so I left the audition after they told me no.

00:27:56.977 --> 00:28:12.479
But I said keep me in mind for something else, cut to 10 years later they're casting Friends and David Schwimmer is the first person they cast because they met him 10 years ago and it was, like you know it didn't work, that it didn't work out 10 years ago, but he said keep me in mind and they remember it.

00:28:12.479 --> 00:28:14.534
And he remembered, and then the rest is history.

00:28:14.695 --> 00:28:24.079
That is so brilliant and you really just wiggle wormed into my brain with that, because I have started saying keep me in mind, and it does.

00:28:24.079 --> 00:28:30.907
It has circled back already just since we had that conversation yes and it's not so.

00:28:31.856 --> 00:28:32.638
You know you don't want to.

00:28:32.638 --> 00:28:39.183
I never like asking, but it's so hard to ask for things and if you don't, you just it might not even be the right time.

00:28:39.183 --> 00:28:42.056
So it's like, hey, keep me in mind when the time's right, it'll work.

00:28:42.455 --> 00:28:50.840
Yes yes, so now for reals, before we wrap up, I just wanted to touch on our workshop.

00:28:50.840 --> 00:28:54.061
We are hold on pause, pause, pause.

00:28:54.061 --> 00:28:57.403
I am pulling it up here.

00:28:57.403 --> 00:29:02.507
It is April 23rd at 1.30 pm, central Standard Time.

00:29:02.507 --> 00:29:12.071
I'm more of the emcee, you're the expert on it, but Jenna and I are going to be hosting a workshop called Five Ways to Network Without being Awkward.

00:29:12.071 --> 00:29:15.012
Do you want to touch on some of the things that we'll be digging into?

00:29:27.634 --> 00:29:28.638
into work, because that's what we're going to do.

00:29:28.638 --> 00:29:36.163
We're going to go very specific questions on like how to at which, questions that are not yes or no question, and we're going to have you do that and put it into practice immediately and see how you feel when you're doing it.

00:29:36.163 --> 00:29:39.920
And then to just this point about when you're networking.

00:29:39.920 --> 00:29:41.904
I think we always think, oh, who do I ask?

00:29:41.904 --> 00:29:46.845
But it's like, how can you serve first, how can you say what can I give people?

00:29:46.845 --> 00:29:52.305
And when you lead with that generosity, it is kind of subconscious that people want to give it back to you.

00:29:52.766 --> 00:29:58.247
So how can you about your unique skills, crafting your elevator pitch Like what are you really good at?

00:29:58.247 --> 00:30:04.063
How could you help people and then go out to your networking conversations with those things in mind?

00:30:04.805 --> 00:30:13.057
Yes, yes, yes, yes, and I just want to touch on how beneficial networking can really be.

00:30:13.057 --> 00:30:18.165
My Q4 of last year was horrendous.

00:30:18.165 --> 00:30:24.262
I mean, december usually sucks, but I spent that entire month networking.

00:30:24.262 --> 00:30:40.680
I was like I'm going to go all in and I networked a ton and then by January I was booked out through May it really helps, and I was using these same tactics that Jenna taught.

00:30:40.720 --> 00:30:40.921
today.

00:30:40.921 --> 00:30:45.715
I'm glad that you are showing that these things work, because sometimes it's hard to show it.

00:30:45.715 --> 00:30:46.978
You're like, oh, I could never do that.

00:30:46.978 --> 00:30:48.441
And it's like, yes, you can.

00:30:48.441 --> 00:30:56.624
And the results can just multiply and transform your business and your life and it changes how you feel about yourself too.

00:30:56.684 --> 00:30:57.646
Yeah, it does.

00:30:57.646 --> 00:31:01.944
And my mindset really shifted because I did feel uncomfortable for a long time about it.

00:31:01.944 --> 00:31:07.644
And then I started going into those conversations with gives already prepared.

00:31:07.644 --> 00:31:14.227
I did my research and I was like I know a few people that I think could be really beneficial to that person.

00:31:14.227 --> 00:31:21.407
I'm going to have those intros ready to go, or I'd love to collaborate with that person.

00:31:21.407 --> 00:31:30.844
I just knew what my gives would be ahead of time and then, as the conversation progressed, I'd see which one of those gives that I had pre-thought about would actually work.

00:31:32.777 --> 00:31:34.674
That's a great way to leave those conversations.

00:31:34.674 --> 00:31:40.282
When you're re-engaging your network is just at the very end say oh my gosh, it was so great connecting with you.

00:31:40.282 --> 00:31:42.603
You know we were talking about this thing.

00:31:42.603 --> 00:31:47.001
I'm going to introduce you to that person, I'll send an email intro, I'll set it up and then it's like you leave.

00:31:47.001 --> 00:31:51.888
You ask for the conversation, but you're leaving giving them something, so they feel like it was worth their time too.

00:31:58.894 --> 00:31:59.215
Yes, absolutely.

00:31:59.215 --> 00:32:15.288
And when I'm like really crossing my fingers that I don't fall out with this person like we just, you know, drift off away from each other, I always have a second ask prepared, like what's a way that I can set up a re-engagement in a way with that, so I can make sure to maintain that relationship?

00:32:15.288 --> 00:32:19.236
Yeah, absolutely so, jenna.

00:32:19.236 --> 00:32:23.287
Where can people find you online and connect with you?

00:32:24.955 --> 00:32:27.462
Yes, so you can find me on LinkedIn.

00:32:27.462 --> 00:32:30.298
My name is Jenna Kimball and I also have a website.

00:32:30.298 --> 00:32:36.128
If you want to look there, it's wwwjennakimballcom, and I have my.

00:32:36.128 --> 00:32:43.162
I did write a book, actually, about how to interview, how to ace your job interview, so you can find it there or you can find it on Amazon.

00:32:43.162 --> 00:32:44.826
But yeah, just connect with me on LinkedIn.

00:32:44.826 --> 00:32:45.576
I'd love to hear from you.

00:32:46.738 --> 00:32:47.599
And that is that.

00:32:47.599 --> 00:32:50.163
That was my conversation with Jenna.

00:32:50.163 --> 00:32:57.384
Make sure to head on over to the show notes, and there's a clickable link to sign up for that workshop.

00:32:57.384 --> 00:33:05.487
You can join us live or you can get the replay afterwards if you just want to grab the quick tips and tricks that she'll be teaching you.

00:33:05.487 --> 00:33:20.674
Quick tips and tricks that she'll be teaching you Live, though we'll be doing some actual work and practicing what it's like to network and how to come up with those prompts and how to feel more comfortable with networking, so it should be a great experience for everybody.

00:33:21.355 --> 00:33:31.436
If you liked this episode, please rate, review, subscribe wherever you're listening to this and head over to LinkedIn, follow Jenna.

00:33:31.436 --> 00:33:40.799
She's amazing and that's also my primary social media channel, so if you want to be friends over there, join me.

00:33:40.799 --> 00:33:44.164
It's just linkedincom.

00:33:44.164 --> 00:33:46.688
Slash IN, slash SarahNoelBlock.

00:33:46.688 --> 00:34:05.467
All right, I will not really see you, since this is a podcast, but you will be hearing from me again next week, where we will continue this series, and it'll all culminate with that workshop on the 23rd.

00:34:05.467 --> 00:34:08.766
So the 21st we're dropping another episode on networking.

00:34:08.766 --> 00:34:11.340
The 23rd we're having that live workshop.

00:34:11.340 --> 00:34:12.143
Sign up.

00:34:12.143 --> 00:34:14.128

Ep. 70: The Networking Playbook for Making Real Connections | Expert Guest: Jenna Kimball

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