I aspire to build relationships and help others to build their network of relationships. I have no interest in collecting people.
I know lots of cool people. I am a connector. There are two types of networkers: the people-collectors and the relationship-builders.
I know lots of sales people who have a heavy-laden rolodex but little success in their sales cycle. Why? Well, lots of sales people consider sales to be a numbers game. They often treat the world like a numbers game. Dating as a numbers game, etc.
When a salesman like this comes to Renaissance Weekend he just doesn’t get it. Collecting business cards (or phone numbers at a bar) and therefore collecting people is not the same as investing in the people behind these cards. And that takes time, interest, attention, focus, and a lot of yourself.
This is about building a friendship, a connection, a relationship — something very personal and bespoke.
Business and personal networking has become about people collecting. If you are a person-collector try to take a new tactic. Networking needs to be about building personal relationships. It needs to be about personal relationships. It needs to be authentic and sincere. Its needs to be built on something. It needs to be based on trust and mutual respect and understanding.
People sense when you’re not being sincere. People know when you’re just madly collecting them — and their cards and their connections and prestige. People generally learn after a spell when they’re being used.
And if you’re collecting people like this nothing ever comes of it in the end.
On the flipside, networking doesn’t have to be something superficial, either. I love to schmooze, and that’s what I like to call it. But my method os schmooze is more about meeting people and getting to know them and making myself available. Its also about keeping that person in the back of my head in order to see what they might need in the future. Generally this is in the form of introducing them to other people they they should know, whatever that means.
I don’t know if this makes any sense but I have run out of time as I am off to go schmooze with my buddy John Hanshaw at his GUERRILLA FILM CLUB 6.
Ha!
