I never imagined that I’d build my entire business on my joy of networking

It’s 5pm Friday afternoon and aside from a short 30 minutes off for lunch, I’ve pretty much been in front of Zoom all that time. There was the occasional quick dash for a toilet break (I mean, I’m not a machine and I don’t have a bottle strategically hidden under my desk otherwise that might be a different story :/ ) but aside from that it has been bum firmly plonked in seat, webcam on and chatting away for a full 8 hours.

Today, I’ve not been running an all day workshop or training session (which is often what keeps me stuck behind Zoom for 8 hours) but instead, because I have had a day of no client delivery, I have chosen to network with people from around the world for all that time. Don’t feel sorry for me, I absolutely love it.

Yes my legs may be numb but today I’ve had the pleasure of joining speed-networking sessions thanks to The Portfolio Collective, chatting with a random new connection in Portugal thanks to an app called Lunchclub, leaping on a networking chat lead by startup2standup, having Zoom coffees with numerous former clients (all achieved by the simple act of dropping them a voicenote on LinkedIn) and networking with new contacts that I’ve been introduced to.

It’s been 8 hours of : “What are you up to?”, “Where are you based?”, “What’s your team like?”, “How was lockdown for you?”, “What’s your biggest headache at the moment”, etc.

In return, I’ve had 8 hours of explaining what I do, why I set up my business, how I navigated the pandemic and much more.

Throw in other networking groups I am involved in (such as my own Solopreneurs Club, Alumni communities, the peer group from my recent Help2Grow mini-MBA) and there is an endless amount of amazing people to meet and learn stuff from.

I have never found it a chore and was in fact doing much the same before I founded my own business but never did I imagine that this simple act would be the number 1 growth engine for my business, Shiageto Consulting.

Unsurprisingly, it turns out that if you talk to enough people with genuine interest and enthusiasm you discover so many wonderous things. You learn what’s happening in different companies and sectors, you gather intel on politics and gossip, you discover new technologies and companies that are disrupting things in ways you never imagined, you find people looking for jobs and people who can fill jobs, you attract pieces of work you can help with and people to collaborate with, you meet people at the start of their careers who want a little guidance and those at the end of their careers who share their wisdom with you, you may even gain new friends and I may have even got a couple of dates along the way (less said about that the better).

I find that by simply networking my level of creativity goes up, my ability to tell my story gets sharper and I walk away energised. Not to mention that it brings in new work for my business; I simply can not recommend it highly enough.

Now, I don’t profess to being an expert but let me share a few rules I have set myself when it comes to networking:

1. Network with absolutely everyone - never assume someone is to junior, too boring, too unconnected or any other assumption that will limit your networking [I have found work from some very unexpected places]
2. Don’t network with a sole focus of selling - I never ever do a hard sell and in fact more often than not just give away ideas freely as I know they will come back 10-fold later on
3. Ask lots of questions - there’s nothing more awkward than silence so always prepare things to talk about just in case and steer the conversation where you want it to go
4. Try to research a little bit on who the other person is and flex to their needs - there’s been a few times I’ve not done this and been caught out when I’ve talked about the wrong thing or in the wrong way
5. Sharpen your own story - nobody wants to get bored listening to you so keep notes on what parts of your story others are more often interested in and vary which bits you tell based on which parts in particular the other person is enjoying
6. Schedule effectively and don’t overstay your welcome - 30 mins is more than enough time for networking and, despite what I do, maybe back to backs isn’t always a good thing (plus don’t forget to put each call in your diary, I’ve made that mistake before!)
7. Always follow up - even if it’s just a nice hello, that was great to chat to you, an email within 7 days of the chat is a great thing to do
8. Enjoy it! - quite simply, if it stops being fun then take a break and come back to it later on

And that’s about it; if you’re reading this and we haven’t networked as yet then drop me a line here, on LinkedIn or to faris@shiageto.com

Faris is the CEO and Founder of Shiageto Consulting, an innovative consultancy that helps firms and individuals sharpen their effectiveness. Connect with him here

Success = IQ x EQ x FQ