How To Network With Influential People
No matter where you’re at on your business journey, you’ve probably looked around your industry at some point and wondered how to network with influential people… I know I have, and most of the time I was left scratching my head and wondering what gave some people the confidence to rub elbows with “power players” and influencers.
Today I’m really excited to share with you a special interview with my friend and publicity and business strategy coach, Selena Soo. She’s a natural when it comes to networking with powerful people, and luckily she is gifted at teaching the skills necessary to get comfortable meeting influential people.
How To Network With Influential People: Interview With Selena Soo
Click play to find out how to start networking with influential people, even if you don’t think you’re “ready” yet.
Click here to download Selena’s “6 Ways to Add Value” cheat sheet.
Tips On Why & How To Network With Influential People
- Why focus on networking? I used to feel that networking was a phony thing people did when they wanted to get ahead in business… but there is a way to get to know incredible people, who will become fast friends and supporters, and it doesn’t have to feel icky at all!
- Remember that people are people. It’s only when you put them up on a pedestal that they look down on you. What a great quote from Selena!
- I’ve come to believe that all opportunities come from or through other people, whether they are influential people or not. That’s why I’m such a fan of attending live conferences and events like Off The Charts Live.
- Selena shares that in front of every opportunity is a person who has to say yes to you. I believe that people naturally want to help others, and that has helped me a lot in terms of how I see things.
- The best way to build your network is to start building relationships before you need anything, and that means building relationships without expectations. I feel like it’s all about making friends, as adults.
- Think of ways you can add value to your network, by introducing people to each other or providing feedback that makes someone’s day.
Want To Meet Other Influencers? Join Us At Off The Charts Live!
June 7-8, 2014 you’re invited to join a group of movers and shakers at Off The Charts Live in NYC. Right now during early action takers enrollment, you’ll also get a seat at a special VIP lunch on the first day. But only if you register by September 27th, 2013! Click here to sign up now.
Here’s to your success, and rubbing elbows with other incredible human beings!
I specifically love #6: Add value to my network and not expect anything in return. Just give to give (not give to get).
Networking with influential people can definitely give you a boost in your biz but a lot of entrepreneurs seem to forget that unless they have value to bring + have their own unique expertise they’ll look like they’re in it for the quick results (which a lot of them are).
Focus on developing your own genius and then when you network you’ll actually be bringing something great to the conversation.
I totally agree with you on that one Caroline! My biggest pet peeve is networking with people who just want to take, take, take. I’ve been to events like that, and I also saw it a lot in the corporate world too.
But if you focus on building genuine relationships from a place of no expectations, good things naturally happen. :)
Hi Caroline, thanks for watching my interview. So happy it resonated with you!
I love #5 because when you are starting a business we get so caught up in making the business work that we sometimes only want to deal with people that will help us move ahead. We neglect building relationship. I find that when you have a relationship with the person first it goes a long way.
Absolutely Webly! It was one of my first big awakenings, and things got easier after that. :)
What a great interview – totally loved the Ramit Sethi story. It really shows how giving without expectation works. Thank you for sharing it!
This has given me a real mind-shift about the way that influential people work – ie, they are just like me, just further on and doing much better.
Thank you for the cheat sheet too: much appreciated.
Yay Claire! Isn’t that a cool story? I love that you got some shifts around influential people, too, way to go!
Thanks Claire! That is one of my favorite stories!
Love Selena. Thanks for this Nathalie. And Selena, I took your advice and reached out to an influencer who had just written a truly important book on the Truth About Food that I was reading and couldn’t put down…so I told her. And guess what? She wrote back to me immediately and asked if I could write a review on Amazon (which I happily did) and when she checked out my website she noticed that I was a native Italian and shared that she had a home in Italy (her sanctuary) and now we’re truly on our way to building a relationship. Thanks Selena for giving me the nudge I needed.
Yay Silvia! This story makes me so happy – way to take action! :)
Silvia, that is an AWESOME story! Way to go for taking action + adding value!
Great interview, Nath!
Thanks for the influencer guide, Selena…I especially like Tips #5 & 6.
It’s sort of like the “natural” or organic way of making connections by using your intuition about people and doing good deeds for others without expectations. Great stuff!
:)
Ooh I love how you phrase that Jean – to use your intuition and naturally build relationships. Genius!
Hi Jean, yes! Doing good deeds w/o expectations is so important. Tit for tat doesn’t build authentic, long-term relationships.
Thanks for the great reminder of how important networking is and emphasizing the giving.
Hi Kathy, yes! Giving is everything when it comes to networking!
Such great tips here! I think the most helpful part, for me, is continuing to reinforce and build the confidence for reaching out. Instead of taking stabs in the dark, there can be clear strategies for building relationships.
Absolutely – and you know you’ll build confidence the more you practice, and it gets easier over time that way!
Excellent interview! Thanks for the tips. People are people -period. If you put them on a pedestal, they will look down to see you. This is what most resonate to me.
Thanks for sharing what resonated most with you Julieta, I found that to be really profound too!
Nice! So happy to hear that idea resonated with you Julieta!
You're welcome Kathy! Glad you enjoyed it :)
This is most helpful in helping give me the courage to take action with those I admire and not be intimidated. Offering something to the admired out of gratification is a genuine way to show appreciation for their influence on you and your business.
Thank you Nathalie!
Absolutely Karen – thanks so much for letting us know you got some nuggets of wisdom from this episode! :)
Hi Karen, I’m so happy to hear this was helpful. Thank you for watching!
Great interview Nathalie & Selena!
Thank you for sharing not only your tips, but also your stories. I love how you say people are just people and remind us how giving is at the heart of authentic networking. Those two sentiments really go hand in hand. Relationships are everything. Loved this!
Hi Selena!
I have always wanted to find out what your “secrets” were as I have seen you online in numerous places. Amazing how simple and just plain human your “secrets” are!
I made a point of reviewing 2 brilliant books today and emailing the authors to tell them how much I enjoyed the books (Brilliant book – Shama Kabani – Zen of Social Media Marketing)
I also spent over an hour helping out a newbie to the online world – step by step advice on how to market a new book.
I think its important to connect with people at all different stages of “influence”. You never know who will rise fast & I genuinely love being able to share knowledge and seeing them act on it is amazing!
Thanks Selena for making it down to earth and REAL.
Nathalie as always your info KICKS ASS – thanks!
Nina
What a great interview! And I loved the story about how you ran into Ramit on the street! How cool!!!
Thanks Andreea!
I love this interview – so many great tips. Thank you guys xx
Great interview, thanks!
I think the key to networking with influencers, both online and offline, is to just be yourself. These big powerful people are just people in the end of the day. And like everyone, they appreciate honesty, personality and authenticity.
The best connections I’ve made with big influencers has been over a pint – where I’ve talked to them like I would talk to my mates. If you let your true personality come out, then they’ll remember and appreciate you. They won’t appreciate all those other smarmy, over-salesy networkers who are trying to shove business cards down everyone’s throats.
It works the same with copywriting. A lot of companies still seem to use this old-fashioned kind of corporate third-person copy. But if you write your copy like you’re having a chat with one person (your target customer) – brimming with personality – then it really connects with the reader. And it makes sales.
Thanks for your awesome blog. Let’s connect on Twitter!
Great post!
Have you thought about putting this together as a cheat sheet for networking and building relationships?
People could benefit from being reminded of these things frequently.
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