By Mike Mahler
Last year, I dispelled the myth that passion is the most important ingredient for success. I crushed and destroyed moronic mantras, like fake it until you make it , that so many people take to heart. While it's good to feel passionate about the work you do, and passion enhances the experience of life, creating success requires more than passion.
I'm starting 2009 off with a bang by destructing another myth: that networking is crucial for success. OK, some clarification before I get the flood of angry emails: Networking is important to succeed in business endeavors...but when it comes to effective networking, most people blow it. In this article, I'm going to outline two common networking blunders: one I refer to as premature networking and the other, nuisance networking.
We'll begin with premature networking. Not only do I receive frequent emails from premature networkers, I've met more premature networkers in person then I care to remember. What is premature networking? It's trying to work with people out of your league before earning the right to work with such people. An example is trying to get a face-to-face meeting with Warren Buffet on how to be a millionaire when you haven't even made your first thousand dollars. Even if you manage to pull off the meeting, you’re still not ready to benefit from Buffet’s information. An analogy is those people who've never taught a workshop offering to co-present a workshop with me.
On my own, I've presented more than one hundred successful workshops--and when I say on my own I mean I did everything from writing the ad copy; promoting the course; booking the facilities; taking registrations; and leading the courses. Trust me, it's not easy juggling all these aspects, and if you've never done it on your own, you haven't earned the privilege to headline with those who have.
A smarter approach is volunteering to assist at a course you've already taken, or a course covering a subject in which you're already competent. Even better is to present your own workshop! After you've experienced success on your own, you'll find people are more inclined to work with you. Sounds easy, right? Wrong--which is why most people remain premature networkers; they desire easy success, starting with passing the buck onto others. This flawed strategy will only take you so far. Most premature networkers won't ever make it to first base. Successful people won't touch a premature "pass-the-buck" networker, and can spot them a mile away.
Another aspect of premature networking is developing a list of contacts without anything to offer them. I knew a guy in Los Angeles who wanted to become a famous actor. He was a great at networker and knew many famous actors but what are they going they do for him if he has nothing to offer? You guessed it: nothing. His daily routine of four hours of television viewing, plus trying to get laid, left him little time to seriously pursue the actor's craft and, in the end, thirty years of living in LA added up to very little. Such stories are a dime a dozen in LA, which leads in to the next example, someone who's never written a script but has an idea that he can schedule a pitch and meeting like a professional script writer. This pass-the-buck networking is so irritating it segues nicely into my next subject, nuisance networking.
Yes, the next logical networking category people blunder into is nuisance networking. These are those people who literally bother other people. An example is those who bombard others with emails seeking free information. These are people thinking only of themselves without respect for other people’s time. When meeting someone new, they instantly size you up to see if you'll meet some self-serving purpose. A nobler approach is leading in with how you might benefit that person with whom you're attempting to network. Along these lines, an especially effective networking approach I've had success with is the interview.
Interviewing those people whom you'd like to work with--and learn from--is effective networking. It works well because you're leading with an opportunity for them rather than for you. Trying to get other people to do stuff for you without emphasizing the benefit to them is losing a battle without ever getting started. Leading in with a benefit to the contact gets your foot in the door--and an excellent chance of crossing the threshold! When I originally contacted people for interviews, I mentioned only that I'd like to interview them for a particular publication. I identified myself as a freelance writer and included some examples of my published work. Most of these samples were online articles, which are relatively easy to get published since so many sites are looking for content.
Rather than emailing people with bothersome requests for free information (i.e., nuisance networking) I sent brief notes detailing the benefits of an interview and waited for their response. It was a numbers game: plenty of people said no (or never replied, which is another version of no) but several did get back to me. In fact, in my first month, I interviewed MMA legend Frank Shamrock; Richard Machowicz (author of Unleashing the Warrior Within and host of Future Weapons); fitness expert Clarence Bass; top strength coach Tudor Bompa; and top strength coach Steve Maxwell.
In addition to leveraging their names to get my name out there, I learned a great deal from each of them--not only from the interviews but by developing some solid relationships. I did a good job with the interviews, getting their final approval before sending them in for publication, and I never pitched any of these men on kettlebell training, hiring me as a trainer, working together on workshops, or trying to get them to do any stuff for me at all. I opened with an offer to do something for them and delivered on my offer, which creates the strong foundation upon which relationships are built. For example, a few years after my interview with Frank Shamrock, I met him in person and presented a seminar at his gym. He was so impressed with the seminar he didn't hesitate to offer me a powerful testimonial. Timing is crucial: if I'd asked Frank for endorsement too soon, he would have--justifiably--blown me off. Why would he endorse someone he's never met? Further, without knowing anything about me, why would he agree to host my seminar at his gym?
To effectively network, lead with an offer to the other party, then patiently allow the relationship to grow organically. You can't force things--solid networking takes time and the more value you have to offer, the more effective your networking opportunities. If you have nothing to offer, you're just hanging out--networking is more than attending seminars and other events to chitchat with people.
The bottom line: you can learn from people without ever meeting them. You want to know how I run my business and how I get things done? It's all on my website. You can learn to write effective ad copy by analyzing what I've already written. It's right there in front of you and you don't need me to tutor you. Nor am I available for tutoring. You can find a book on any topic you can imagine, but are you prepared to read twenty-five books on how to achieve success in your chosen field? If your answer is no, choose another field. Twenty-five books is the minimum you should read about something for which you allege a passion.
Finally, yes, networking is important--but both premature networking and nuisance networking are wastes of time and will only succeed in ruining your reputation as word gets around. In order to effectively network, develop an honest skill in order to offer something of value in the marketplace--and to those people with whom you wish to network. Create a win-win situation and respect people’s time.
Live Life Aggressively!
Mike Mahler
www.mikemahler.com
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
No comments:
Post a Comment