How to Network and Build a Social Circle — 3 Networking Tips
Summary
TLDRIn this video, Sean from THiNK Media emphasizes the crucial role of networking for creatives and entrepreneurs. He shares three key tips for building a strong social circle: attending real-world events to foster collaborations, leveraging online platforms to engage with influencers and peers, and offering value through spec work to build relationships and skills. Sean's insights highlight the importance of investing in personal and professional connections as a vital asset for success.
Takeaways
- 😀 Success in life is highly dependent on building and maintaining relationships with others.
- 🔗 Your network can significantly influence your visibility, connect you with influencers, and create opportunities.
- 💼 Investing in relationships and building social capital is as crucial as investing in financial assets.
- 🎥 Spending half of your time on content creation and the other half on content distribution, including networking, is recommended.
- 🤝 Getting off the Internet and meeting people in real life is essential for forming collaborations and finding potential team members.
- 📍 Utilizing resources like meetup.com and CreativeMornings can help in building local connections and expanding your network.
- 💼 Personal branding is vital before networking online; ensure your online presence reflects professionalism and brand values.
- 🌟 Engaging with top influencers in your niche by commenting and sharing can help in building relationships and community.
- 📝 Keeping an ongoing list of top influencers, sites, and peers in your niche can help in intentional networking and relationship building.
- 🎁 Offering to work for free or doing spec work can lead to significant opportunities and is a way to add value upfront.
- 🛠 Working for free or doing pro bono work can also be a way to build your skills and gain experience in your field.
Q & A
What is the main focus of Sean's video?
-The main focus of Sean's video is to emphasize the importance of networking for creatives and entrepreneurs, and to share his top three networking tips.
What does Sean suggest as the first networking tip?
-Sean's first networking tip is to get off the Internet and meet people in the real world, attending conferences, meetups, and getting involved in the local community.
How does Sean propose using meetup.com for networking?
-Sean suggests using meetup.com to create an account and search for relevant groups such as business or entrepreneurship meetups, video production, and photography to find opportunities for networking.
What role does personal branding play in online networking, according to Sean?
-According to Sean, personal branding is crucial in online networking as it helps make a strong first impression. It reflects one's brand values and messaging, and shows how one can add value to others.
How does Sean define the term 'social capital' in the context of the video?
-In the context of the video, 'social capital' refers to the network of personal and professional relationships that one builds, which Sean believes is the most important asset in one's portfolio.
What is the significance of the phrase 'net worth is directly connected to your network' mentioned by Sean?
-The phrase signifies that one's financial success or value is closely tied to the strength and reach of their social and professional connections.
How much time should one spend on content distribution according to Sean's recommendation?
-Sean recommends spending 50% of one's time on content distribution, which includes social media engagement and real-world networking.
What are some of the resources Sean mentions for building connections in the local area?
-Sean mentions resources like meetup.com, CreativeMornings, trade organizations, Toastmasters, and the Chamber of Commerce as ways to build local connections.
What is the advice Sean gives regarding the expectation from networking activities?
-Sean advises that networking should be approached with zero expectations and without an agenda, focusing on adding value and being authentic, rather than expecting immediate returns.
What is Sean's perspective on working for free as a networking strategy?
-Sean believes that working for free, such as doing spec work or pro bono work, can be a powerful way to add value upfront, build relationships, and potentially lead to more opportunities in the future.
How does Sean suggest maintaining a list of networking opportunities or contacts?
-Sean suggests starting a Google Doc or using a note-taking app like Evernote to maintain an ongoing list of top influencers, important sites, and peers in one's niche to be intentional with networking efforts.
Outlines
🤝 The Power of Networking for Creative Success
Sean from THiNK Media emphasizes the indispensable role of networking for creatives and entrepreneurs. He outlines the importance of building a strong social circle and offers three key networking tips. Sean suggests investing in relationships as a crucial part of personal and professional growth, highlighting the adage that one's net worth is tied to their network. He encourages viewers to step out of their routines to foster connections and stresses the significance of social capital. Sean also advocates for a balanced approach to content creation and distribution, including active participation in community conversations, both online and offline.
🚀 Practical Networking Strategies and Online Branding
The second paragraph delves into practical networking strategies, starting with the importance of attending real-world events like conferences and meetups to foster collaborations and find potential team members. Sean shares his experience at Amplified Live, where he built a business and personal relationship with Nick from Greyscalegorilla. He recommends resources like meetup.com and CreativeMornings for local networking and suggests joining trade organizations and the Chamber of Commerce for broader opportunities. The paragraph also underscores the importance of personal branding online, advising viewers to ensure their social media presence is professional and reflective of their brand values before engaging in online networking.
🌐 Building an Online Network and the Art of Spec Work
In the third paragraph, Sean discusses the significance of building an online network by engaging with influencers and participating in niche communities. He suggests identifying top influencers and sites in one's niche and contributing to these communities by commenting and sharing. Sean also emphasizes the importance of personal branding, using the stories of Heather Torres and Alejandro Reyes to illustrate how strong first impressions online can lead to meaningful relationships. He introduces three areas for online networking inspired by Chase Jarvis: engaging with top influencers, participating in top sites and media channels, and connecting with peers. Sean cautions against a transactional approach to networking, advocating instead for a lifestyle of adding value without immediate expectations.
🎬 The Value of Investing in High-Quality Content and Speculative Work
The final paragraph focuses on the benefits of investing time and resources into creating high-quality content and the concept of working for free to build a network and gain influence. Sean shares his experience with Video Influencers, where they invested in producing high-quality interviews, which led to a close partnership with Chalene Johnson. He encourages viewers to consider offering value upfront without expecting immediate returns, using the story of DRock and Gary Vaynerchuk as an example of how speculative work can lead to significant opportunities. Sean also reflects on his own journey, starting as a volunteer to build skills and relationships, which eventually opened doors to his current success. He invites viewers to consider how they can offer value and connect with influencers or networks, suggesting this approach can lead to unexpected but rewarding outcomes.
Mindmap
Keywords
💡Networking
💡Social Capital
💡Content Creation
💡Content Distribution
💡Meetup.com
💡Personal Branding
💡Spec Work
💡Influencer
💡Collaboration
💡Chamber of Commerce
💡Pro Bono
Highlights
The importance of networking for creatives and entrepreneurs is emphasized, with tips on building a strong social circle and three key networking strategies.
A successful network can enhance visibility, connect with influencers, and create opportunities, underlining the phrase 'net worth is connected to your network'.
Investing in relationships and building social capital is as crucial as investing in money.
The recommendation to spend half of one's time on content creation and the other half on content distribution, including networking.
Practical advice on getting off the Internet and meeting people in real-world settings like conferences and meetups to foster collaborations.
The use of meetup.com for finding local business and entrepreneurship events to expand one's network.
CreativeMornings as a monthly event for networking with creatives in various cities.
The value of trade organizations and platforms like Toastmasters for networking and improving communication skills.
Chamber of Commerce as a resource for professional networking and community involvement.
The encouragement to persist in networking despite the uncertainty of immediate returns, advocating for patience and consistency.
The significance of online networking through platforms like Twitter, and the importance of engaging in niche-specific communities.
Advice on improving personal branding online before initiating networking efforts to ensure a strong first impression.
Stories of building relationships and business partnerships through online interactions, such as with Heather Torres and Alejandro Reyes.
Chase Jarvis' three areas of focus for online networking: engaging with stars in your niche, participating in top sites, and connecting with peers.
The concept of working for free as a strategy to build one's network and gain valuable experience, citing examples like DRock and Video Influencers.
The personal story of starting in video production through volunteering and how it led to future opportunities and skill development.
The call to action for viewers to identify top influencers, sites, and peers in their niche and to engage with them regularly.
Encouragement to offer value upfront without expecting immediate returns, positioning it as a long-term investment in one's network and reputation.
The question posed to viewers about which of the three networking tips resonated most and an invitation to share their networking goals in the comments.
Transcripts
- Success in life is impossible without other people.
So in this video, I'm gonna be talking about the importance
of networking for creatives and entrepreneurs,
how to build a strong social circle,
and my three biggest networking tips.
Coming up.
(camera shutters snapping) (upbeat music)
Hey what's up, Sean here with THiNK Media.
Bringing you the best tips and tools
for building your influence for online video.
And on this channel, we do a lot of tech gear reviews,
as well as tips and strategy videos just like this one.
So if you're new here, consider subscribing.
Your network can help you build visibility,
connect you with other influencers,
and open up new doors of opportunity.
In fact you may have heard of the phrase,
"That your net worth is directly connected to your network."
And so I wanted to shoot a video
really talking about the importance of not just
creating videos, and not just trying to create products,
or make money online, or even just build your influence
online, but the importance of relationships
and sometimes getting out of your day-to-day routine
to build those relationships.
So my question for you is, I know you invest in your money,
but do you invest in your relationships?
Are you building social capital?
In fact, I believe that your ability to build a network
of personal, and professional relationships,
is the most important asset in your portfolio.
And so, I spend a lot of time on this channel
sharing tactical tips about how to get
more views on your videos,
about how to optimize your videos for search,
how to grow your social media platforms,
but I thought it was really important to make a video
about how to grow your network and invest in, really people.
In fact, I believe that you should spend 50% of your time
on content creation, whether that's shooting your videos,
building your business, building your brand,
but that you should spend the other 50%
on content distribution.
Meaning you're putting in the time on social media,
or even in the real-world.
Getting the word out about what you're doing.
And so that means, not just tweeting,
but it also means meeting people.
It means rubbing shoulders,
and it really means building your network,
and taking time to participate in the community
and the conversation that's happening in your niche.
So, what are some practical ways that you can do this?
Let's jump into these three tips.
The first one is getting off the Internet
and actually meeting up with people in the real world.
Now I know, that kind of sounds crazy right?
As online entrepreneurs, as video influencers,
as online influencers, but we have to make sure
that we block time in our schedules to go to conferences,
to go to meetups, to get involved in the local community,
and here's why.
When you go to these events, this is where you'll meet
the collaborations that you may do
on YouTube or on business.
This is where you might be able to find interns that will
work with you and maybe join your team in some way.
This is where you could find future team members.
Maybe that's not where you are building your brand
or your business right now, but you should always
be thinking about this even if it's gonna be something
that happens later.
And an example of how practical this is
at a recent event in Vegas called Amplified Live,
I met my friend Nick from Greyscalegorilla,
and not only have we done business stuff together,
but we've even gone snowboarding together
and are building a friendship and a business relationship.
And so this is where these things happen.
And so one of my favorite resources for kind of
creating these connections in your local area
is meetup.com.
And so, if you've never been there before,
I'll link it up in the description below.
Just go to Meetup, create an account,
and then search for things like business meetups,
entrepreneurship, meetups is a good search term,
video production, photography.
There is a YouTuber meet-up that's happening here in Vegas
that I'm going to, the day after shooting this video.
And so, there's all of these opportunities.
You don't know necessarily what's going to happen
but this could be your future collabs.
This could be your future people
that you do video production or freelance work for.
You have to be in the community.
Another resource is CreativeMornings,
and these are monthly events typically in about a 100 cities
where you're going to be able to network and connect
with other creatives in your space.
And then, additionally, you can look at trade organizations
whether that's for photography, or design, or video,
or even things like Toastmasters to meet people,
and also level up your speaking, or your communication.
And then there's also things like
the Chamber of Commerce that hosts events.
In Vegas here there's the young professionals group
of the Chamber of Commerce.
They do all kinds of cool events and I love to go these
to not necessarily know exactly what's gonna happen
but what i do know is that people matter most
and that you should always be building your social circle.
So we'll list up some resources in the description below
and then just one kind of encouragement here
is that I think people give up too early
when it comes to networking.
You know I'd love to say that every meetup I attend
turns into some kind of a business deal,
or some kind of an epic collab, or some kind of a
epic thing that builds my business
but doesn't necessarily happen that way.
I mean I go just to meet people, just to check it out,
and you have to be willing to put in the work,
put in the hustle, and just kind of leave a little bit of
serendipity up to these events but also of course
always go with intentionality.
The second area that is so important
is focusing on building your network
and your social circle online.
Of course, this is where you're starting conversations
on Twitter, where you're with engaging people,
where you're joining conversations and contributing
to the community in your niche, and in your space.
And so, a good power tip here, before you really start to
build your social circle online, and network online,
is level up your personal branding.
I have to say that just like if you go to a conference
or a meetup, you're probably gonna take a shower that day,
and show up to make a certain impression with your presence.
Think about the same thing for your presence online.
Do you have a good avatar?
Is your presentation of your Twitter account
or your Instagram account, is it professional?
Is it reflecting your brand values, your brand messaging,
reflecting what you stand for,
how you can add value to others,
your positioning in the market place?
If you haven't really worked on your personal branding
on your online platforms yet, always do that first
because I really believe, you only get one chance
to make a first impression.
So if you do reach out to someone on Twitter
and to start talking to someone on Twitter,
what is the first impression of your Twitter avatar?
What is the impression of your Twitter bio?
Is it filled out?
Or your Instagram bio or any social platform.
Always work on that branding and messaging first
and then begin to reach out.
And so here's a couple of practical stories
of why this is so powerful.
The first is Heather Torres.
Now you may have heard of her before.
She's part of the THiNK Media team and guess what?
We met on Twitter.
She actually reached out to me,
we started to have a conversation,
eventually we met up here in Vegas,
eventually she actually did some kind of pro bono work,
worked for free, and worked just kind of on some performance
based stuff, when we were very early in THiNK Media,
and it wasn't really a ton of income to hire anybody.
And then eventually, she joined the team in a real position
and she's been one of the greatest blessings and made such
a huge impact on everything that we do here at THiNK Media
and on our brand overall.
We met online, powerful right?
And another example is my friend Alejandro Reyes.
Now one of my best friends,
he's got a sweet Vlog channel on YouTube,
and we met on Twitter.
Why?
Because he reached out.
But I'd have to say that in both cases,
Heather and Alejandro are both just good at having
a good first impression.
You know they seem like real people.
I seem like I could trust them, at least at first
to get over that initial hurdle of, who is this person?
Just because good bio picture,
kind of saw what they were about,
was able to check out their content
to look into what they had been posting.
And so they had that strong brand,
and it led to some profound friendships, relationships,
business partnerships.
This is the power of why you should be building
your network and your social circle.
And so, I wanna give you three areas
for really networking online and I took these from
Chase Jarvis, and he's a huge influencer in my life,
founder of CreativeLive.
I'll link up to his channel in the description below.
This video is actually basically inspired
by one of his videos.
But he talked about three areas
that you should be focusing on
when it comes to networking online.
The first one is, "Who are the stars in your space?"
In your niche, who are the leading influencers,
the top influencers, when it comes to building and getting
engaged in a community,
and getting engaged in a conversation.
Be engaging in their stuff.
Are you commenting on their stuff?
Sharing their posts?
Giving actual good feedback?
And if they ask questions, engaging with them
and engaging other people in their space.
Because they're really tried leaders.
They're online influencers that have built communities.
And so, there's conversations that are already happening
that you can jump into in a respectful way,
in a contributing way, in a way that adds value,
and that even has you being a part of
that community that they're building.
The second area are the sites.
So the question is, "What are the top sites in your niche?"
And so, what we're talking about here are the blogs,
the Facebook groups, the YouTube channels,
even the podcasts in your space.
The top channels, take time and block time on your schedule
to be engaging in the comments.
You know one thing that I like to do is
if I listen to a podcast that interviews two people
I like to say if I'm grateful for that.
And I'll say, I'll tag each person and I'll say,
"Just listened to the episode.
"Super great episode."
You know this puts your awareness on people's radars.
Does that lead to some business result immediately?
Of course not.
It might not ever and it may even be
five years down the road, or seven years down the road,
that something happens.
But the point is to always be intentionally
cultivating relationships, and just building
your social capital, and your social circle.
And then the third area is social, meaning your peers.
So there's the stars that you want to know who are they,
and are you engaging in their communities.
The sites, what are the top sites, podcasts,
YouTube channels.
Are you engaging in those communities?
And then, social, who are your peers?
The people who are doing similar things to you,
they're influencers in your space, maybe of a similar size.
And in that respect you're engaging with them,
commenting on their stuff, building those friendships,
building those relationships, and they'll also cultivating
things like JV partnerships, and collaborations,
whether that's in business, on YouTube and blogging,
on Facebook Live, social media collaborations,
Instagram account takeover, Snapchat takeovers.
So many opportunities for building your brand
can come from these things, but it's something
that you always want to be working on.
And one power tip here is a lot of times I see people
are too transactional thinking, I want to take one action
and then make a withdrawal off of that quick investment
that I made immediately
And that is not how this works.
This is something that you almost just do as a lifestyle.
And I believe it's best done, with zero expectations.
It's best done where you have a hope
that it's gonna lead to something cool,
but you don't have an agenda.
Nobody wants somebody that has an agenda,
that's just trying to use them, or try to see what they
can get out of the relationship.
I think what people ultimately want is just real, authentic,
friendly people, who add value, who have similar minds,
similar values, you know similar audiences,
or whatever it is.
Just finding cool and creative ways to work together.
And so, I really encourage that when you're very intentional
with this kind of stuff, also let things be very organic,
not contrived, not forced, always be a good person,
and always expect to add value and give value,
honestly not expecting anything in return.
Okay so your quick action item here is to start
a Google Doc, or wherever you take notes, Evernote,
it doesn't matter, and make a list.
Write stars, write the sites, write the social, your peers,
and begin to just keep an ongoing list of
who are the top influencers, what are the top sites
and the top media channels in your space,
and who are some people that you'd love to grow a
relationship with, and your peers in this space.
And then that way you can reference that list.
You can always add to it, and you can be intentional to even
block time on your calendar, to maybe just go through
and just check in, and spend some time engaging,
commenting, seeing what people are up to,
and contributing and giving back in those areas.
And then the third area for building your networking
and social circle is to work for free.
Now I know, you might be like, "Sean nothing should
"be done for free.
"I should never work for free."
but personally, I disagree with that.
Without question, any influence in what I have today
is been a result of doing spec work, pro bono work,
and really adding just value right up front,
not knowing if I would get anything in return.
There's actually a famous kind of story in this
entrepreneur space, and that is Gary Vaynerchuk
has a full-time videographer named DRock,
and Gary is a New York Times best-selling author
if you've never heard about him.
He's really blowing up online.
But DRock, this story just is really kind of spread
on the Internet because he made a video for Gary.
He actually said, "Hey can I work with you?"
He emailed him, it was ignored a couple of times,
and then eventually he said, "Sure, I'll let you create
"a mini-documentary of my day for free."
And DRock did it for free, shot the whole day,
made this piece which is now Gary's show
called the DailyVee.
And he now is full on a team, it's turned into
a position for him.
DRock is able to do something he loves
but it all started with reaching out
and offering to add value with not
expecting anything in return.
But of course, I'm sure DRock hoped that what happened,
happened, and sure enough it did.
And it all started with doing spec work.
You know another example of this, is on Video Influencers.
With Benji and I, we do an interview show,
sure a lot of people do that, and sure we do get value
if someone comes on our show and they have influence.
But a lot of people when it comes to shooting interviews
will just do Google Hangouts, because it's easy to do.
You get to sit here, interview the other person,
and put it out.
But we really wanted Video Influencers to be different.
So we invested our own money, our own time,
to travel places, to bring multiple camera angles,
to actually bring our own team, whom we were paying,
and to try to set it out and shoot it by ourselves,
to create interviews that were a lot higher quality
with different influencers that we had on that channel.
And one of the examples that we did was Chalene Johnson,
who's a fitness celebrity,
New York Time's best-selling author,
and someone now that I work closely with
and we partner on projects, and I've spoke at her events,
and I work with her inside of her Marketing Impact Academy.
And it's led to all kinds of things, but it all started
by going and not just doing a video with her,
an original interview on Video Influencers,
but also investing a ton into that interview.
I wanted to be the best interview that she had ever done.
I wanted the video production to be off the charts
and a step above everybody else's, and our turn around time,
was I think the video came out the day after we shot it,
which got her attention, she was like, "Dude, a couple
"of other people shot some stuff with me,
"and it hasn't been out for like two months.
"This is crazy, the interview's good, the production quality
"you know like you've added all this value to me."
And then that led to really
another step in the relationship.
So I want to ask you,
who are some people that you would love to work with?
Or what is maybe a network, or a tribe that you would
love to get more involved in?
Ask yourself, how could you offer value upfront?
Offer to do free work?
Or offer to do cool projects that promote the other person
that has something special about it?
That is one of the best ways to build your social circle,
to build your network, and to get a chance to start
a relationship that you may not have gotten otherwise
if you just said, "Hey can we hang out?"
Or, "Hey can I buy you coffee?"
In fact, power tip, one of probably the worst ways
to reach out to a lot of influencers is being like,
"Hey can I buy you lunch?"
Especially when some of these people are like,
"You're gonna buy me a $20 lunch when I run a team
"of 20 people that I have to pay everyday?"
So you want to really get creative
and think about how you can reach out, add value,
and connect with people.
And one other example that is huge in this particular area
is this is also a great way to build your skills.
If you've never heard my story before,
I started video production by interning in my local church.
And so in 2003, my Youth Pastor handed me a video camera
and he said, "Hey start making video announcements."
And of course this was all volunteer
but it was a huge opportunity
because when I couldn't afford a camera equipment,
and video editing softwares, and computers,
I learned on the church's equipment and computers.
And so I was getting to produce videos.
I got to, you know, make videos every single week
and the discipline of doing that in those days
is what brought me to where I am today
with knowing video production, or learning YouTube.
You know our first YouTube channel that I ever ran
was my church's YouTube channel in 2007.
And so now today all these tips that I've learned
was because I got involved in an organization,
started interning, leveling up my skills,
and building relationships.
And then fast-forward a few years,
I started a media production business
and a lot of the clients were actually people
that were in the church,
about an hour North of Seattle, Washington,
earlier on just kind of in my personal journey, why?
Because I was involved.
I was doing something.
I was in the physical world learning,
and rubbing shoulders with people, connecting with people,
building my network, and sure enough it just led to things.
And other doors began to open,
and things that I could have never predicted happened.
And so I want to encourage you, what kind of people
could you offer value to for free?
You know not expecting anything in return,
especially, as people are busier than ever,
there's more social media coming out than ever.
I encourage you to do that 'cause it could lead
to some incredible things in your future
by taking that opportunity to add value
and build your social circle.
Question of the day.
Which of these three tips stood out to you the most?
And/or, what is a conference, meetup, or an event
that would be great for you to attend to build
your network in the next six months?
Let me know in the comments section below.
So thanks so much for checking out this video.
Definitely subscribe for more videos just like this.
Hit the "like" button if you got value out of this video
and what we do most here on THiNK Media TV
is help you with tips for building your influence
with online video, and specifically, YouTube.
And if you want to check out a recent training that I did
of all about YouTube, it's entirely free,
45 minutes long, you can actually get access to it at
learnyoutubetoday.com.
Or we'll link it up in the description below.
And it'll actually really break down how to build
your influence on YouTube, and get more views, subscribers,
and build your income as well.
So definitely check that out
and until next time, THiNK Media is helping you
with the best tips and tools,
for building your influence with online video.
Keep crushing it and we will talk soon.
(beeps)
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