Building A Network With A 6-Word Mindset

Strategic networking and simple systems for business growth

THE STRATEGIC NETWORK
Strategic networking and simple systems for business growth

šŸ‘‹ Hey there! Mike, here. You’re part of a special strategic networking community of 1,186 networkers.

In today’s issue:

  • The Ultimate 10 Minute Performance Enhancing System

  • How I Built My Network With A 6-Word Mindset

  • Upcoming virtual networking events

  • And more…

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TOP FINDS
ā¤ļø Best in Strategic Networking & Simple Systems

  • The Ultimate 10 Minute Performance Enhancing System ā€¦ (Link)

  • Your self talk creates your reality. If you say, ā€œI’m bad at networking.ā€ That will be your truth. But... If you say, ā€œHow can I become better at networking? I’m committed to learning.ā€ That will become your reality. ... (Link)

  • My team has only one KPI: ā€˜Do one favor a day’, Give and keep on giving ... (Link)

IN THE SPOTLIGHT
šŸ’Ŗ Featured Power Networker

  • Power Networker: Reno Perry

  • Biz: ā€œHey, I'm Reno, I share daily insights on AI tools, career growth, personal branding, and business to an audience of 400,000+ followers on LinkedIn.ā€

  • Primary Channels: LinkedIn (423K)

  • Networking Advice: Networking can open doors your resume can’t. Avoid these 7 mistakes to make the right impression.

    1. Only networking when you need something

    2. Neglecting to follow up on advice

    3. Dominating the conversation

    4. Rushing to ask about jobs

    5. Ignoring online networking

    6. Forgetting to add value

    7. Letting connections fade

DEEP DIVE
⭐ Featured Article

Build Your Network With A 6-Word Mindset

Networkers are told to ask "How can I help you?" What they are actually thinking is "How can you help me?" Why neither mindset is right.

We’ve heard all the sayings - ā€œGiver gainā€, ā€œGive without expectationsā€, and ā€œGive to getā€.

In a perfect world, I would agree.

But, unfortunately, we don’t live in a prefect world.

The world is filled with takers.

There is no equilibrium with the ā€œgive and takeā€ models in the modern world and this unbalance seems unfair.

I’ve told hundreds of professionals over the years, the key question in business networking is not just ā€œhow can I help you?ā€ (unless you want to be used by the takers)

And it’s certainly not ā€œhow can you help me?ā€ (although a lot of salespeople still ask it)

The key to networking can be summed up in 6-words. It’s a strategic question that is rarely asked - ā€œHow can we help each other?ā€

I know, that seems easier said than done.

But have you ever tried it?

Imagine if two professionals who just met both had that mindset?

No sales pitches.

No attempts to close a sale.

No hidden agendas.

Just two people trying to help each other.

That’s it.

My Hypothesis

I believe the majority of professionals who are paired up are willing to help each other if they had direction and structure.

To test this hypothesis, I have setup a short-term as well as a long-term project to gather data for further analysis.

The short-term experiment will be done over a span of 30-days on LinkedIn, the largest professional networking website in the world.

The longer-term experiment was tracked over the span of 365-days (throughout the 2024 year).

The Short Term Experiment

I’ve been experimenting on LinkedIn to strengthen my connections. I approach connections with a ā€œwin-winā€ proposition to test if this strategy if effective.

Below is the first professional I contacted.

Obviously, I will be targeting lesser-known professionals, as well, so the numbers are not skewed.

Still, you’ve got to think big.

Stay tuned!

EVENTS
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INSIGHTS
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