Guerrilla Networking

PREFACE

Networking does NOT mean ‘meeting people.’

That definition is just plain wrong, and it’s no wonder why so many entrepreneurs feel lost when it comes to networking—which should actually be very easy.  You see, networking should be easy, and is easy.  The key to your success simply lies in which definition of networking you subscribe to.

Networking does not mean ‘meeting people.’  Actually, it means, ‘becoming the type of person that other people want to meet.’

For example, take some of the big movers and shakers in business, such as Bill Gates, Tony Hawk, and Avril Lavigne.  They have taken the power of networking to its highest level: people want to meet them.

Ask yourself this question: would people stand in line for hours to meet with either of these three entrepreneurs?  Yes!  Why?  The answer is simple.  They know how to network, for they became the type of person that other people want to meet.

This same networking principle applies to dating, friendship, and yes, small business.  Why work your butt off to meet people when you can put that same energy into becoming an interesting person within your field, and then, benefit again by having the same people you want to meet… come up to you?

Herein lies the power of this principle: you kill two birds with one stone.  While your boring competition—who no one wants to meet—is out there desperately trying to meet people day after day, you, on the other hand, are actively putting your efforts into becoming as cool as humanly possible.  By diversifying your offerings, by becoming a leader in your field, and by putting together a knock out marketing angle, you’ll end up taking your industry by storm.

The result: your competition, the press, and customers alike end up at your doorstep, trying to meet you.

To the uninformed, this public interest might appear to be a lucky fluke.  You, however, would know that it was actually the result of your persistent hard work, and the fruit of your foolproof guerrilla networking plan finally reaping its reward: you became the type of person/business that other people wanted to meet and work with.

If you continually try to ‘meet people’, especially without changing and improving your marketing angle along the way, you’re wasting time.  Meeting people can do nothing for you if you yourself have nothing interesting to offer.

Taken further, you might have noticed that no one wants you to tell them how wonderful you are; people want to discover and find that out for themselves.  And therein lies another key to guerrilla networking: your accomplishments are not as impressive if you have to tell people about them yourself.

Bottom line: if you’re playing your networking cards right, and are out there doing interesting things in the public eye, people should be flocking to meet you.  You should be receiving emails, phone calls, and letters from those who think you (and your company) are so cool, that they want to do business with you.  If not, it’s because you’re not memorable enough to warrant such action, in which case, you better re-evaluate your guerrilla networking strategy immediately!

So remember: networking does not mean meeting people; it means becoming the type of person other people want to meet.  Become as cool as possible, get your brand out there as much as possible, and let us find out for ourselves how cool you are. 

In other words, don’t necessarily try to meet us; the idea is to make us want to meet you.  And if you’re reading this book, yes, you’re probably someone who we want to meet.

-Monroe & Jay