How to Get to the Top of Your Field

Networking Magic for Professional Speakers

Your business depends on establishing a good rapport with your audience. Your business also depends on you having an audience. You can be the best orator since Cicero presented his cause to the Roman senate in the first century, but if you haven’t an audience, you’re no more than the proverbial one-hand clapping.

To be successful, you have to be visible, and getting highly paid speaking engagements is more about whom you know than what you know. This is where networking comes in. I believe in the magic that happens with high-quality networking. When you surround yourself with the best people, you naturally attract the best engagements. Effective networking can do more for your business than any accumulation of expertise or polishing of your speaking skills. Learn to network well and you’ll wonder why you ever thought getting new business was hard.

What is networking?

Networking is the process of building and maintaining relationships. Effective networking involves surrounding yourself with the most caring, outstanding, intelligent, creative, and successful people; then actively building mutually supportive and beneficial relationships with each one of them. It’s not quantity, but the quality that counts in networking.

Networking means forging deep bonds as you develop a team that will support your efforts. Networking becomes magical when there is an unspoken exchange of goodwill and generosity between you and your network as well as between members of your network to each other. Goodwill is the foundation for making great contacts and generosity is the soul of networking. With generosity comes warmth, kindness, and a genuine delight in providing help.

All relationships, including and especially networking relationships, start with you. Ask yourself, “What do I have to offer others?” and “What help do I want or need from others?” Networking is reciprocal. It is based on the idea that “If you help me, I’ll help you”. You can’t always be the connection in relationships; you must also be the connector. It’s a give and take relationship, where the best networkers give more than they take.

The best networkers delight in connecting the best people with each other. They are matchmakers, always on the lookout for opportunities to connect quality people with other quality people.

Your first step in building an effective network is to find the best people and begin introducing them to each other. Create a comprehensive list of things people want or need: doctors, lawyers, parks, schools, and restaurants. Recognize that the best often associate with or hire the best. Carefully screen anyone you add to your list to ensure the quality of your network.

Your relationships hinge on the quality of the connections that are forged. If you want excellence in your network, turn to those who do things excellently and introduce them to each other. The real magic of networking kicks in when you build relationships with the most outstanding people.

Building your networking relationships

The best networks are multi-dimensional. Rather than think of your network as strictly your target market, peers, or colleagues, think broadly and inclusively. Your network should radiate out in all directions and include top experts in areas that differ from and complement your skills. Imagine the World Wide Web, only with a personal touch. Successful networkers derive more joy from building relationships than from the ultimate increase in their businesses. They build their network on a foundation of enthusiasm and passion, which cannot be forced.

Create a list of at least four or five people whom you consider the best at what they do. Adding these people to your network will increase the diversity of your network and increase the value of your network. Regardless of whom you think you can or can’t reach, set your sights high. Wonderful, marvelous, greater than expected bonuses occur when you let your friends in on your network, and especially when you let the world in. Inform your network partners and friends about your needs and allow them to help.

To build great networks, you need great people. Include on your list the best lawyers, doctors, dentists, accountants, dry cleaners, hair stylists, massage therapists, coaches, writers, computer specialists, and any other service you’ve ever had occasion to use. If you don’t think they’re the best, expand your search to include the best people in each industry. Ask people who routinely use a service who they’d recommend. Then, ask those people whom they’d recommend for other services.

Tapping into the magic of networking

Networking can be a magical, joyful experience. First, prepare by clearly identifying your purpose — what you want and need. Clarity of purpose opens the door to possibility. People know who you are and what you want with absolute certainty.

See nothing but possibility in everyone you meet. Every encounter you have with someone new or someone in your network is an opportunity to create magic. Then, magic spills out from your generosity in these encounters and from your gratitude for every connection you make and every person you meet.

Aim high in your networking strategies. You always risk getting less than you want if you stop short of your ultimate dreams. Make your request known by getting out there and playing big. Take immediate and decisive action with every chance meeting or planned encounter.

Once you are in action, playing big, giving, and receiving on a regular basis, the true magic of networking will happen in the form of new friends, higher quality associates, and more opportunities than you’ve ever had. Think big, play big, and fall in love with giving to those in your network. No matter what happens, you’ll always have this tight network of friends at your side.

Jill Lublin — (Pronounced Loob-Lynn)

Jill Lublin is an international speaker on the topics of Radical Influence, Publicity, Networking, Kindness and Referrals. She is the author of 4 Best Selling books including Get Noticed…Get Referrals (McGraw Hill) and co-author of Guerrilla Publicity and Networking Magic. Her latest book, Profit of Kindness went #1 in four categories. Jill is a master strategist on how to position your business for more profitability and more visibility in the marketplace. She is CEO of a strategic consulting firm and has over 25 years’ experience working with over 100,000 people plus national and international media. Jill teaches a virtual Publicity Crash Course, and consults and speaks all over the world. She has spoken on many stages with luminaries such as Tony Robbins. She also helps authors to create book deals with major publishers and agents, as well as obtain foreign rights deals. Visit publicitycrashcourse.com/freegift and jilllublin.com

Twitter:http://twitter.com/JillLublin