THE DREAM IN ACTION

In my post, how to get a job in a crap economy, we talked about building your network before you need them. I want to stress this point again and provide an example that you can use today in order to do this effectively. Building my network and learning from the people around me is really my most enjoyable part of being in business. I live the dream most days solely because the people I get to interact with on a daily basis.

So, the next, obvious questions is this, how do I grow my network early? Well, there are many ways, some better than others. You could work for free (effective but not glamorous), email stalk or spam the person (sure to annoy people and lose you friends), or you could send that arbitrary, “I have a question” email (which gets ignored more often than brussels sprouts on a child’s dinner plate).

Helping is the Best Way to Network

Helping someone out is simply the best way to get to know them when they may not otherwise have time for you. Anyone who is successful has a full plate of responsibilities and projects that they are working on. If you first prove yourself to be competent, nobody will turn down the offer to help them out. Here is just one way you can help some one out. Be the middle man & help someone else network!

A few weeks ago I received an email from a friend asking me if I could introduce them to a CEO friend of mine. I told them that because I had just asked my CEO friend a favor I would have a to wait a week or two. It’s important to respect peoples time, and although I wanted to help, I was careful not to abuse my relationship with the CEO friend. After a few weeks I happily sent an email on behalf of the requesting friend to the CEO friend with an introduction. I was confident that this introduction would be mutually beneficial and I knew both people enough to trust that their meeting would only benefit me. I wasn’t putting either of my relationships on the line by introducing the two of them.

Helping people network when you don’t need anything from them is a great way to get their help when you do. If you want to help out and build your network before you need it, here is an email script of how to do it.

Example Script of  a Middle Man Networking Email

Names changed to protect peoples privacy…

Subject: Introduction to Jeff Startup

Doug,

Please meet Jeff Startup. Jeff is in his MBA program at University of Chicago and has been assigned to talk with the founder of a 1mm net startup. I thought of you first and thought it would be a great opportunity for you two to meet. Jeff works on my team here at Agency XYZ and runs a few major Finance initiatives, I’m excited for you two to get to know one another.

Jeff,

Doug, has given me some great advice and encouragement on the entrepreneurial side of things and runs a very exciting business in Success Inc.. They’ve grown faster than others who’ve attempted similar models and their expertise in the ‘being awesome’ space and motivating attitudes are credited.

Doug was recently written about in Forbes (http://www.forbes.com/article-link-here) and often post to their company blog (http://blog.successinc.com/).

I hope this relationship proves to be fruitful for both of you and hope we speak soon.
Cheers,

Ryan Graves
Founder/Author
THE DREAM IN ACTION.com

###

I can’t stress enough how important it is to build your network before you need them! What other methods have you used to build your network before your job search began? How has a strong network helped you in the past?

image via aspidistra