Building Designer Networking Groups (Dallas, TX)

Building a networking group can be a very satisfying and profitable undertaking. That pre-supposes a couple of crucial points:

• That you practice a form of networking far beyond mere, "card-swapping".
• That you have the right people in your network.

Understand What Networking Really Is

Networking done properly is not about showing up at the same dull meeting each week. The standard mindset requires you hand out your business cards and deliver your sound bite in the hopes that someone will take pity on you and refer someone your direction. By it's true name this is called, "a waste of time".

Align Yourself With Like-Minded People

Networking is about aligning yourself with like-minded people, in related industries, whom you might be in a position to help. Sound a bit odd? What's missing? Where's the WIFM, the What's-in-it-for-me?

"What do you mean I have to help them? My mother loves me! Why wouldn't they want to send me some work?"

                                                                                                                  --Faux-Networker

From my own experience I'd say that well over 80% of individuals attending any of the networking gatherings you can name have no real idea how to network properly and therefore don't do it. You need to align yourself with true networkers, and true networkers work their network. The rest are there for the chicken-du-jour and time away from the office. Work your network and find others that do the same. Be nice to the rest, though; you never know when they may finally figure it all out and you might need each other.

Alright, major precepts established, let's move on to the heart of the deal, shall we?

Plan Your Network And Network Your Plan

I'd wager five bucks that most networkers (and I'm talking about true networkers) build their networks much the same way it's always been done; without much thought or planning. They're just naturally good at interacting with other people, their networking gear is stuck in eternal over-drive, and quantity is the objective. It can develop into a mindless addiction to "meet the next one" instead of a controlled pursuit of quality contacts. And forget about a systematic, sincere program to provide support and assistance to their network, except when it's a no-brainer, right-in-front-of-them opportunity. Even the chicken-eaters will do that!

Having amassed a giant list of people you call your "network" (funny how creative we can be about an ugly box of business cards) it soon becomes apparent that most of them (all of them??) seem to have forgotten that they're in your network! Oh, there's a handful of them you see every week. A couple of them even seem genuinely interested in networking or at least willing to come find out how the yard-bird'll be cooked this week but so far they haven't sent you any business. Surely they're not waiting on you to make the first move, are they?

I confess I've done a bit of that myself and their is one major positive to that approach which I'll discuss later. But a guy can only eat so much rubber-chicken before you begin to feel like a real cluck. I've adopted a different strategy in the development of my network that I'd like to share with you.

Designer Network Development

Wouldn't you rather build a network of mutually profitable contacts without having to meet every registered voter on the planet? Or by attending just those meetings that afford you the network advancement opportunities you're looking for?

Then let's build our networks backwards!

Why not identify those individuals that you want in your group and go get 'em? Targeted networking vs. the spaghetti on the wall approach.  "Begin with the end in mind" as Steven Covey says in his book, "7 Habits of Highly Successful People". What I want is a manageable group of contacts with the following attributes:

• They must be like-minded in their networking fervor and objectives. (Serious, over-achievers, or what's the point?)
• They must work in a feeder-industry related to mine.
• I have to "click" with them. That means we work well together and I like them. God bless 'em all, but life's too short to have to put up with unhappy, miserable, people.

Effective Networkers Identify Influential Contacts in Related Feeder-Industries

The next step is to identify those feeder-industries that can help you in your efforts. For example, Realtors sell houses to/for people who are undergoing a major life-change of some kind (birth, death, promotion, transfer, marriage, divorce, etc).  Health-care professionals, mortuary science personnel, human resource managers, pastors, and the local bartender or barber are positioned much better in their industries to know about these changes long before the Realtor does, and so, are in a position to refer that business to their Realtor friend, if they have a reason to do so. (fyi: that's the secret, for you with big ears to hear, listen up!)

Make a list of those "channels" then try and identify a couple of up-and-comers in each space who are trying to get somewhere. (You're going to try and help them get there and in turn they'll help you get anything you need!) Now do whatever you have to do as long as it's legal, moral, and ethical, to meet those people. That, too, is subject matter for another post. Just meet them any which way you can and begin the networking process.

Let's review.

• You now have 12-24, direct-contact, stuck-on-overdrive, megachievers who are going to be willing to help you get anything you need to build your dreams, because you're going to help them build theirs' first! That beats the bio-material out of a box full of chicken-eating, semi-retired, business card owners who will never, ever, get out of first gear.
• You have some of your time back that you would have spent on the faux-networkers. Not only will you have to spend less time with your smaller, hi-testosterone group, but you can afford to spend more time on them now since you'll no longer be discussing free-range chicken recipes with....anyone.
• You'll have access to your groups' contacts; contacts that will be of similar or greater ambition as your original group of 12-24. That's because orange trees bear oranges, apple trees beget apples, and so on. This kind of powerful, geometric, leverage will happen no matter the quality of your initial contacts, SO, what kind of fruit do you want growing in your network? Be careful what you pick, 'cause that's what you plant.
• You probably just shaved 5-10 years (probably more) off the time it would've taken to reach your network's critical mass, or tipping-point, in order to achieve network nirvana.

Make sense? What industries can feed business to yours? Who are the visible up-starts in each one, and why haven't you met 'em yet?