Description
Highly Recommended Network Building Techniques
[00:00:00] That was a wonderful presentation cutting to the heart of success. What would you recommend as a good first step in networking for a 56-year-old solo practitioner, who has no network?
One thing I didn't touch upon today is a book and it's called, 'Never Send A Resume'. I liked that book. I've sent it to people who have lost jobs, and have brought up a lot of the same things that you have.
Even as solo practitioners, people aren't necessarily building networks. What they say in this book is that you're supposed to write down a list of a hundred plus people that you know. So, they could be friends, past acquaintances, people that you may not be in touch with, family, and others that you may have had some sort of personal or friendly relationships with in the past.
Just write all those people down. Most people can come up with about a hundred people that they know. Some people can come up with 200. This was taught a long time ago in a business generation class for law firms that I took. It was an in-depth class. This is about something similar and, Never Send A Resume was always given as a way to get business and find [00:01:00] jobs and so forth, as well.
Once you write down that list, you get in touch with those people. Make personal contact with a phone call or you meet them. Tell them that, you saw something that reminded you of them.
You don't talk about the fact that you're looking for work. You don't talk about the fact that you're looking for a job. You don't talk about anything. You just basically ask them about themselves and see how they're doing. Then, at some point, they'll ask you about yourself and then you tell them something along the lines of, I'm looking for a position or I'm doing this, or I'm just trying to get out there and meet people, and I hope you're doing well. Once you do that, people, a lot of times will just remember you. And, refer things to you. And, If they know of leads, even if they're not good contacts, they'll often reach out to you. They'll often tell you about those days.
People love providing people with leads.
There are some articles that I've also written, based on this. My blog site, www.harrisonbarnes.com talks about networking and there are some articles about that and teach what I'm talking about.
This is one of the things that I recommend. I do Zoom calls all day. I [00:02:00] like Zoom, but I also think that there's so much more you get when you meet people in person.
For networking. You need to write down people, and past colleagues and it leads to people who have leads and that's one way to network.
Another thing that's important also, learning how to be vulnerable.
When you're vulnerable, a lot of times, people will relate to you. People want to help vulnerable people. And, one of the problems with attorneys, most attorneys are afraid to be likable. You're afraid to show weakness with clients. You're afraid to show weakness to people at work. But, in your personal life and with friends and acquaintances, vulnerability goes a long way. And, it's something that I believe is very important, because, when people like you and they can see you as a human, then you become a lot more. If you tell people, what you're trying to do or any struggles you're going through, or you connect with them on a personal level, then, people typically will like you much more. And, that's a good way to network.
So networking is not just about being very personal in terms of your, being seen. It's also about being liked and people [00:03:00] like people that are vulnerable.
This is one of the things that I would recommend in terms of how you network. 56 years old, is by the way, not old. I know attorneys that are in their mid-eighties and still pounding away. You're halfway through your career.
There was one attorney that I knew and liked. He does this funny thing, where he sends this long letter every year. A long letter of about, 5 to 10 pages of what he's doing. He talks about, I don't know, anything. You can imagine his diet, his operations, kids, wars. He'll write up about anything. I get this thing every Christmas and I love it. Sometimes, he'll include a picture. I haven't even seen the guy in 20 years, but he sends to all these different people. And because of that, I always think of him. I and I did get him job interviews, and I have people talk to him and I've gotten him business and all this stuff, which is very funny because all he's doing, is sending freaking letters that he's probably sending to hundreds of other people every year.
And he's had a very distinguished career. He's done well. What's nice about his letters is they show [00:04:00] this vulnerability. He talks about himself. He talks about the mistakes he's made. When he got divorced and he met his new wife and he goes into a lot of things you normally wouldn't think someone would talk about in a letter, especially an attorney and it works.
The point is when you can be vulnerable and connect with people and people can see you for who you are, then that can help a lot. And it can make people want to see you.
One of the things that I've always done is I've had a personal blog and I write about personal things. I don't do it from a business standpoint. I do it because I've learned a lot of things myself, and I try to share them with others. Because, I think that I can help, sharing this with you, now. At the same time, when you learn to be vulnerable and get in touch with people who can help. Posting on social networks and things, connecting with people, or liking posts. All that in your personal life can carry over into your professional life.
