How to Harness Your Mind and Make Critical Business Connections Now

If you're looking for ways to make more and better connections, then this video is for you. What's up, Believe Nation? It's Evan. My one word is believe, and I believe in you. I believe you have amazing talent inside you that I want to see explode out onto the world. And one of the things that I get asked a lot is, how do I make connections? I know that I can't do this business on my own. I need a team of people. I need references. I need customers. I need people talking about me. How do I make those connections? And so today I'm gonna share with you my 7 ways on how entrepreneurs can make connections. 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1. Way number 1 is to pick offline or online. I think it really leans in heavily on what you're good at. I much prefer the online versus the offline. I'm not a fan of going up to people and shaking their hands and talking to people at the airport and people next to me and striking up a conversation with the person in the elevator next to me. So it's understanding what you're really good at, what your personality lends you to, and working with that instead of fighting against it. Instead of making you a fantastic networker or salesperson if that's not who you are, or instead of fighting to make you a fantastic online marketer if you have no interest in that. Then it's much better to stand on the legs that you have and go far and run fast than to try to get some new legs and do something that you have no interest in. And so I'm gonna share with you in my other 6 points 3 strategies for offline, 3 strategies with online, and I would highly recommend you audit yourself at the beginning to figure out which one you wanna lean in on more, 'cause that's who you are, because that's where you'll have ultimate success. So let's start off with the offline connections. Way number 2 is gonna be attend industry events. And by industry events, I mean the industry that you're in as well as the industry that your customers are in. So as an example, if you are a website designer and you're trying to get more website design business, one would be attending website design industry conferences to meet, not competitors as much as meet partners, meet people that I might be able to form alliances with, make some kind of connection with. That could help me scale my business, but also looking at who are my core customers and where are they hanging out. So as an example, if I am trying to target florists, if I am the website designer for florists, that's what I really want to go all in on, then I'd be looking at any floral conventions that are happening inside my city, outside the city potentially to travel to, because you want to be spending as much time around your customers as well as potential partners as possible. Way number 3 is speak at events. This is something that I much prefer to do. As an introvert, I don't like going up and introducing myself and striking up conversations. So I get invited to speak at events because I'm known as an expert in my industry. I speak at events, and then after I speak, people come up to me and they ask me questions and they want to find a way to work with me. And so whatever event is coming up in your industry— again, if you are a web designer, you could speak. If you have talent, you got skills, Every time they do an event, they put out a call for speakers. You could be a speaker at that event. Or again, in the flower industry, if that's who your customers are, you could put on a seminar there about how to build a great website for florists. So anytime there's this convention coming up, I would look at not just going as an exhibitor, not just going as somebody to network with people and shake hands and just somebody who pays to get in, but trying to be on there as an expert, as a speaker, as a presenter, because it's a great way to be a magnet and attract people to you. Way number 4 is attract attention. As an introvert, what I love doing in networking situations, since I'm not gonna go up and talk to people, is I try to attract attention to myself so that people want to talk to me. So an easy way to do it is by being a speaker and you're on stage and afterwards people come and talk to you. Before, nobody may know who you are, but after they wanna take pictures with you or ask you questions or exchange emails and get to know you. The other way I do it is if I'm not speaking at an event, I just go, I wear my branded stuff, I wear a t-shirt or my hoodie that has my name on it, and I go to the busiest room and I sit right in the middle and I start doing social media stuff. I start replying to people on social media. I think the worst thing you can do is know that you need to talk to people and then just sit in the corner, the corner where there's nobody and you never get any attention and nobody comes and talks to and you spend your whole day doing that, you're not gonna get the connections that you're striving for. So I go to the middle, I have my branded stuff, and I start working. Because when I'm working, when I'm answering people on social media, it's just Instagram videos, Twitter videos, Snapchat videos, responding to people. When I'm doing that, I'm also projecting energy. I'm also in a much more positive state than if I'm like this, trying to do email, I'm just to myself. This makes it look like I don't wanna be disturbed. Where if I'm doing things like this and I have an abundance of energy, then on the breaks, people want to come and talk to me. And so some people, I'm fortunate, and some people recognize the brand now, they know who I am, they recognize the face, they're subscribers, they've seen the videos, and they strike up a conversation. But if you don't have a brand yet, then I'd find some way to make myself stand out that still relates to my brand somehow. So maybe you're wearing a crazy hat, or a different hoodie, or sweater, or different pants, or shoes. Something that allows you to express who you are, but doesn't just fit into the norm of what everybody else is doing there. And so if I had these furry slippers that tied into my website design brand somehow, I would wear those furry slippers, I would be in the middle of a big room, and I would be doing, with confidence, my Instagrams, my Snapchats, my Twitter, my responses. And if you don't have fans yet, you don't have a following yet, it doesn't matter. Look at trending topics on Twitter, and then just start responding. Look at trending photos on Instagram and click the 3 dots and just make videos for those people who created that content. You don't have to be responding to your fans yet, but you're projecting value out, and then I see you as this confident person who has this little crazy thing going on, and I want to come and introduce myself so that you're again a magnet for people. So those are 3 for offline. Let's now get to the 3 for online strategies to make connections. Way number 5 is to use influencers. Influencers can be a great way to make connections. If you know them, then they can pass your name on to a whole bunch of other people. So for me, I started with Tim Schmarr and Derral Eves when I was starting my YouTube channel, and I looked up to them. They were the experts, and I loved everything they were creating. I was, and this is key guys, I was an important part of their community first. First, I didn't just spam Tim or Derral and say, "Hey, can we do something together? You're an influencer, I'd love to work with you," right? Don't do that, that's the worst thing ever. Be a part of their community. Be somebody who they would recognize when you wrote to them. So I watched all of Tim's videos, I watched all of Derral's videos, the new ones and the old ones, and I started leaving comments. I was really active in the comments on their videos. Pretty much every new video they put out, I would leave comments. And maybe multiple comments, maybe get involved in a discussion and try to add value to the other people. Who are leaving comments. And the more you do that, the more they're going to recognize you. And that's the point. You want to be a known quantity. And then when I reached out to do a collaboration, I can make a video on their channel, I did multiple collaborations with them, they know me. They recognize my face. They're willing to take that email. They're willing to have a conversation. I still need to bring them value somehow, right? They're not just going to put me up on their channel. But they're willing to have the conversation because they recognize my face and they appreciate all the value that I've brought them. Them. So there's a lot of people on this channel who leave occasional comments, and honestly, because of the size, I won't know who all of you are. But there are some super fans who are on every video, who are on every live chat, who are always asking great questions, who are always sharing my stuff, who are always thanking me and always part of the community, who I've made moderators and administrators. If any of those people ask me for something, whether it's, can you review my book, can you check out my website, can you give me feedback on something, Can we do a collaboration? It's not a guarantee that I'm gonna put them up on my channel, but I'm gonna do my best to help them out because of all the value that they brought me. And so that's the key. Look at the influencers that you need to connect with who will help spread your message for you, who can give you key introductions. Provide as much value to them first as possible so that you think you will be a known quantity when you reach out, and then reach out with your ask, whatever it is that you're looking for to get their help with. Then you reach out. It's not a guaranteed yes, but that's how you build the strategy. Way number 6 is talk about trending topics. On almost every social media platform, they show you what the trending topics are, and it allows you to be able to join the conversation, inject your own personality, your opinions, your suggestions, your advice, your feelings on what people are talking about. So Twitter, as an example, if you go to the Twitter homepage, it always shows you what the trending topics are for that country. You could then create content around each of them. Now, it may not relate to what you're interested in, it may not relate to your business somehow, and that's fine. You may not have an opinion. Don't force it if you don't have it. But if you have something to say, joining the trending conversation will allow people to find you and learn about you. And they say, "Ah, I agree with that person. I wonder what else they do." And then they follow you on Twitter, and then they subscribe to you on YouTube, and then they look they look at your website and they sign up for your email list and maybe they buy your product. The other way to do it is to look at trending videos that are happening on YouTube, as an example. And maybe you don't have the ability to create a trending video for yourself, but you could go to those videos and get involved in the discussion again. See what's happening, what's trending in your industry and in general, and if you have a perspective, then you can create content or join in the discussion around that topic. So other people who are also talking about it will notice you, and some people will disagree with you and hate your point of view, and that's great. You don't want those people in your life. They won't follow you, they won't go to your website, they won't care about you. And others will look at that, and they may not be even writing, they may just be following the conversation. They'll look at what you're saying and say, "Huh, I like what that person has to say," and they'll be more curious about you, and then they'll reach out. So again, we're using online to be a magnet to us and bring the right people to us. To us. And finally, way number 7 is creating powerful content. So now we're not just creating the tweet or just responding to other people's messages, we're actually out there creating powerful content ourselves. One of the best ways that I make connections is this, is my YouTube channel. I've got a million plus followers. All of my speaking gigs, all of my brand deals, all of the outreach that I get, for the most part, is through YouTube. And if it comes from Instagram or Twitter, it's usually because they were first a subscriber to me on YouTube, and then they decided to send me a DM on Twitter or Instagram. And so by making content, and now you don't have to look at me as the example, you don't have to be making 3 videos a day, you don't have to have a million subscribers, but making content that you're proud of, picking a platform that fits for you, and then making content that you're proud of on a consistent basis to expose your message, to show yourself as an expert, as a thought leader, in what you're doing, and people who resonate with it will want to do some kind of business with you, will want to form connections with you. People who reach out to me are the ones who love the Believe message. They love helping entrepreneurs. They want to be a part of the mission that I'm on, in part because I try to be positive and optimistic and share Believe in every video that I make. If you don't like Believe and don't like helping entrepreneurs, chances are you're not watching very many of these videos, right? Chances are you tuned out already. You saw my face and clicked off and ban me from coming up in your stream again, right? That's probably what would happen. And that's fine because those people I won't work really well with. But the ones who love the message and love helping entrepreneurs and want to have a big impact and love the mission, they're going to be the ones who reach out to me. So again, it's about being a magnet, using awesome content to drive people in. They self-select, they do all the work of selecting in instead of me reaching out to try to see if somebody's interested. and then it forms a lot of connections and the cycle repeats itself. Instead of me following up with people, which I never do, I hate following up with people, instead of following up, I use that time to then create more content to be an even stronger magnet to bring more people, the right people, to me. So that's my advice on the 7 ways to make connections. I would love to know from you which one was your favorite, which one are you going to try to apply somehow in your life or business. Did I miss an 8, 9, 10 that you want to add to the list? Leave it down in the comments below. I'm really looking forward to hearing what you have to say. Now, I made this video because Yuko Q Toku asked me to. If there's a topic you'd like me to cover in a future video, check out the request line in the description. You can go and cast your vote. Finally, I want to give a quick shout out to Cloris Kylie. Cloris, thank you so much for picking up a copy of my new book, The Top 10 Rules of Success, posting it online on your Twitter, taking that awesome picture. I love seeing the smile. I really appreciate all your support, and I hope you enjoy the book. So thank you guys again for watching. I believe in you. I hope you continue to believe in yourself and whatever your one word is. Much love. I'll see you soon. So let me give you the one word secret to happiness. One word. This is all you need to be happy. The most important word ever. If you had to think of one word that's most important to you or that sums you up or that would be kind of like a little beacon, Hey Believe Nation, if you want to know what the most important one word is for Tony Robbins, Gary Vaynerchuk, Oprah Winfrey, will.i.am, and Howard Schultz, I have a very special secret video for you. Check the description for details.