MBA1536 How To Build Your Network Despite a Pandemic

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Hey O.

Welcome to the hundred dollar MBA show. Powerful business lessons on the daily every single day whether daily 10 minute business lessons for the real world. I'm your host, your coach, your teacher Omar Zenholm. I'm also the co founder of the $100 MBA a complete business training and community online. And in today's episode you will learn.

How to build your network.

Despite a pandemic, a lot of people are homebound.

We're sheltered in place, we're not traveling.

Much because of COVID 19 and this.

Could be a real challenge for us for those who want to build their professional network. We all understand we can't build the business alone. We got to build it with the right people. The know how people that can make introductions for us, refer people to us. This is imperative. But but when you can't travel, you can't go to conferences, you can't go to events. How can you build your network from home?

And that's what we're going to be talking about in today's episode.

We're going to take you down a few strategies that will give you a.

Clear cut assignment, a clear cut plan.

On how to build your network from today. Regardless of your restrictions in your country. You're going to love this one.

So let's get into it. Let's get down to business.

No one builds a successful business alone. I can attribute many of the successes I've had in the past simply by.

The people I know, the people that I've been introduced to, the people that I've gotten to know, the introductions, the.

Doors that were open, the chances to.

Really get a chance to speak on people's platforms. My network really has helped me become who I am today. So I want to invest and reinvest in my network constantly so I can.

Keep reaping the benefits. So, but how do you do that.

When we're going through this crazy time during COVID 19? You can't go to conferences, you can't go to events, you can't meet people, can't have meetup dinners or founder dinners. How do we make this happen and not only maintain, but build our network from home?

This is what we're going to be.

Discussing in today's episode.

So, number one, what I want to stress is your network is only as.

Strong as how frequently you speak to them.

Many of us know people have met people, but we have lost ties.

We haven't really touched base with them.

We haven't seen what's up with them. We haven't seen a way that we can help them. And therefore our network has gotten weaker. A lot of us don't need to meet new people. We just need to strengthen the relationships we already have, even if that relationship.

Is just knowing them off Twitter or.

Knowing them because they met them once at an event. So the first thing you're going to do is you're going to write down a list of 90 names. This is a strategy that I learned.

From my buddy Jordan Harbinger from the Jordan Harbinger show, who is a master in networking.

And this is an exercise you can.

Do today from home, regardless of a pandemic or not.

And this is really, really good. So you're going to write down a list of 90 names. These are the 90 top people you want in your circle, people that inspire.

People that you want to work with.

In the future, people that you want to get to know at a deeper level. These could be people you already know, that you want to maintain a relationship with. These are going to be people that you haven't met per se, but you have their contact. You may be following them on Twitter.

May you have them on WhatsApp.

And you want to strengthen that relationship. You want to really become closer.

So you're going to write a list of 90 names, and your job is.

To allocate every day of the week.

10 minutes to build and strengthen your network.

All you got to do in those 10 minutes is message three of those people on the list every day, three people. Now, this message is super, super simple. It doesn't have to be a long winded email. It doesn't have to be, you know, a professionally shot video. This could literally be a text message, a hey, what's up On Twitter, a one liner where it's like, hey, how you been? Haven't spoken to you in a while. Reach out.

I'd love to know how everything's going.

This could be, hey, just saw that you posted a new project you're working on.

How can I support you? How about I share it with my audience?

This could be, hey, I just saw that your daughter just turned 5 years old.

Congrats, happy birthday from me and my family.

You're simply touching base.

Why?

Because if you do not touch base.

As you know, it gets harder and harder to reach out to them when you want to build that relationship, when you want to work with them.

And the reason why we do three people a day is because if you do three people a day for 30 days every month, you're touching base with that list of 90 people. This is a very simple exercise. You can have a spreadsheet right on your phone on Google sheets. You can call it up and then.

Anytime in 10 minutes.

You can link it to your breakfast time, you can link it to your lunchtime. 10 minutes, quick WhatsApp message to this person. Maybe a text message on this person, maybe a Twitter message on that one. The point here is, is that you don't need to know their phone number. You can contact them in multiple ways with a one liner just to stay in touch.

Now you might be saying, hey, Omar.

I can't say what's up every single month. What do I do? Well, ask them a question. Maybe something that you're struggling with, something that you're experiencing. Or better yet, this strategy is amazing. If you know somebody on your list.

Of 90 people that might benefit or.

They can benefit from that connection. It's a mutual, beneficial kind of relationship. Hey, you're into YouTube, you're building a YouTube channel. I know a guy, I know a.

Gal that really built their YouTube channel recently, in the last year, to a.

Hundred thousand subscribers, you should connect. So connect the people on your list. Be a connector. This is huge, making introductions. By making introductions, you encourage others to introduce you to other people. I do this all the time.

And the way I do it is.

I reach out to the first person I say, hey, I think this person is a great person to get to know. Would you like an introduction? And I do the same thing with the other person that I'm introducing them to. If I get a mutual yes, I make the introduction. And this is a simple one liner email, very easy. Or even a message on WhatsApp or.

Any other kind of service.

So the point here is that by being a connector, you could do that.

One month, connect them to somebody new, they're going to connect you.

You're going to be top of mind. Hey, Omar introduces me to a lot of people. Next time I think of somebody who.

Might be good for him, I'm going to make an introduction.

I learned this from my buddy, John Corcoran. John Corcoran is the ultimate connector. He introduced me to so many people.

And I'm always trying to find ways to repay him with introductions, introduce him to people that I know. But unfortunately he knows everybody I know, but I still keep trying.

What else can you do to build your network and to build new relationships? Well, number one, there's tons of forums, there's tons of Facebook groups, there's tons of slack groups that you can join. Just Google it, right? Facebook groups for X, for marketers, for business coaches. You can google different kinds of forms or you can join a paid group, which I recommend, like Fizzle Co, one of our sponsors.

You go to Fizzle Co mba, you.

Can get a free trial and they have a great thriving entrepreneurship forum. You want to join our Facebook group as a $100 MBA member? Join the $100 MBA. There's plenty of places where you can.

Join a group of like minded people and connect online.

This is where you do your hard.

Work, your homework, you build that relationship online. So when we can travel and you meet them at conferences, you've already established.

A relationship that's solid. Now in my opinion, we all have about 20 people that we can write.

Down their names, we know them in our head, that we're closest to in our network. These are the people you reach out for, advice people that you have their phone numbers. You just text message them, call them at any time, you facetime them. These people are kind of your core group. Okay, it's time to double down and really work hard on strengthening that group as well. You have time on your hands, you're at home.

Set up a weekly call with them.

Maybe just a five minute call.

What's up?

Hey, how you doing? How can I help?

Better yet, if you want, you can just set up one call and have a group call like a mastermind group. This is a great time for that where you help each other out. Go deep on the relationships that you.

Already have and have strengthened.

Double down on them. Why?

Because when you get out of this crisis, when you get out of COVID.

19, these are the things they're going to remember. Who connected us together? Who's a person who insisted that we.

Speak and we help each other out?

Who is in touch with me? Double, triple down on those relationships that you love.

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Relationships are key in business, but you.

Just can't take them for granted. You have to nurture them. You have to stay in contact with them.

It takes effort.

You can't just message people or get in touch with people when you feel like it.

You have to have a system.

And this is why I wanted to give you a plan. I wanted to pass on the plan that I learned from Jordan Harbinger.

One last piece of advice. If you're doing regular calls or you're catching up with people on video, make it fun. There's no reason to make it so.

Serious or with an agenda and to do's why don't you have dinner together via video call via FaceTime, have a.

Coffee or a drink together and just catch up on just how you're doing, what's going on in your life? How's business? These are the things we remember. If I look back at the closest.

Relationships I have with people in business.

It'S not only business.

We went on trips together, we went on vacations together.

We've had meals and dinners and all.

That kind of stuff and that really seals the relationship.

So let's do that.

Even though we're not in person, you can still add value to that relationship with some really good valuable time together.

Guys.

I hope that helps and I hope you loved today's episode. If you did, let me know in an itunes rating and review. We read every single review. We'd love to hear what you think of the show and it's also a great way to share with other people while you love listening to the show.

So you can encourage other listeners to.

Subscribe to our podcast. Speaking of subscribe, don't forget to hit that subscribe button so you get our next episode automatically. It's the easiest way to get the best value from the 100 RMBA, of course, for free every day right on your device. Before I go, I want to leave you with this.

One of my favorite apps for staying.

In touch with people you mentioned WhatsApp and Twitter and email, all that kind of stuff is Voxer. Voxer is actually a really cool like walkie talkie recorded audio message app. A lot of people are on Voxer already. If not, you can invite your friends. What I love about Voxer is that.

There is no excuse. It's so simple to just record a.

One minute message really quick to anybody.

Really quick.

So this exercise of reaching out to.

3 people a day would take 3.

Minutes rather than 10 minutes. Highly recommend you check out Voxer. I bought the actually premium Voxer app which is $30 a year. Well worth it because I can have unlimited length of recordings as well as saves, all the history and all that kind of stuff. So that's always worth it. Thank you so much for listening and I'll check you in tomorrow's episode freeride Friday. I'll see you then. Take care.

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