A good year to grow who you know π³
I'm on a mini-mission to make connecting with others sacred again.
Wondering what broke along the way that we're so uncomfortable with βnetworkingβ and irritated by beggy DM slides, while there is so much to play with in-between.
I'm also convinced hustle and burnout have a lot to do with doing too much of our work online, optimising ourselves out of the magic of connecting IRL and building reciprocal relationships that support our work.
Connections that bring in opportunities that naturally build overtime, each one rippling into the next. Slower, maybe, a little more effort, perhaps, but sustainably and incrementally contributing to the future of what you do, hell yes.
CONNECTIONS = OPPORTUNITIES = LONGEVITY
When you grow your connections in the right way, so do your opportunities.
AI can't do this bit for you and posting more on socials in the hopes more people will join or your dream brand partner will see it isn't gonna fly.
We have so much more agency in this than the algorithm.
The magic here is that it's you who gets to do it, and it won't cost you a penny if you don't want it to. So where do we start? We map, match, and grow from there.
CREATING PATHS: WHERE TO BEGIN
Progress Prompts; Grab a pen and dive in βοΈ
βοΈ GROWTH MAPPING
Where are you at in your work rn?
What areas of your do you want to grow?
What do you want to bring to life?
What format? i.e. Collabs, events, community partners, residencies
Who do you want to reach?
π± COMMUNITY MATCHING - SOWING SEEDS IN THE SWEET SPOT
Getting clear on the above will help you identify the community cross-over sweet spots. Where aligned interests, values and locations overlap. This is where it's at.
Who do you want to work with? The invitation is to dream big and everyday here.
Clues to look for; content themes, comments on their social posts and what people are connecting with, and how many followers you have in common (the higher the better).
Building your List; I like to tackle this in three areas.
#1 Who do you already know who can help you in those directions?
#2 Who are the big dream, harder to reach peeps?
#3 Then we fill in the middle.
You're going to want to use; Social, LinkedIn, Email Hunter and your best Miss Marple efforts on the contact deets, or get some support from your friendly neighbourhood PR π
β»οΈ MAKING THE CONNECTION
Get clear on what you are reaching out to them with and how and don't just make it about you.
Intention, heart and humaness go a long way.
Get personal, make it easy for them to respond. Move beyond the DM slide unless you really have to and I mean really have to.
Make IRL a priority, way more memorable and the best way to build advocacy.
The easiest and most effective lift?
Invite them to something awesome you're already doing, ideally the thing you want to do more of with the - a talk, an event, offer a session.
Lastly, a little note on reciprocity β»οΈ
Think about what you can do for them.
It's an energy exchange and abundance is in the gratitude.
π―ββοΈ BETTER TOGETHER
Want some support to grow you you know, get in touch.
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