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Photo: Rinkos
The other morning I attended an entrepreneurs breakfast. It was a chance for people to talk about their company, any challenges they might be facing, and offer help to others who might be facing similar problems. A networking event to be sure, but a bit more laid back than, say, a venture capital meetup or job fair event. If you know any entrepreneurs, you know they LOVE to talk about their projects and hear other people’s ideas, and yours truly is no exception.
So, it’s a laid back event, I could probably just show up on time and offer advice where possible, right? No. NO – wasted opportunity! First, I’m not the best at meeting people. I mean, I’m outgoing enough and do fine in social situations, but I need to work on “getting myself out there.” I think it’s a residual loathing for shameless (but successful) self-promoters – part disgust at how they are so exhibitionist and self-involved, but also part jealousy that they’re so good at it, and do so well as a result of it. And, I’m TERRIBLE with names. You have no idea, but I guess I could be worse (count how many kids he has under age 4).
That’s why I wasn’t going into this event cold. I mean, I saw the attendee list on the organizer’s website, and there were only about 20-30 attendees, why wouldn’t I look up who they were and find out some more information before the meeting? We all know being a stalker has its perks, and this is a perfect example.
So I did a good deal of research on the people who would be attending the breakfast. I clicked, read through, created accounts, and sent many of them an email, mentioning something I found interesting about their site, and introducing myself and ApplyMate.
This networking strategy was three-fold: First, I was forced to look at their faces, their names, social network profiles, and their websites. Connecting all those pieces of information with people’s faces is a huge advantage when networking and trying to remember names. It’s using association on multiple, meaningful levels, firmly encoding the information, rather than trying to pull off something like this sexist, racist, and awesome pneumonic trick.
Result: I can still picture the names and faces of everyone I met or talked to at that meeting. Seriously. Now, granted, it wasn’t that many people, but I have family members whose names I can’t remember, so this is remarkable for me.
Second part of the networking strategy was a mild form of flattery. I showed an interest in what they were working on, and people love that (especially entrepreneurs, myself included). This wasn’t faked interest either – there were some really cool companies and sites among the attendees (some of which I hope to feature on this blog), and I genuinely wanted to know them BEFORE walking into the meeting. Otherwise we’d waste so much time just having them explain their site or service at the meeting.
Result: I was much better positioned to comment and offer suggestions than people who had to learn everything about the site first. Plus, people told me flat out how cool they thought it was that I took the time to look up their project and get to know them beforehand. So they felt complimented and I felt prepared.
Third part of the networking strategy was a bit of a reversal of parts one and two. I got a chance to introduce myself and my site – ideally making both of us more memorable.
Result: I had a great response to my emails with people saying “Thanks for reaching out, make sure we connect tomorrow,” and “Oh, yeah, I know you, you’re the guy who emailed me, great to meet you!” There was one woman who had a few really cool ecommerce sites who I emailed but didn’t get to connect with at the breakfast. Then, as I’m walking out the door afterward, she stops her conversation with someone else, and yells in my direction, “Wait, are you Tim? Hi! I’m so-and-so, great to meet you!” (Don’t worry, I remember her name, just not revealing) I didn’t even see her, but she saw and knew me!
So, doing homework and studying up on people and companies – especially ones you want to work for, is something so easy to do, but also time consuming and therefore easy to skip. Had I neglected this legwork, which did take a lot of time and made me a bit uncomfortable, my experience would have been severely diminished. Instead I had a great time, met some very talented, smart people, and put my best foot forward. This turned out to be a great combination of new networking and old networking, and I strongly recommend a similar approach.
