January 6, 2025 • 25 mins
Did you get everything you wanted and needed out of your networking efforts last year?
You probably know how important it is to set SMART goals, evaluate your results and decide what you want to start, stop or keep as you move forward in business. But how often do you do these thing with regards to your networking strategy?
In this episode, we’ll explore the importance of evaluating your networking efforts, and why it's essential to look beyond the referrals you got and the money you made.
We'll discuss:
• Questions to assess past networking experiences
• Evaluating tangible vs. intangible outcomes in networking
• Importance of consistency and engagement in networking
• Mindset's role in effective networking
• Actionable steps to reshape networking for the new year
Links & References:
Join us at our next PWR Virtual Speed Networking Event!
For even deeper connections, check out the Powerful Women Rising Community!
Learn more about Emily Aborn's podcast bundle here: https://emilyaborn.com/podcaster-bundles/
Loved the episode? Here are four ways you can show your support:
1. Buy me a coffee to show your appreciation!
2. Leave a five-star review
3. DM me on Instagram and let me know
4. Share it with a friend!
Connect with Your Host!
Melissa Snow is a Business Relationship Strategist dedicated to empowering women in entrepreneurship. She founded the Powerful Women Rising Community, which provides female business owners with essential support and resources for business growth.
Melissa's other mission is to revolutionize networking, promoting authenticity and genuine connections over sleazy sales tactics. She runs an incredible monthly Virtual Speed Networking Event which you can attend once at no cost using the code FIRSTTIME
She lives in Colorado Springs with two girl dogs, two boy cats and any number of foster kittens. She loves iced coffee, Taylor Swift, and Threads.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:04):
Welcome to Powerful Women Rising, a podcast for
female entrepreneurs ready to dobusiness their way.
Grab your coffee and join hostMelissa Snow, business
relationship strategist andfounder of the Powerful Women
Rising community, as sheinterviews industry experts and
shares insights on strategy,marketing, mindset and more.
(00:25):
Here you'll find the tools,strategies and inspiration you
need to feel empowered, takebold action in your business and
keep rising.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode
of Powerful Women Rising.
Yes, it is the new year, yes,this is the first episode that I
have recorded in a while and,yes, we have a new introduction
and cover art, because whywouldn't we?
For the new year, I just haveto give a shout out to my dear
(00:57):
friend, emily Aborn.
She's been a guest on thepodcast several times.
That's actually how I connectedwith her to begin with.
I have been on her podcastseveral times Content with
Character and she just launchedthis new offering that she is
doing because she has the bestvoice and she is doing an intro
and an outro for your podcast.
She also is a copywriter, soshe is helping you write the
(01:21):
description for your podcastepisode, helping you write the
description for your podcastepisode, identify your podcast
personality and all these othersuper cool things.
So I partnered with her and shedid it all for me and I love it
so much.
So if you have a podcast andyou want a little revamp, a
little zhuzh up this year, I amgoing to put her link in the
(01:43):
show notes.
Definitely reach out to her andyou will love it.
So, as I mentioned, this is thefirst episode of 2025 and the
first episode that I've put outin a little while.
Let's just address the elephantin the room.
I did not really intend to takea break over the holidays, but
they came and they went and herewe are, so it's actually really
(02:06):
interesting, given what Iwanted to talk about today on
the podcast, which isreevaluating your network
strategy for the new year andreally looking at what are the
things that you're doing thatare helpful and paying off and
what are some of the things thatmaybe you need to let go of.
And I've been thinking a lotabout this podcast over the past
couple weeks and the thingsthat I love about it, the things
(02:28):
that I don't love about it, whyI'm doing it, why I want to
keep doing it, why I don't wantto keep doing it.
I'm just being real with you.
It has nothing to do with howmuch I love you, because I adore
you, and every time I get amessage from one of you that's
like, oh my gosh, your podcast,it's so amazing, it helped me so
much, I'm like, okay, we'llkeep going, but this is real
(02:51):
right, this is business.
We do things that one day we'relike, oh my gosh, this is so
awesome, I love it so much, andthen a week later we're like
this is terrible, why am I stilldoing it?
And what I realized during thislittle break from the podcast
is that it's important to reallythink about why you're doing
something, especially in thisday and age of social media and
(03:15):
likes and followers and viewsand all of these things.
We can get so caught up in thosemetrics, like looking at how
many people have subscribed tothe YouTube channel and how many
downloads do I have on Appleand all of these things, and
it's like does any of thatreally matter?
Because I feel like that's thekind of stuff that we look at
(03:36):
and we're like oh, this isterrible, why am I still doing
it?
But does that really matterwhen you're getting emails from
people that are like oh my gosh,that was exactly what I needed
to hear?
Does it really matter if it'ssomething that is bringing you
connections with amazing womenthat you may otherwise never
have connected with?
Like I learn something newevery single time I interview
somebody for this podcast.
(03:57):
So does all that stuff mattermore than how many downloads I
have this month compared to howmany downloads I had three
months ago?
Probably not right, like Icould be getting a million
downloads, but if nobody'sgetting anything out of it, if
nobody is like, oh my gosh, thatwas so great, I learned so much
, if nobody is listening to theepisodes and then joining us
(04:20):
over in the Powerful WomenRising community or on one of
the virtual speed networkingevents, like, does the number of
downloads really matter?
Not really.
So that is your little reminder, and apply that to whatever you
will apply it to.
And it actually applies to whatwe're talking about today in
terms of networking, because Ithink a lot of times we get
caught up in like well, I'vebeen in that group for so long
(04:44):
and I haven't made a dollar.
Like, none of those people havebecome my clients, none of
those people have referred me.
And one of the things thatwe're going to talk about today
is remembering to look for otherbenefits in your networking
other than just how much moneyhave I made, how many people
have hired me, how many peoplethat have referred me?
And not that that stuff's notimportant.
(05:04):
It totally is, and that'ssomething that you need to
factor in when you're evaluatingwhat you're doing in your
networking strategy.
But it's not the be all, endall, it's not the most important
thing.
It is one of the things thatyou want to look at when you're
making your decisions.
So, okay, happy New Year.
We're here, we made it.
2024 was not my favorite yearever and I got to end it with a
(05:31):
little ringworm infestation inthe home.
Just for the cherry on top, Ihad a foster kitten that had
ringworm and after she left, Idisinfected the house 5 billion
times and I thought we were inthe clear, and then, about three
weeks after she left, I got it,and then, a couple days after
that, my dog got it.
(05:52):
So we're having a lot of funover here ringing in the new
year.
It's just really been swell.
No, I'm just kidding.
It's actually really nice to begetting back into the flow and
the routine of things and beback here with you, be back with
the women in the Power forWomen Rising community.
There's a virtual speednetworking event coming up on
Thursday, january 9th.
(06:13):
So if you're not registered forthat, definitely get registered
.
Even if you're not feelingmotivated, it's totally going to
pump you up.
I promise that it is, and youwant to start doing some of
those networking things soonerrather than later, because you
are planting seeds that may takea little while to actually
bloom, so the sooner you getthem planted, the better.
(06:36):
All right, so we are kicking offthe new year by talking about
something that I think everyoneneeds to do, which is
reevaluating your networkingstrategy periodically.
And sometimes we hear the wordreevaluate and we're like, oh,
that sounds boring, but trust me, it's important.
I will try to make it as funand interesting and insightful
(06:56):
as possible, but what it'sreally about is figuring out how
to help you be more intentionalwith your time and your energy
and your relationships this year, because, if you're like most
people, you have probably beengoing to the same networking
events for a while, showing upin the same groups or in the
same spaces, doing the samething, because that's what
(07:16):
you've always done and that'svery normal.
However, habits don't alwaysget results, so it's important
for us to stop every once in awhile.
Whether it's networking, socialmedia, podcasts, whatever it is
.
We have to stop every once in awhile and take stock of where
we're spending our time and ourenergy and our money and our
efforts and ask ourselves isthis still working for me?
(07:40):
Was it ever working for me?
Could it work for me again if Imade some little tweaks, or is
it something that I need to letgo of?
And before we dive into that, Ijust want to remind you
networking isn't just sellingyour stuff or racking up
referrals.
This is what I was talking aboutin the beginning of the podcast
.
It's really about buildingrelationships, finding
(08:00):
inspiration, sharing resources,having people who will support
you and lift you up.
But if you're not taking timeto evaluate what's actually
working and how it's working, orhow you know that it's working,
you might be wasting your timeon things that are not serving
you.
So today, we're going to talkabout how to evaluate the groups
and events that you've beenattending, some of the specific
(08:23):
questions to ask yourself aboutyour networking efforts.
So you might want to listen tothis one with a pen and paper or
, if you're in the car, comeback later and write some of
these questions down, and we'regoing to talk a little bit, too,
about why your mindset mattersjust as much as your actions
when it comes to networking andthe things that you're
evaluating.
Okay, so grab your notebook,let's dive in.
(08:45):
Let's start with the basics.
Think about all the groups, theevents, the networking
opportunities that youparticipated in last year, and
remember, networking doesn'tjust happen at networking events
.
I was doing air quotes but youcouldn't see them.
Networking really happensanytime you have an opportunity
to connect with other humans.
(09:05):
So you may be networking onsocial media, you may be
networking through speakingengagements, you may be
networking through guesting onpodcasts.
So it's really up to you whatyou want to evaluate and what
you want to consider when we'retalking about networking
opportunities specifically.
So think about what you've done,the things that you
(09:26):
participated in, the groups thatyou're a part of, the events
that you've gone to, and I wantyou to ask yourself these four
questions.
The first is did I enjoy mytime there or did it feel more
like a chore?
This is maybe the mostimportant question you can ask,
because if you didn't enjoy itand it felt like a chore and you
(09:47):
dreaded going and had to forceyourself every single time, I
can probably already tell youthat you didn't get great
results because you didn't walkinto that event with the energy
and the mindset and the aura ofpositivity of somebody that
people want to connect with, ofsomebody who is ready to take
(10:09):
action and is positive and wantsto support you and grow
together.
Right, you walked in there withthe energy of somebody who has
to do laundry and doing laundryfreaking sucks.
So this is a really importantquestion Did you enjoy your time
there or did it feel more likea chore?
Networking for the most part,maybe not every single second of
(10:33):
it, but it should feel good.
So if you're dreading it everytime, it's worth taking a minute
to think about why, whether itis the dynamics of the group,
whether it is a certain personor a few people, maybe it is the
format of the event.
Maybe you do better at oneswith more structure versus ones
that are more just like openmingle time or even just the
(10:56):
time of the day.
If there's an event that you'regoing to or a group that meets
at 8 am and every time you haveto get up at 630 to be there on
time, you're like, oh, thisfreaking sucks.
Maybe it's time to stop goingto that one and find one that
meets at 11 am.
The important thing to rememberis, if it is draining you
(11:17):
instead of energizing you, itmight be time to step away.
Some other questions that youcan ask yourself about the
groups and events and networkingopportunities that you
participated in last year.
What tangible results did youget.
So this includes things likesales, referrals, things that
you can actually tracknumbers-wise.
(11:37):
It also could includeopportunities if somebody
connected you with somebody else, if somebody that you met
somebody else, if somebody thatyou met there gave you a lead
for a podcast opportunity or aspeaking engagement or something
like that Could be people fromthat group or that event that
you collaborated with, orintroductions that moved your
(12:00):
business forward, anything likethat.
And then you also want to lookat what intangible results you
got.
So this is the stuff that weoverlook most of the time
because it's not as specific,it's not as measurable, it
doesn't fit into your SMARTgoals, but that doesn't make it
less important.
So this is things like did youget inspiration from it?
(12:22):
Did you get new ideas?
Did you connect with supportivepeople who were the ones that
you could go to when you werelike, oh my gosh, this is
terrible.
I need to vent, I need to feelheard and I need someone to tell
me to keep going.
Those things are reallyvaluable too.
So don't underestimate if youare attending events or a part
(12:43):
of a group where you are gettingthose things, even if you're
not getting sales and referrals.
Sometimes those are even moreimportant because they allow you
to keep going in other spaceswhere you are getting sales and
referrals.
And then the last thing I wantyou to think about is was this
group aligned with my goals?
Sometimes we keep showing upout of habit, even when the
(13:04):
group doesn't align with ourcurrent business goals.
Maybe it's somewhere that youstarted when you were new in
business.
But now you've been in businessfor 10 years Now.
Your target market has changed,your knowledge and experience
has changed, the way that youmarket yourself has changed, and
it's okay to pivot.
If it's not a good fit for youanymore, all right.
(13:26):
The second thing I want you tolook at is evaluating your
actions.
So this first part was reallyabout looking at the events and
the groups themselves andwhether or not they were serving
you.
This is about looking at yourown self and how you were
showing up in these spaces andhow you were showing up in these
spaces.
So the first question I wantyou to ask is was I consistent?
This is a big one and again,consistency doesn't mean
(13:50):
constancy.
This doesn't mean did I go to anetworking event every single
day in 2024?
.
It doesn't even necessarilyhave to mean did I go to one
every week in 2024?
But did I join a group that Iwent to twice and then never
went to again and then was likeI didn't get anything of that.
I'm not renewing my membership?
That's not consistency.
Networking is not a one anddone thing.
(14:13):
So if you only went to a groupor an event once or twice, you
didn't really give it a chanceand you didn't really give the
relationships that could haveformed there the chance to form.
People want to connect with youwhen they feel like you are
going to be consistent.
When they see you over and overagain, that makes them believe
(14:36):
that you are invested.
It makes them believe thatyou're trustworthy.
It makes them believe that youare somebody who is here to stay
and not somebody that they'regoing to invest their time and
energy into.
And then, a month from now,you're going to decide that you
don't want to have a businessanymore.
Or a month from now, you'regoing to decide that you have a
totally different business thathas nothing to do with theirs in
the middle of a collaborationright.
(14:56):
So consistency is veryimportant for a number of
reasons.
So it's important to look atwhen we're talking about your
behaviors.
Were you consistent?
Did you give things a realchance to work or not really?
The second thing I want you tolook at is was I engaged?
Did you actually go and payattention?
(15:18):
Did you listen?
Did you connect with peoplethat you didn't already know?
Or were you scrolling yourphone in the corner?
Were you sitting with thefriends that you came with and
not really putting yourself outthere?
Were you half listening most ofthe time and sending the vibe
that you didn't really care?
(15:39):
It's important to be honestwith yourself here, and I know
that that's hard, becausesometimes we don't want to admit
that that is what we did, but Ipromise you we've all done it.
I totally have gone to thethings and been like well, I
networked.
I went to a thing.
Nobody talked to me Okay, yes,nobody talked to you, but you
(16:00):
also sat in the corner with theonly two girls that you knew,
and it wasn't really the mostapproachable situation, right?
So, like you can't really saynobody talked to me if you
didn't talk to anybody either.
So be honest with yourself.
Were you engaged the majorityof the time that you were
attending these groups or events?
And then the last thing I wantyou to look at as far as
evaluating your actions is, didI take action afterward, and did
(16:25):
I do this consistently?
Did you have some sort of afollow-up plan?
Did you have some sort ofstrategy in mind of how you were
going to stay in touch with thepeople that you met, how you
were going to keep track of them, what you were going to do with
those relationships after youconnected with them initially?
Or did you just collect a bunchof business cards that are now
(16:48):
sitting in a drawer of your deskthat you don't even know are
there?
Be honest, go ahead, open thedrawer right now.
Tell me how many there are.
You have to have a strategy inmind.
You have to have some sort ofstructure and plan for how you
are going to show up at theseevents and what you are going to
(17:10):
do afterwards, and you have toexecute on that follow-up plan
consistently in order to be ableto know if it's working or not.
The third thing I want to talkabout is evaluating your mindset
.
So we talked about evaluatingthe groups and events that
you've attended.
So we talked about evaluatingthe groups and events that
you've attended.
We've talked about evaluatingyour actions and looking at
yourself and how you're showingup.
(17:31):
We also have to look at yourmindset, because this plays a
huge role in how effective yournetworking efforts are.
So these are the threequestions that I want you to ask
yourself when evaluating yourmindset in regards to networking
in 2024.
The first question is was I opento meeting new people or did I
stick to my comfort zone?
(17:52):
So this kind of goes to thatfirst question that I was asking
you.
When it comes to your actions,as far as being engaged and
being consistent, it's easy togravitate towards friends, to
the people that you know, to thepeople that you're comfortable
with, but growth happens whenyou step outside of your circle.
The whole purpose of networkingis to grow your circle, and so
(18:15):
if you are consistently going tothese events and these groups
and spending time with thepeople who are already in your
circle, your circle is notgrowing.
So if you're not getting theresults that you wanted to get
from networking, that's probablya big reason why.
The second question I want youto ask yourself is was I
authentic or was I trying to fitinto someone else's mold?
(18:37):
And I know this is a hard one,also to be honest with yourself
about, because we all initiallywant to be like no, I was
totally being authentic.
But let's really think about it.
When you went to that event oryou showed up at that group, did
you feel like you could walkinto that room as yourself?
Or did you walk into that roomfeeling a little bit intimidated
(18:59):
, a little bit like I don't knowif I belong with these women?
They're all like real,legitimate business owners who
are making like six and sevenfigures and I don't even really
know why I'm here.
They're going to find out I'm afraud.
If you're going in with thosekinds of feelings, that's
totally normal.
But that's also probably awarning sign to you that you may
(19:20):
be going in there as a morepolished in there as a more
polished fake version of who youthink they want to meet, rather
than being yourself.
And the most effective way tonetwork is by showing up
authentically.
People connect with you.
The right people connect withthe real you.
(19:42):
The wrong people are repelledby the real you and that is what
you want.
You don't want to be attractingthe people who are attracted to
the polished, perfect, maskedversion of you.
So it's important to look athow authentic you were in these
spaces and how much time youspent trying to be the person
(20:04):
that you thought belonged thereor the person that you thought
they wanted to meet or dobusiness with.
And then the third thing I wantyou to ask yourself when it
comes to evaluating your mindsetis did I have a clear intention
when I showed up?
Networking works best when youknow why you're there ahead of
time, whether it's to findpeople to collaborate with.
(20:24):
Maybe you're looking forinspiration.
Maybe it's the only time thatyou get to go talk to other
adult humans.
Maybe it's the only time thatyou get to talk to other
business owners who just get itmore than anyone else in your
life.
Or maybe you're looking forpeople who are smarter than you,
people who know things aboutmarketing and branding and
(20:47):
finances and all the things thatyou don't know about when it
comes to business.
So know why you're there, knowwhat you're looking for and know
why you're showing up.
That is also going to help yoube much more successful.
So, based on what you'velearned from the last three
steps evaluating the events,evaluating your actions and
(21:08):
evaluating your mindset this iswhat's going to help you create
a more intentional plan for howyou network this year.
So there's three things for youto look at?
What do you want to keep, whatdo you want to stop and what do
you want to try?
When it comes to what you wantto keep, look at which of those
groups or events brought you themost value, and again, that
(21:28):
doesn't necessarily mean dollarbills.
Which ones did you genuinelyenjoy?
Those are the ones that youwant to keep.
If a group or event wasn'tserving you, if you didn't enjoy
going, if you left therefeeling drained, it's okay to
let it go.
Left there feeling drained,it's okay to let it go.
(21:49):
Your time and energy areprecious, so you need to spend
them wisely, and going to agroup or an event that you dread
and don't particularly like isreally just wasted time and
energy.
And then ask yourself is there anew group, an event, maybe a
format that you've been curiousabout, that you've assumed that
you wouldn't like, but youhaven't actually tried it?
Is there something that youwant to experiment with in this
(22:10):
new year, to give it a shot?
Find a new group, find a newevent, try virtual networking,
try speed networking, try one ofthe less structured or one of
the more structured events,something that you haven't done
before, to give yourself an ideaof whether it's something that
you like and want to do more of.
So that is what I have for youtoday.
(22:37):
That was a lot of questions.
You're probably going to wantto listen to this multiple times
, especially if you didn't writedown the questions, because
it's going to take you some timeto really think about these
things and be honest withyourself and evaluate what
you're doing.
But I hope that this has atleast helped you feel inspired
to kind of take a fresh look atyour networking strategy and
(22:57):
create a plan that really isgoing to work for you this year,
because networking really isn'tjust about growing your
business.
It's about growingrelationships.
Because networking really isn'tjust about growing your
business.
It's about growingrelationships, and the best
relationships are built when youshow up with intention, when
you show up consistently, whenyou show up authentically and
with a willingness to connect.
So if this episode resonatedwith you, I would love to hear
(23:19):
your thoughts.
Please feel free to shoot me amessage on Instagram.
I'm spending a lot of time onthreads lately.
I just discovered it over thebreak and I'm semi-obsessed, so
feel free to hang out with meover on threads, although I'll
warn you, I talk more about catsthan I do about business, so
that probably wasn't the rightstrategy over there, but I'm
(23:41):
enjoying it, and if you arelooking for a supportive
community to help you level upyour networking game, definitely
check out the Powerful WomenRising community.
It is an amazing community forfemale entrepreneurs where we
support each other, we connectwith each other, we learn about
each other, we refer to eachother and it is just.
(24:02):
It's the thing that I wish thatI had when I was first starting
out and growing a business, andit's something that I feel
really lucky to be the leader ofnow, and there's some really
amazing women in it, so I wouldlove to see you over there.
All right, friends, thanks forlistening, and here is to an
incredible year of connections,growth and success.
(24:23):
See you next time.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
That's a wrap on this week's episode of Powerful
Women Rising.
Thanks for hanging out with us.
If you love the podcast, makesure to subscribe, share it with
a friend, write a review or buyus a coffee.
Your support helps more womenlike you step into their power
and grow their businesses in away that feels real and true to
them.
Want to keep the party going?
(24:48):
Check out the show notes fordetails on our next virtual
speed networking event or joinus in the powerful Women Rising
community.
Until next time, remember thatbuilding a business your way is
the best way.
Welcome to Powerful Women Rising, a podcast for
female entrepreneurs ready to dobusiness their way.
Grab your coffee and join hostMelissa Snow, business
relationship strategist andfounder of the Powerful Women
Rising community, as sheinterviews industry experts and
shares insights on strategy,marketing, mindset and more.
(00:25):
Here you'll find the tools,strategies and inspiration you
need to feel empowered, takebold action in your business and
keep rising.
Speaker 2 (00:36):
Hey everybody, welcome back to another episode
of Powerful Women Rising.
Yes, it is the new year, yes,this is the first episode that I
have recorded in a while and,yes, we have a new introduction
and cover art, because whywouldn't we?
For the new year, I just haveto give a shout out to my dear
(00:57):
friend, emily Aborn.
She's been a guest on thepodcast several times.
That's actually how I connectedwith her to begin with.
I have been on her podcastseveral times Content with
Character and she just launchedthis new offering that she is
doing because she has the bestvoice and she is doing an intro
and an outro for your podcast.
She also is a copywriter, soshe is helping you write the
(01:21):
description for your podcastepisode, helping you write the
description for your podcastepisode, identify your podcast
personality and all these othersuper cool things.
So I partnered with her and shedid it all for me and I love it
so much.
So if you have a podcast andyou want a little revamp, a
little zhuzh up this year, I amgoing to put her link in the
(01:43):
show notes.
Definitely reach out to her andyou will love it.
So, as I mentioned, this is thefirst episode of 2025 and the
first episode that I've put outin a little while.
Let's just address the elephantin the room.
I did not really intend to takea break over the holidays, but
they came and they went and herewe are, so it's actually really
(02:06):
interesting, given what Iwanted to talk about today on
the podcast, which isreevaluating your network
strategy for the new year andreally looking at what are the
things that you're doing thatare helpful and paying off and
what are some of the things thatmaybe you need to let go of.
And I've been thinking a lotabout this podcast over the past
couple weeks and the thingsthat I love about it, the things
(02:28):
that I don't love about it, whyI'm doing it, why I want to
keep doing it, why I don't wantto keep doing it.
I'm just being real with you.
It has nothing to do with howmuch I love you, because I adore
you, and every time I get amessage from one of you that's
like, oh my gosh, your podcast,it's so amazing, it helped me so
much, I'm like, okay, we'llkeep going, but this is real
(02:51):
right, this is business.
We do things that one day we'relike, oh my gosh, this is so
awesome, I love it so much, andthen a week later we're like
this is terrible, why am I stilldoing it?
And what I realized during thislittle break from the podcast
is that it's important to reallythink about why you're doing
something, especially in thisday and age of social media and
(03:15):
likes and followers and viewsand all of these things.
We can get so caught up in thosemetrics, like looking at how
many people have subscribed tothe YouTube channel and how many
downloads do I have on Appleand all of these things, and
it's like does any of thatreally matter?
Because I feel like that's thekind of stuff that we look at
(03:36):
and we're like oh, this isterrible, why am I still doing
it?
But does that really matterwhen you're getting emails from
people that are like oh my gosh,that was exactly what I needed
to hear?
Does it really matter if it'ssomething that is bringing you
connections with amazing womenthat you may otherwise never
have connected with?
Like I learn something newevery single time I interview
somebody for this podcast.
(03:57):
So does all that stuff mattermore than how many downloads I
have this month compared to howmany downloads I had three
months ago?
Probably not right, like Icould be getting a million
downloads, but if nobody'sgetting anything out of it, if
nobody is like, oh my gosh, thatwas so great, I learned so much
, if nobody is listening to theepisodes and then joining us
(04:20):
over in the Powerful WomenRising community or on one of
the virtual speed networkingevents, like, does the number of
downloads really matter?
Not really.
So that is your little reminder, and apply that to whatever you
will apply it to.
And it actually applies to whatwe're talking about today in
terms of networking, because Ithink a lot of times we get
caught up in like well, I'vebeen in that group for so long
(04:44):
and I haven't made a dollar.
Like, none of those people havebecome my clients, none of
those people have referred me.
And one of the things thatwe're going to talk about today
is remembering to look for otherbenefits in your networking
other than just how much moneyhave I made, how many people
have hired me, how many peoplethat have referred me?
And not that that stuff's notimportant.
(05:04):
It totally is, and that'ssomething that you need to
factor in when you're evaluatingwhat you're doing in your
networking strategy.
But it's not the be all, endall, it's not the most important
thing.
It is one of the things thatyou want to look at when you're
making your decisions.
So, okay, happy New Year.
We're here, we made it.
2024 was not my favorite yearever and I got to end it with a
(05:31):
little ringworm infestation inthe home.
Just for the cherry on top, Ihad a foster kitten that had
ringworm and after she left, Idisinfected the house 5 billion
times and I thought we were inthe clear, and then, about three
weeks after she left, I got it,and then, a couple days after
that, my dog got it.
(05:52):
So we're having a lot of funover here ringing in the new
year.
It's just really been swell.
No, I'm just kidding.
It's actually really nice to begetting back into the flow and
the routine of things and beback here with you, be back with
the women in the Power forWomen Rising community.
There's a virtual speednetworking event coming up on
Thursday, january 9th.
(06:13):
So if you're not registered forthat, definitely get registered
.
Even if you're not feelingmotivated, it's totally going to
pump you up.
I promise that it is, and youwant to start doing some of
those networking things soonerrather than later, because you
are planting seeds that may takea little while to actually
bloom, so the sooner you getthem planted, the better.
(06:36):
All right, so we are kicking offthe new year by talking about
something that I think everyoneneeds to do, which is
reevaluating your networkingstrategy periodically.
And sometimes we hear the wordreevaluate and we're like, oh,
that sounds boring, but trust me, it's important.
I will try to make it as funand interesting and insightful
(06:56):
as possible, but what it'sreally about is figuring out how
to help you be more intentionalwith your time and your energy
and your relationships this year, because, if you're like most
people, you have probably beengoing to the same networking
events for a while, showing upin the same groups or in the
same spaces, doing the samething, because that's what
(07:16):
you've always done and that'svery normal.
However, habits don't alwaysget results, so it's important
for us to stop every once in awhile.
Whether it's networking, socialmedia, podcasts, whatever it is
.
We have to stop every once in awhile and take stock of where
we're spending our time and ourenergy and our money and our
efforts and ask ourselves isthis still working for me?
(07:40):
Was it ever working for me?
Could it work for me again if Imade some little tweaks, or is
it something that I need to letgo of?
And before we dive into that, Ijust want to remind you
networking isn't just sellingyour stuff or racking up
referrals.
This is what I was talking aboutin the beginning of the podcast
.
It's really about buildingrelationships, finding
(08:00):
inspiration, sharing resources,having people who will support
you and lift you up.
But if you're not taking timeto evaluate what's actually
working and how it's working, orhow you know that it's working,
you might be wasting your timeon things that are not serving
you.
So today, we're going to talkabout how to evaluate the groups
and events that you've beenattending, some of the specific
(08:23):
questions to ask yourself aboutyour networking efforts.
So you might want to listen tothis one with a pen and paper or
, if you're in the car, comeback later and write some of
these questions down, and we'regoing to talk a little bit, too,
about why your mindset mattersjust as much as your actions
when it comes to networking andthe things that you're
evaluating.
Okay, so grab your notebook,let's dive in.
(08:45):
Let's start with the basics.
Think about all the groups, theevents, the networking
opportunities that youparticipated in last year, and
remember, networking doesn'tjust happen at networking events
.
I was doing air quotes but youcouldn't see them.
Networking really happensanytime you have an opportunity
to connect with other humans.
(09:05):
So you may be networking onsocial media, you may be
networking through speakingengagements, you may be
networking through guesting onpodcasts.
So it's really up to you whatyou want to evaluate and what
you want to consider when we'retalking about networking
opportunities specifically.
So think about what you've done,the things that you
(09:26):
participated in, the groups thatyou're a part of, the events
that you've gone to, and I wantyou to ask yourself these four
questions.
The first is did I enjoy mytime there or did it feel more
like a chore?
This is maybe the mostimportant question you can ask,
because if you didn't enjoy itand it felt like a chore and you
(09:47):
dreaded going and had to forceyourself every single time, I
can probably already tell youthat you didn't get great
results because you didn't walkinto that event with the energy
and the mindset and the aura ofpositivity of somebody that
people want to connect with, ofsomebody who is ready to take
(10:09):
action and is positive and wantsto support you and grow
together.
Right, you walked in there withthe energy of somebody who has
to do laundry and doing laundryfreaking sucks.
So this is a really importantquestion Did you enjoy your time
there or did it feel more likea chore?
Networking for the most part,maybe not every single second of
(10:33):
it, but it should feel good.
So if you're dreading it everytime, it's worth taking a minute
to think about why, whether itis the dynamics of the group,
whether it is a certain personor a few people, maybe it is the
format of the event.
Maybe you do better at oneswith more structure versus ones
that are more just like openmingle time or even just the
(10:56):
time of the day.
If there's an event that you'regoing to or a group that meets
at 8 am and every time you haveto get up at 630 to be there on
time, you're like, oh, thisfreaking sucks.
Maybe it's time to stop goingto that one and find one that
meets at 11 am.
The important thing to rememberis, if it is draining you
(11:17):
instead of energizing you, itmight be time to step away.
Some other questions that youcan ask yourself about the
groups and events and networkingopportunities that you
participated in last year.
What tangible results did youget.
So this includes things likesales, referrals, things that
you can actually tracknumbers-wise.
(11:37):
It also could includeopportunities if somebody
connected you with somebody else, if somebody that you met
somebody else, if somebody thatyou met there gave you a lead
for a podcast opportunity or aspeaking engagement or something
like that Could be people fromthat group or that event that
you collaborated with, orintroductions that moved your
(12:00):
business forward, anything likethat.
And then you also want to lookat what intangible results you
got.
So this is the stuff that weoverlook most of the time
because it's not as specific,it's not as measurable, it
doesn't fit into your SMARTgoals, but that doesn't make it
less important.
So this is things like did youget inspiration from it?
(12:22):
Did you get new ideas?
Did you connect with supportivepeople who were the ones that
you could go to when you werelike, oh my gosh, this is
terrible.
I need to vent, I need to feelheard and I need someone to tell
me to keep going.
Those things are reallyvaluable too.
So don't underestimate if youare attending events or a part
(12:43):
of a group where you are gettingthose things, even if you're
not getting sales and referrals.
Sometimes those are even moreimportant because they allow you
to keep going in other spaceswhere you are getting sales and
referrals.
And then the last thing I wantyou to think about is was this
group aligned with my goals?
Sometimes we keep showing upout of habit, even when the
(13:04):
group doesn't align with ourcurrent business goals.
Maybe it's somewhere that youstarted when you were new in
business.
But now you've been in businessfor 10 years Now.
Your target market has changed,your knowledge and experience
has changed, the way that youmarket yourself has changed, and
it's okay to pivot.
If it's not a good fit for youanymore, all right.
(13:26):
The second thing I want you tolook at is evaluating your
actions.
So this first part was reallyabout looking at the events and
the groups themselves andwhether or not they were serving
you.
This is about looking at yourown self and how you were
showing up in these spaces andhow you were showing up in these
spaces.
So the first question I wantyou to ask is was I consistent?
This is a big one and again,consistency doesn't mean
(13:50):
constancy.
This doesn't mean did I go to anetworking event every single
day in 2024?
.
It doesn't even necessarilyhave to mean did I go to one
every week in 2024?
But did I join a group that Iwent to twice and then never
went to again and then was likeI didn't get anything of that.
I'm not renewing my membership?
That's not consistency.
Networking is not a one anddone thing.
(14:13):
So if you only went to a groupor an event once or twice, you
didn't really give it a chanceand you didn't really give the
relationships that could haveformed there the chance to form.
People want to connect with youwhen they feel like you are
going to be consistent.
When they see you over and overagain, that makes them believe
(14:36):
that you are invested.
It makes them believe thatyou're trustworthy.
It makes them believe that youare somebody who is here to stay
and not somebody that they'regoing to invest their time and
energy into.
And then, a month from now,you're going to decide that you
don't want to have a businessanymore.
Or a month from now, you'regoing to decide that you have a
totally different business thathas nothing to do with theirs in
the middle of a collaborationright.
(14:56):
So consistency is veryimportant for a number of
reasons.
So it's important to look atwhen we're talking about your
behaviors.
Were you consistent?
Did you give things a realchance to work or not really?
The second thing I want you tolook at is was I engaged?
Did you actually go and payattention?
(15:18):
Did you listen?
Did you connect with peoplethat you didn't already know?
Or were you scrolling yourphone in the corner?
Were you sitting with thefriends that you came with and
not really putting yourself outthere?
Were you half listening most ofthe time and sending the vibe
that you didn't really care?
(15:39):
It's important to be honestwith yourself here, and I know
that that's hard, becausesometimes we don't want to admit
that that is what we did, but Ipromise you we've all done it.
I totally have gone to thethings and been like well, I
networked.
I went to a thing.
Nobody talked to me Okay, yes,nobody talked to you, but you
(16:00):
also sat in the corner with theonly two girls that you knew,
and it wasn't really the mostapproachable situation, right?
So, like you can't really saynobody talked to me if you
didn't talk to anybody either.
So be honest with yourself.
Were you engaged the majorityof the time that you were
attending these groups or events?
And then the last thing I wantyou to look at as far as
evaluating your actions is, didI take action afterward, and did
(16:25):
I do this consistently?
Did you have some sort of afollow-up plan?
Did you have some sort ofstrategy in mind of how you were
going to stay in touch with thepeople that you met, how you
were going to keep track of them, what you were going to do with
those relationships after youconnected with them initially?
Or did you just collect a bunchof business cards that are now
(16:48):
sitting in a drawer of your deskthat you don't even know are
there?
Be honest, go ahead, open thedrawer right now.
Tell me how many there are.
You have to have a strategy inmind.
You have to have some sort ofstructure and plan for how you
are going to show up at theseevents and what you are going to
(17:10):
do afterwards, and you have toexecute on that follow-up plan
consistently in order to be ableto know if it's working or not.
The third thing I want to talkabout is evaluating your mindset
.
So we talked about evaluatingthe groups and events that
you've attended.
So we talked about evaluatingthe groups and events that
you've attended.
We've talked about evaluatingyour actions and looking at
yourself and how you're showingup.
(17:31):
We also have to look at yourmindset, because this plays a
huge role in how effective yournetworking efforts are.
So these are the threequestions that I want you to ask
yourself when evaluating yourmindset in regards to networking
in 2024.
The first question is was I opento meeting new people or did I
stick to my comfort zone?
(17:52):
So this kind of goes to thatfirst question that I was asking
you.
When it comes to your actions,as far as being engaged and
being consistent, it's easy togravitate towards friends, to
the people that you know, to thepeople that you're comfortable
with, but growth happens whenyou step outside of your circle.
The whole purpose of networkingis to grow your circle, and so
(18:15):
if you are consistently going tothese events and these groups
and spending time with thepeople who are already in your
circle, your circle is notgrowing.
So if you're not getting theresults that you wanted to get
from networking, that's probablya big reason why.
The second question I want youto ask yourself is was I
authentic or was I trying to fitinto someone else's mold?
(18:37):
And I know this is a hard one,also to be honest with yourself
about, because we all initiallywant to be like no, I was
totally being authentic.
But let's really think about it.
When you went to that event oryou showed up at that group, did
you feel like you could walkinto that room as yourself?
Or did you walk into that roomfeeling a little bit intimidated
(18:59):
, a little bit like I don't knowif I belong with these women?
They're all like real,legitimate business owners who
are making like six and sevenfigures and I don't even really
know why I'm here.
They're going to find out I'm afraud.
If you're going in with thosekinds of feelings, that's
totally normal.
But that's also probably awarning sign to you that you may
(19:20):
be going in there as a morepolished in there as a more
polished fake version of who youthink they want to meet, rather
than being yourself.
And the most effective way tonetwork is by showing up
authentically.
People connect with you.
The right people connect withthe real you.
(19:42):
The wrong people are repelledby the real you and that is what
you want.
You don't want to be attractingthe people who are attracted to
the polished, perfect, maskedversion of you.
So it's important to look athow authentic you were in these
spaces and how much time youspent trying to be the person
(20:04):
that you thought belonged thereor the person that you thought
they wanted to meet or dobusiness with.
And then the third thing I wantyou to ask yourself when it
comes to evaluating your mindsetis did I have a clear intention
when I showed up?
Networking works best when youknow why you're there ahead of
time, whether it's to findpeople to collaborate with.
(20:24):
Maybe you're looking forinspiration.
Maybe it's the only time thatyou get to go talk to other
adult humans.
Maybe it's the only time thatyou get to talk to other
business owners who just get itmore than anyone else in your
life.
Or maybe you're looking forpeople who are smarter than you,
people who know things aboutmarketing and branding and
(20:47):
finances and all the things thatyou don't know about when it
comes to business.
So know why you're there, knowwhat you're looking for and know
why you're showing up.
That is also going to help yoube much more successful.
So, based on what you'velearned from the last three
steps evaluating the events,evaluating your actions and
(21:08):
evaluating your mindset this iswhat's going to help you create
a more intentional plan for howyou network this year.
So there's three things for youto look at?
What do you want to keep, whatdo you want to stop and what do
you want to try?
When it comes to what you wantto keep, look at which of those
groups or events brought you themost value, and again, that
(21:28):
doesn't necessarily mean dollarbills.
Which ones did you genuinelyenjoy?
Those are the ones that youwant to keep.
If a group or event wasn'tserving you, if you didn't enjoy
going, if you left therefeeling drained, it's okay to
let it go.
Left there feeling drained,it's okay to let it go.
(21:49):
Your time and energy areprecious, so you need to spend
them wisely, and going to agroup or an event that you dread
and don't particularly like isreally just wasted time and
energy.
And then ask yourself is there anew group, an event, maybe a
format that you've been curiousabout, that you've assumed that
you wouldn't like, but youhaven't actually tried it?
Is there something that youwant to experiment with in this
(22:10):
new year, to give it a shot?
Find a new group, find a newevent, try virtual networking,
try speed networking, try one ofthe less structured or one of
the more structured events,something that you haven't done
before, to give yourself an ideaof whether it's something that
you like and want to do more of.
So that is what I have for youtoday.
(22:37):
That was a lot of questions.
You're probably going to wantto listen to this multiple times
, especially if you didn't writedown the questions, because
it's going to take you some timeto really think about these
things and be honest withyourself and evaluate what
you're doing.
But I hope that this has atleast helped you feel inspired
to kind of take a fresh look atyour networking strategy and
(22:57):
create a plan that really isgoing to work for you this year,
because networking really isn'tjust about growing your
business.
It's about growingrelationships.
Because networking really isn'tjust about growing your
business.
It's about growingrelationships, and the best
relationships are built when youshow up with intention, when
you show up consistently, whenyou show up authentically and
with a willingness to connect.
So if this episode resonatedwith you, I would love to hear
(23:19):
your thoughts.
Please feel free to shoot me amessage on Instagram.
I'm spending a lot of time onthreads lately.
I just discovered it over thebreak and I'm semi-obsessed, so
feel free to hang out with meover on threads, although I'll
warn you, I talk more about catsthan I do about business, so
that probably wasn't the rightstrategy over there, but I'm
(23:41):
enjoying it, and if you arelooking for a supportive
community to help you level upyour networking game, definitely
check out the Powerful WomenRising community.
It is an amazing community forfemale entrepreneurs where we
support each other, we connectwith each other, we learn about
each other, we refer to eachother and it is just.
(24:02):
It's the thing that I wish thatI had when I was first starting
out and growing a business, andit's something that I feel
really lucky to be the leader ofnow, and there's some really
amazing women in it, so I wouldlove to see you over there.
All right, friends, thanks forlistening, and here is to an
incredible year of connections,growth and success.
(24:23):
See you next time.
Speaker 1 (24:27):
That's a wrap on this week's episode of Powerful
Women Rising.
Thanks for hanging out with us.
If you love the podcast, makesure to subscribe, share it with
a friend, write a review or buyus a coffee.
Your support helps more womenlike you step into their power
and grow their businesses in away that feels real and true to
them.
Want to keep the party going?
(24:48):
Check out the show notes fordetails on our next virtual
speed networking event or joinus in the powerful Women Rising
community.
Until next time, remember thatbuilding a business your way is
the best way.
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