What They DON’T Tell You About Remote Networking…

I am finally in a situation where I can work on my computer from almost anywhere I want but it’s only possible thanks to remote networking because I can talk to people far away and still grow my business. Like Armstrong Williams said networking is an essential part of building wealth.

But if you had known me several years ago, then me creating this video would be a little funny because I was really not a fan of online networking. I’m going to share the story that turned me around in a bit here and by the end of this article, you will know:

• How to build real connections?
• How frequently to network?
• How much time it takes?

Is Online Networking a Viable Business Strategy?

But just like me several years ago, you might wonder if online networking is really a viable business strategy and is something you should focus on or should you just do it a little bit on the side?

Remote networking helps you with two crucial business goals:

1. Collaboration
2. Market research

Considering how important both collaboration and market research are especially when you’re a new coach or new business owner. I think that networking and online networking is something you should focus on.

Just think about doing it online and remotely, you can connect with virtually anyone in the world without leaving your home or your office.

But I’m not going to pretend that there are no problems with the online networking space especially and I mentioned that earlier because I was one of the people who refused to participate in online networking that was until my mentor pushed me to finally start doing it.

There was one event in particular that my mentor really pushed me to join and that is a kind of coaching event where coaches give away free coaching sessions. Back then when I thought about an online event where coaches give away free coaching sessions, coaching other coaches, quite honestly it sounded like a nightmare to me.

But I also asked myself why have a coach and mentor if I’m not going to follow his advice.

So I participated anyway and tried to follow the instructions that he gave me. The event played out completely differently than how I had imagined it.

Even though I was just a newbie in networking, I just tried my best to implement the basics of good networking and it led to several great connections but most importantly from that event, I got one of my coolest clients with some of the coolest projects to work on.

That’s when I finally understood the value of remote networking and now I’m helping others do the same.

Yet one big question always remains.

How To Make Real Connections In Networking?

How do you build real connections with people on the other side of a screen?

Now a few years later after networking with hundreds of people here are three things that worked really well for me.

3 Things That Worked Really Well

Active Listening

The first one is called active listening. Active Listening has become a bit of a buzzword and trend word that people throw around but very few people actually do active listening.

Fundamentally, active listening means that you listen to understand, you don’t listen to respond. One way to do that is to really pay attention:

• How the other person speaks?
• How fast do they speak?
• Which words do they highlight?
• How are they breathing when they speak?

You’ll be surprised how much context and meaning you can get from a short conversation with someone once you really learn to pay attention to these things.

Another part of active listening is to repeat back to the other person what you learned and what you understood. Because it is possible that even with your best effort and best intentions you still misunderstood something.

The first thing is active listening and that leads me to the second one.

Resisting The Urge To Give Advice

The second one is resisting the urge to give advice.

This was a huge block for me because if you’re networking with good intentions, it’s only natural that you want to provide value to the other person and a bitter pill to swallow is that giving advice and sharing what you know even with the best intentions it’s not always helpful.

Quite often it’s not as helpful as you think it is. Instead of giving advice make others feel heard and understood. This is much harder than it sounds and I really encourage you to practice this.

Understanding someone doesn’t just mean you understood what they just said, it also means that you understand why they’re doing what they’re doing, and you understand their goals and the contexts that they live in.

Before you jump into giving any advice, make sure the other person feels that you understand them and that you really get them because if you don’t do that, they won’t listen to your advice and you’ve just wasted your time.

Not Playing Any Games

The third thing that’s a little bit of a personal one but I call it not playing any games.

I see many little games happening at networking events and I think maybe you don’t call them games but you’ve spotted it too. It’s things like:

1. Who’s the smartest?
2. Who’s the most clever?
3. Who’s got it all figured out?
4. Who’s always giving the best advice?
5. Who has the best story or success story

And some people are so dead set on providing value.

They have good intentions but they’re so obsessed with providing value that they don’t even answer your questions properly. They don’t even allow you to speak because they just want to share with you their best advice, techniques, and strategies.

It’s really easy to feel overwhelmed and to be drawn into these games and my third advice is just don’t play any of these games that brings us really to the biggest problem of remote and online networking.

Biggest Problem In Online Networking

Aren’t networking events just a big pitchfest where everyone tries to sell each other?

It’s virtually impossible to deny this question because so many networking events really do feel like a pitchfest and everyone’s just out there to sell each other. But here’s the secret that I learned far too late. You can turn that into an advantage if you know how.

What I’ve always believed and what my mentor has really taught me well is to just have genuine conversations. It might sound super simple but let me show you how you can apply that.

While everyone else is busy pitching each other, it makes you stand out so much more if you can have a genuine conversation with someone. What that means is that in a pitchfest, it’s actually easier to stand out and be memorable.

Here’s how I do it, this may sound counterintuitive, but I let them pitch me.

Understanding somebody else also means understanding what it is that they want to do.

If that person believes that they got to pitch what they’re offering, they’re wasting their time at the event then I don’t want to block that. I want to provide them the platform to do what they came here to do.

I really want to find out why they’re so dead-set on pitching. Why they are at this networking event and you might say, “Yeah to make sales that’s obvious”.

But that is a superficial understanding of the other person’s situation.

I want to know:

1. Who is it that they like to work with?
2. Why are they selling what they’re selling?
3. What are their goals?
4. Where do they find their best clients?

I’m curious if maybe I know somebody who would be a perfect fit for them. As you let somebody pitch you and you ask such questions, don’t be fake about it.

You can be upfront and authentic and just tell them something like this:

“Hey, I’m not the right person for your offer but I’m curious about other parts of your business, do you mind if I ask you some questions?”

And as you learn about them, who knows you might actually be a good fit for each other. Sometimes you don’t click with each other and that happens too.

You will meet people who have too different personalities or your values just don’t align and that’s totally okay too. Maybe you can connect them with somebody else that works better for them.

This approach here has worked the best for me when I’m being put into salesy situations.

How Often Should You Be Networking?

Now, how often do I do networking and how much time does it take out of my day?

The short answer is: I Network about 2 hours per day, including messaging and emailing.

However, I’m not attending networking events or group calls daily. I do that a couple of times per month but here’s how I do my networking.

I aim to connect with one new person every day either through:

• Messaging
• Email
• Call

Sometimes they’re the ones scheduling a call on my calendar and sometimes I’m the one taking the initiative.

I hope you’re starting to see how networking is fundamental to building wealth and how it is a valuable business strategy for you. But I know there are many follow-up questions like how you turn contacts into leads or prospects and how you behave on sales calls.

That’s why I have another article with five more networking tips that almost nobody talks about. Click here to read that next.

My Three Takeaways

1. I used to be skeptical about online networking, but it turned out to be a game-changer for my business. It’s amazing how you can connect with people worldwide without leaving your home or office. Talk about convenience!
2. In a sea of people trying to pitch their services, I’ve found that letting others pitch to me actually makes me stand out. It’s not about being a passive listener, though. I ask thoughtful questions and try to understand their business on a deeper level. It’s amazing how this approach can lead to meaningful connections.
3. From my experience, networking isn’t just a nice-to-have—it’s crucial for collaboration and market research. It opens up opportunities you might not find otherwise and helps you grow your business in ways you might not expect.

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