People Power in Networking

What they say about you has a lot more power than what you say about you.

The real power in networking connections is when they help you. But that isn’t something you can directly control. It is only something you can inspire.

When someone else says something about you, it carries more weight than when you say the same thing. People will help you promote your business for the following reasons:

1. They have reason to believe that you are a nice person. They don’t believe that because you SAID it, they believe that because of what you DO.
2. They think you know your stuff and can really help someone. They don’t think that because you told them, they think that because of what you teach, and because of the kind of help you offer, or by how you do business.
3. They feel that something you offer has value for other people. Often this is a free resource that is so good they want to share it.
4. You made a difference in their life for the better. This also takes more than words.

Are we seeing a pattern here? Other people help promote you when you help them, and when you give them something good.

All comes back to the word, “give”. It doesn’t happen from advertising, and it doesn’t happen from saying things about yourself.

It is powerful precisely because you cannot directly control it. But you can set out to inspire it, and if you give because you love people, it will come back in surprising ways. When it does, you know you got it right!