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Your community is your internet price. Heard that earlier than? I’ve stated it for years as a result of I’ve lived it. The appropriate connection can change your life. The appropriate introduction can change what you are promoting.
The issue is that most individuals assume networking means working the room, shaking 50 fingers and strolling out with a stack of enterprise playing cards. I used to assume that too — till I spotted essentially the most helpful connections occur one-on-one.
That is the place Lunch with Legends got here from.
Each weekday, I’ve lunch with somebody new. Generally it is an investor. Generally it is a founder. Generally it is a good friend of a good friend I am assembly for the primary time once they slide into the sales space. The purpose is not to pitch. It is to not promote. It is to attach as a result of everybody’s happier with good meals and good firm.
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Why meals are the key weapon
Conferences are formal. Lunch is actual. At lunch, nobody’s watching the clock. Nobody’s hiding behind slides or an agenda. Meals slows you down.
That is if you get the reality. You hear concerning the deal they’re chasing. The problem they can not clear up. The purpose they have been sitting on as a result of they do not know the place to start out.
I’ve realized extra over a plate of tacos than I ever have at a convention desk.
The way it began
After I was beginning in actual property, I labored networking occasions prefer it was my job — as a result of it was. I would gather a pile of enterprise playing cards, comply with up with everybody, and so forth. Someday, somebody informed me, “Overlook the gang. Take one individual to lunch.”
It clicked. The most effective connections are private, not rushed.
That first lunch became a connection that shifted my profession. Not as a result of I requested for something, however as a result of we constructed belief by means of dialog.
Since then, Lunch with Legends has been my day by day behavior. Networking is not about retaining rating. It is about displaying up prepared to assist. As an alternative of main with, “This is what I do,” I ask, “What’s in your plate — actually and figuratively — and the way can I assist?”
That modifications every thing.
- Individuals keep in mind you, not as “the man from lunch” however as the one who launched them to their subsequent rent or shared an concept that unlocked an answer.
- The dialog flows. You are not pitching. You are listening.
- Alternatives come again round. While you assist with out anticipating something, your title comes up in rooms you are not even in.
What it seems like in apply
Final week, I had lunch with folks in utterly completely different industries. None of them had been “prospects” within the conventional sense. However in each dialog, I discovered a technique to join them to another person who may assist. A producer. A mentor. A good friend.
I did not should power these alternatives. They got here up naturally as a result of I used to be paying consideration.
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How you can host your individual Lunch With Legends
You do not want an enormous title or a flowery finances. You want consistency.
- One lunch. One new individual. Each weekday. Could possibly be a friend-of-a-friend, a younger skilled in search of steerage or somebody you’ve got been which means to fulfill.
- Maintain it informal. You will notice me on the identical 5 locations. I’ve my rotation down. If it ain’t broke, do not repair it.
- Hear greater than you discuss. Individuals will inform you what they want for those who give them area.
- Observe up with worth. In the event you can assist, do it immediately.
The selfie rule
Each Lunch with Legends ends with a selfie. It is not about ego. It is about reminiscence. That picture is a bookmark. Months later, I can scroll again and keep in mind, ‘Oh yeah, she was in search of a podcast producer. I do know somebody now.’
It is a enjoyable ritual that makes the second really feel intentional, and it retains the connection alive.
Networking is a protracted play. Not each lunch wants to show right into a deal. Some folks I’ve met solely as soon as. Others have develop into mates, companions or purchasers years later. The worth comes from displaying up constantly, constructing belief and connecting folks. That is how your community grows in each dimension and power.
Why meals works for networking
There’s one thing a few shared meal that breaks obstacles quick.
While you eat with somebody, you are each simply folks deciding between fries or salad. It is human. It is disarming. It units the stage for an actual dialog as a substitute of a surface-level alternate.
That is why Lunch with Legends works. It turns networking into one thing folks truly stay up for. Who does not wish to break bread and be taught one thing? It is price it each time.
It is your transfer
Consider one individual you’ve got been which means to fulfill. Invite them to lunch this week.
Do not overthink it. Do not make it about what you want. Make it about displaying up, asking good questions and leaving them higher than you discovered them.
And sure — selfie required.
Your community is your internet price. Heard that earlier than? I’ve stated it for years as a result of I’ve lived it. The appropriate connection can change your life. The appropriate introduction can change what you are promoting.
The issue is that most individuals assume networking means working the room, shaking 50 fingers and strolling out with a stack of enterprise playing cards. I used to assume that too — till I spotted essentially the most helpful connections occur one-on-one.
That is the place Lunch with Legends got here from.
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