July 8, 2024 • 21 mins
Want to grow your business faster? Start by mastering how you show up in the room.
Jessica and Alex dive into the real power behind authentic networking as an entrepreneurial couple—sharing stories of how they divide and conquer events, build trust through follow-up, and turn certifications into meaningful opportunities. From using apps like QR Me to coaching newbies through their first networking event, their approach blends heart, humor, and strategy. They also break down the client-connector-collaborator framework that’s reshaped how they approach every conversation.
This episode is full of practical tips and a few cautionary tales on what not to do. Whether you're new to networking or looking to deepen your connections, you'll walk away feeling empowered and ready to make meaningful business moves.
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Alex & Jessica Fortis
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Alex (00:09):
Welcome to Married to the Hustle, the podcast where love,
faith and business come together.
Jessica (00:14):
I'm Jessica, and with me is my partner in life and
business, Alex.
Together, we're diving into thewild world of entrepreneurial
couples Each week we'll bringyou real stories, hilarious
(00:37):
moments and valuable insightsfrom couples.
Welcome back, welcome back.
I'm so excited to connect withyou guys today and chat about
networking and networking as apower couple.
Nonetheless, because you knowwe I do a lot of networking on
by myself and alex does somenetworking by himself but when
(01:00):
we're both in the room, how dowe get to work the room?
And so Alex tell our audiencewhy is networking important?
Alex (01:08):
Networking is important, especially when you're starting
out in business, right you want?
For me, networking is like aform of marketing, right?
You're marketing yourself,you're marketing your company,
you let others know what you do,you name the company, how you
can serve others and makingthose connections.
Jessica (01:27):
And.
Alex (01:27):
Jessica, you know when she says working the room right.
So usually when we go intonetworking I tell Jessica, hey,
I'm going to take this side ofthe floor, you take the other
side of the floor and we'll workit.
We'll meet in the middle.
How about that?
It's just a joke, guys.
We don't, we don't network likethat.
But it was pretty funny.
Jessica (01:42):
Right Now we don't network like that, but it was
pretty funny right.
No, we don't have that kind ofstrategy, but it actually sounds
like fun.
Alex (01:56):
Right, see how many people we can meet.
I do say that when I do networkI try to be very authentic and
letting them know, becausenetworking is, it's fun, but it
can also be a little it'll makeyou think right, because people
obviously are there to promotetheir business, right.
So you get a lot of people thatcome, you know, trying to sell
you stuff, and I was one that Iwas buying some of that stuff at
first and I realized, hey,networking shouldn't be about
(02:19):
that selling.
Networking should be aboutbuilding relationships, letting
people know what your businessis, what you do, and just making
connections that way.
Jessica (02:28):
Yeah, for sure, for sure, and I'll say, I'll say
this my coach had said to me onetime that people come into your
circle in one of three waysthey either are client,
connector or collaborator.
Alex (02:42):
There you go.
Jessica (02:42):
And so they come into your space to either potentially
be a client, right, or theycome in to your space to
potentially connect you withsomeone else.
You know what, alex?
Yeah, actually I love what youdo and maybe I know someone at
such and such organization andI'm going to connect the two of
you, right.
And so that's number two.
(03:04):
And then the third one iscollab, the collaborator, right.
It's it's like okay, well, youknow, I might not be able to
connect to you, I might not beable to buy your product, but
you know what, let's collaborateon a couple of projects, let's
get together.
Let you know, do you want to bepart of a board with me?
You know, and and so when youlook at each connection from
that lens a client, a connector,a collaborator it just makes it
(03:27):
so much easier and the pressureis relieved, right.
And hey, my coach is ReneeRebar Shout out to Renee Rebar,
she's the one that talks aboutthat all the time.
And so that helps me take offthat pressure of every discovery
call is a client, everydiscovery call is a client,
right.
And then we start to look atthe clients and the people
inside of these discovery callis a client, every discovery
call is a client right, and thenwe start to look at the clients
and the people inside of thesenetworking events with a dollar
(03:48):
sign on their forehead.
But the reality is that we'reall there for something to grow
something in some way shape orform, and when you take that
pressure off yourself, it makesit such a more viable connection
.
And so you know, another waythat we do networking, not just
(04:09):
like through the chambers ofcommerce, are government
certifications.
So we here are minority women,business enterprise certified
through several agencies, and soI was just on a panel this
morning discussing ourexperience as a certified entity
, and one of the things thatcame up is you know, the
(04:32):
certification get you business.
And the reality is that thecertification does not get you
business.
It does not guarantee you anybusiness at all whatsoever.
But what it does guarantee youis it guarantee guarantees you
to get you in the room, get youin the room with the right
people, and even if you're notthe prime contractor, you might
be the subprime contractor,Right.
(04:52):
So so if you, if you're sub tothat, to that original
contractor, that's still a greatconnection for you to be able
to make.
And so these governmentagencies, they do a lot of
networking events, they do a lotof meet and greets, and being
able to take advantage of a lotof these programs that are free
of charge for us business ownersis very is pivotal, you know,
(05:14):
because that is also anopportunity for you to network
and connect.
Alex (05:19):
I think that you hit a.
You hit a point there with thecertifications.
People almost automaticallythink oh, yeah, yeah, well, I'm
certified, you know.
Now I'm waiting on a business.
You know, it's like waiting forsomebody to come knock on your
door.
Hey, here's this, you know,$200,000 or $300,000 account.
It won't happen that way.
Unfortunately, I was one ofthose people, I'll admit.
(05:40):
Ok, we got these certifications.
Right now, where's the business?
Where's the business?
You have to be in the room.
That's the most important part,right, and some of these
contracts that do come up, likethe big government stuff.
I mean, there are multimilliondollar contracts, right, and
some of the primes that get them.
You know, especially whenyou're a minority, you know the
(06:03):
contract might call for, youknow, a 23 or 25 percent
minority owned company to go inthere with you, and that's the
only way they would get thebusiness.
So then that's when companieswe've seen reach out to us hey,
we're trying to bid on thisproject.
Here's the scope.
We need 23 percent minorityowned business.
Do you want to go into theproject?
And then that's, you know, butthat all entails being in the
(06:27):
room with these people.
Yeah, there's a bigmisconception with the
certifications, right, that thecertifications are automatically
going to get you the business.
And unfortunately it doesn'twork that way.
Right, you still have to workit.
You still have to market yourbusiness.
You still have to go tonetworking events and just being
in the room your business, youstill have to go to networking
events and just being in theroom.
Jessica (06:46):
So, yeah, yeah, and I and we were just at a at an
event a couple of weeks ago.
I was one of the panel coachesat FSMSDC, the Florida State
Minority Supplier Council, andone of the things that that
happened there actually a coupleof times, was that because Alex
and I were in separate areas ofthe event, there were a few
hundred people in there.
(07:07):
When I would meet someone, theywould say wait a minute, is
your husband so-and-so?
And so I would make theseconnections with people because
Alex had already spoken to themabout our business or about me,
and so it was a really great wayto make connections with others
(07:27):
and break the ice too, becausemany people know that I'm an
executive coach and I also ownthe commercial cleaning business
with my husband.
So whenever he would come upwith an interaction where
someone said something aboutbuilding their business or not
knowing how to go aftercertifications or that kind of
stuff, he's like oh, you shouldtalk to my wife, my wife is a
(07:47):
coach, she handles a lot of thatand vice versa.
They will come to me and sayyou know how do you do a bid,
how do.
You do pricing, and I would sayyou know what you definitely
need to connect with Alex, andnot only that, knowing what
agencies to be part of.
You know.
There was another person fromthe janitorial industry that we
met.
There we were like you shouldlook into this agency, that
agency, do this.
(08:08):
Do that because we knew what wehave been able to achieve by
making a lot of theseconnections and networking with
some of these big people,Because when you look at
business, you want to be in thespace of people that are ahead
of you, so that there's no needfor you to innovate.
You just have to emulate what'salready a proven process, Right
(08:31):
, and so being able to learnthat and then share that with
others that maybe you'rementoring it's so important too,
and if you're mentoring someone, I highly recommend that you
invite them to a networkingevent with you so that they can
make some of those connectionsas well and loosen up.
Alex (08:47):
Right, pure example.
That was yesterday.
I got a text from Debbie andher husband that are starting
out in the janitorial space andthey came to me.
They found me in another groupand I answered one of their
questions and they asked if itwas okay to reach out to me
directly.
I said absolutely, what can Ihelp you with?
And you know, they they justgetting started and they wanted
(09:09):
to know how to go about it.
And I told them this is whatwe've done.
And today, as a matter of fact,yesterday they had messaged me,
but today was one of the veryfirst networking events that
they attended.
And here I am cheering them onand she's all nervous because
she's going without her husband.
And she said what should I do?
What should I expect?
(09:29):
I said listen, just relax, it'sokay.
I went through the same thingwhen we first started networking
.
We used to go around the roomand you had 60 seconds or so to
talk about yourself and you knowbackground, what's your
business and what do you do.
And I'll be completely honestwith you when it was next to my
(09:49):
turn where the person before mewent, I broke out in sweat, but
I got over that.
So Debbie was asking you knowI've never done this.
And I said just walk into theroom, you know, say who you are.
Oh, but I don't have businesscards.
I said you don't need businesscards, it's OK.
It's OK, they're still in thevery first stages of startup.
So I share with her.
(10:17):
Hey, you know what?
Sometimes I forget my businesscard too, but here's a free app
that we went to.
Jessica (10:22):
And.
Alex (10:22):
QR me.
I mean it gives the person yourname, your business, your email
, the website, all theinformation that, a business
card.
So I was just trying to cheerher on, not to let that hold her
down, and today I made it apoint to make sure I reach out
to her.
Hey, debbie, how did thenetworking go?
And she said man, it was great.
(10:42):
Thank you so much.
Right so that?
Right so that that for me, youknow.
And I told her, networking isnot just the one and done.
Right, you have to becontinuous with it being
consistent, right?
Yeah, do you agree with that,jessica?
Jessica (10:56):
absolutely, it's about putting you out there.
It's, you know, out of sight,out of mind guys, and.
And so another cleaning companycomes in and they reach out and
suddenly they have a janitorialneed and they won't.
They'll remember your face.
They might be like, oh, whatwas the name of that company?
Again, oh, but this othercompany that I just met last
(11:17):
week, right, so, out of sight,out of mind, you wanna be in the
room at all times, buildingthose relationships, building
those connections, because evenwhen sometimes they come to me
about specific things, I mightnot offer that service, but I
know someone who does, and so Ilove to be able to connect them
with someone else.
And so, you know, we gathered acouple of tips to help you guys
(11:38):
with networking, and Alexshared one of them, which it
wasn't even part of the threetips that I selected, but QRMe
is actually a really cool app ina world of digital connections.
Now the business card doesn'tdo it for you.
Alex (11:53):
Every time I see QR me, it reminds me of our church,
because they always say we'reall about QR codes.
Qr me is it's one of those.
Jessica (12:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Alex (12:03):
I didn't want to cut you off there, but I just thought
fun fact.
Jessica (12:07):
Well, you just cut me off to share the fun fact.
So that is one of the ways.
Obviously, to connect withpeople is by having a digital
business card, but here's thething when it comes to making a
connection with someone, it'snot the business card that will
do it.
It's all in the follow up.
And so let's talk about thethree tips that we gathered to
be able to share with you guys.
(12:28):
So tip number one is have agoal to meet two to three people
.
The biggest thing that you cando to yourself is get
overwhelmed when you pull intothe parking lot and there's 300
cars outside, because you willget there, and as quickly as you
showed up is as quickly asyou're going to leave, because
you're going to be so far out ofyour comfort zone that you
(12:51):
won't feel comfortable in goingin and even introducing yourself
.
And so what's number two, alex?
Alex (12:57):
For me.
I mean, we have three tips, butone thing that just came up to
mind, right, when you'rementioning you know meeting two
to three people people usually,right, when they come up to you,
what do you do?
Right?
That's the very first question.
I always say be different,right?
Ask something different thanthey're not used to answering,
and that's going to spark theconversation right away right.
(13:19):
So, instead of asking somebodyhey, so what do you do?
So how's your year going?
You know, have you met yourgoals this year?
It opens different conversation, right, Absolutely.
So that's one of my tips.
Another one is following up,having a goal to exchange
contact info with two to threeconnections.
That's usually our goal when wego out networking and then we,
(13:41):
at the end of the day, just like, well, who did you meet, you
know?
And I tell her, well, this iswho I met and this is what they
do.
But the most important part isthe follow up.
If someone really interests youand you want to get to know
their business or how you guyscan, you know, share insight
with each other about you knowtheir business or your business,
(14:02):
join them for a cup of coffee,right?
Right, have a sit down,conversation and one-on-ones.
Those are important, right?
How can you serve each other?
Jessica (14:07):
Absolutely.
And so the last one, alex,touch on it, which is the
follow-up.
It's not the connection thatyou made card, that you
exchanged the selfie that youtook.
I tend to do that I takeselfies and then I'll text them.
Be like, yeah, let me just sendyou those pictures, just so
that you remember who I am, andso so it's the.
The secret sauce is in thatfollow-up, and so just this
(14:30):
morning I was at an event, metfour people at the event.
As soon as I got to the office,the first thing that I did was
send them an email, just so thatthe exchange and the
interaction is memorable, and soI brought up points of things
that they discussed.
One of them said that we shouldbecome a vendor for one of the
other counties because theydon't have a certification
program, and she shared a coupleof organizations and I
(14:53):
obviously I was just about totake the stage to be on a panel,
and so I didn't immediatelywrite it down.
So I, of course, followed upwith an email.
Hey, what were thoseorganizations again that you
mentioned?
So the follow up is key inorder to stay connected.
So, like Alex said, go meet fora cup of coffee, and it doesn't
have to be in person.
Do it virtually, right, if youfeel more comfortable just
(15:15):
chatting, just taking 15, 30minutes to connect with each
other and know what you do andwho you can refer business to.
Oh my gosh, and guys, pleasedon't do it the other way.
I have to share an experiencewith you.
For privacy, I won't share whoit was.
I met someone at an event acouple of weeks ago.
They text me hey, it was.
I met someone at an event acouple of weeks ago.
(15:37):
They text me hey, it was greatmeeting you.
Yes, it was so great meetingyou too.
Oh, we should stay connected.
Absolutely, we definitelyshould stay connected.
I would love that.
About two or three days go byand I get a text back June 12th,
11 AM.
That wasn't the date, but itwas.
You know, that's what themessage said.
And I replied back, excuse me.
And they replied back oh, sorry, that wasn't for you.
(15:57):
And so now, at that point, I'm alittle.
I'm a little ticked off, right.
I'm like, ah, yeah, that's nothow you ask someone to.
You know, set up a meeting.
You know what I mean.
Like that's how you do it.
And so I, I said, uh, I said toher I said oh okay, good, it
wasn't for me, because if thatwas the date that you selected,
I was not available anyway.
(16:17):
But if you wanted to connectbecause I know that's what she
was trying to do I'd love to beable to connect with you in a
couple of weeks, because I thinkthe following week was a
holiday and so we were gonna betied up.
We decided to set a date.
Everything is good.
We set the date, no problem.
I somewhat looking forward tomeeting with this person, just
(16:40):
to see what they were about,right, and I get the invite, and
there's a third person invitedin the invite.
Alex (16:48):
Talk about awkward.
Jessica (16:50):
Right, and so I accepted the invite anyway.
Right, because at that point Iwas just like OK, I already know
what I'm walking into, so Ijump on this call.
No clue what this, who thisthird person is, and they go
straight into the pitch.
There was absolutely noopportunity for discussion, to
get to know anything about me,about our business, about what
(17:16):
we do, what we stand for.
Instead of, this is what we do,and this is what we do, and
this is what we do, and, youknow, tell me a little bit more
about this and that and theother.
And it just got so deeplypersonal, without even building
a relationship.
And so I felt really, reallyawkward.
And at the end, I think she cantell that I was a little
(17:36):
standoffish.
The third person, right, becausethe first person wasn't even
saying anything.
And so the third person shenoticed that it was that I was a
little standoffish and she saidto me well, did you know where
you're coming into this meetingfor?
And I said, absolutely no idea.
I was supposed to come intothis meeting just to get to know
each other and a little bitmore about what each other does.
(17:58):
And she was like, oh okay, well, we'll follow up with you in a
couple of weeks and I was like,okay, no problem, and hung up
the call, probably about 15, 20minutes, and we had blocked, I
think, 30 minutes, and I waslike, oh Lord, have mercy, I was
off the hook, right, because itwas such an awkward, awkward
conversation.
(18:19):
And so, please, when you makethat initial connection with
someone, genuinely get to knowthem Right, because at the end
of the day, yes, we're all in itto do business and we're all in
it to make money, right, we'reall in it to build a legacy.
We're all in it to make money,right, we're all in it to build
a legacy.
But you get more bees withhoney Alex says this all the
(18:39):
time you get more bees withhoney.
And so if you step into aconversation getting to know
more about that other person andwhat they do and how you can
potentially be a referralpartner for them, they're going
to appreciate that type ofauthenticity.
And you wanting to invest intheir business, them, they're
going to appreciate that type ofauthenticity and you wanting to
invest in their business, andthen they're going to want to
know the same thing about yours.
Alex (19:00):
Right, right, and going into that, Jessica, there's a
great book that I read.
It's called the Go-Giver, right, and it's a sales book, right.
But it explains, right, thatyou don't always want to receive
, you want to give, right,whether it's information for
something or connecting them tosomeone.
(19:21):
That goes a lot more than thatsales pitch, right.
So it is a great book to read.
I highly recommend it.
If anyone has not read itbefore, it's called the Go-Giver
and I believe the author is BobBerg.
So if you guys get a chance,you should grab the book and
read it.
And it's called the gold giverand I believe the author is bob
berg.
So if you guys get a chance,you should grab the book and
read it.
And it's all about, you know,giving to get those sales going.
Jessica (19:41):
So anything else you?
Alex (19:43):
want to share on this episode although that was mainly
it.
Jessica (19:47):
I had to get that.
I had to get that out of out ofmy head because it was really
bothering me a little bit.
Alex (19:54):
That's definitely like a networking don't.
Jessica (20:02):
Yes, please, we should do another episode on the
networking don'ts, because weget a lot of those.
We network a lot, we love tobuild connections and you know,
and it's not always going to beperfect.
You're going to do awkwardthings and you're going to feel
strange and you're going to feeloutside of your element.
But as you continue to do it,you get more and more
comfortable every single time.
Continue to put yourself outthere with integrity and
authenticity and I guarantee youthat it'll come back to you
(20:24):
tenfold.
Alex (20:25):
Absolutely.
Those are great words.
Preach it girl.
Jessica (20:31):
All right guys.
Alex (20:32):
That wraps up this episode .
Until next time keep hustlingthat wraps up another episode of
married to the hustle.
We hope you enjoyed today'sshow and found some inspiration
(20:53):
and practical tips to apply toyour own business journey.
Jessica (20:57):
We love hearing from you, our amazing listeners.
If you have any stories,questions or tips to share,
connect with us on social mediaor send us an email.
Your input makes this podcasteven better.
Alex (21:08):
And don't forget to subscribe to Married to the
Hustle on your favorite podcastplatform, so you never miss an
episode.
Jessica (21:14):
And if you enjoyed today's episode.
Alex (21:16):
Please leave us a review.
Jessica (21:18):
It really helps us grow and reach more entrepreneurial
couples like you, join us nextweek for more exciting stories,
insightful interviews andvaluable advice.
Until then, keep hustling, keepthriving and keep loving what
you do.
Alex (21:31):
Thanks for tuning in and happy hustling.
Welcome to Married to the Hustle, the podcast where love,
faith and business come together.
Jessica (00:14):
I'm Jessica, and with me is my partner in life and
business, Alex.
Together, we're diving into thewild world of entrepreneurial
couples Each week we'll bringyou real stories, hilarious
(00:37):
moments and valuable insightsfrom couples.
Welcome back, welcome back.
I'm so excited to connect withyou guys today and chat about
networking and networking as apower couple.
Nonetheless, because you knowwe I do a lot of networking on
by myself and alex does somenetworking by himself but when
(01:00):
we're both in the room, how dowe get to work the room?
And so Alex tell our audiencewhy is networking important?
Alex (01:08):
Networking is important, especially when you're starting
out in business, right you want?
For me, networking is like aform of marketing, right?
You're marketing yourself,you're marketing your company,
you let others know what you do,you name the company, how you
can serve others and makingthose connections.
Jessica (01:27):
And.
Alex (01:27):
Jessica, you know when she says working the room right.
So usually when we go intonetworking I tell Jessica, hey,
I'm going to take this side ofthe floor, you take the other
side of the floor and we'll workit.
We'll meet in the middle.
How about that?
It's just a joke, guys.
We don't, we don't network likethat.
But it was pretty funny.
Jessica (01:42):
Right Now we don't network like that, but it was
pretty funny right.
No, we don't have that kind ofstrategy, but it actually sounds
like fun.
Alex (01:56):
Right, see how many people we can meet.
I do say that when I do networkI try to be very authentic and
letting them know, becausenetworking is, it's fun, but it
can also be a little it'll makeyou think right, because people
obviously are there to promotetheir business, right.
So you get a lot of people thatcome, you know, trying to sell
you stuff, and I was one that Iwas buying some of that stuff at
first and I realized, hey,networking shouldn't be about
(02:19):
that selling.
Networking should be aboutbuilding relationships, letting
people know what your businessis, what you do, and just making
connections that way.
Jessica (02:28):
Yeah, for sure, for sure, and I'll say, I'll say
this my coach had said to me onetime that people come into your
circle in one of three waysthey either are client,
connector or collaborator.
Alex (02:42):
There you go.
Jessica (02:42):
And so they come into your space to either potentially
be a client, right, or theycome in to your space to
potentially connect you withsomeone else.
You know what, alex?
Yeah, actually I love what youdo and maybe I know someone at
such and such organization andI'm going to connect the two of
you, right.
And so that's number two.
(03:04):
And then the third one iscollab, the collaborator, right.
It's it's like okay, well, youknow, I might not be able to
connect to you, I might not beable to buy your product, but
you know what, let's collaborateon a couple of projects, let's
get together.
Let you know, do you want to bepart of a board with me?
You know, and and so when youlook at each connection from
that lens a client, a connector,a collaborator it just makes it
(03:27):
so much easier and the pressureis relieved, right.
And hey, my coach is ReneeRebar Shout out to Renee Rebar,
she's the one that talks aboutthat all the time.
And so that helps me take offthat pressure of every discovery
call is a client, everydiscovery call is a client,
right.
And then we start to look atthe clients and the people
inside of these discovery callis a client, every discovery
call is a client right, and thenwe start to look at the clients
and the people inside of thesenetworking events with a dollar
(03:48):
sign on their forehead.
But the reality is that we'reall there for something to grow
something in some way shape orform, and when you take that
pressure off yourself, it makesit such a more viable connection
.
And so you know, another waythat we do networking, not just
(04:09):
like through the chambers ofcommerce, are government
certifications.
So we here are minority women,business enterprise certified
through several agencies, and soI was just on a panel this
morning discussing ourexperience as a certified entity
, and one of the things thatcame up is you know, the
(04:32):
certification get you business.
And the reality is that thecertification does not get you
business.
It does not guarantee you anybusiness at all whatsoever.
But what it does guarantee youis it guarantee guarantees you
to get you in the room, get youin the room with the right
people, and even if you're notthe prime contractor, you might
be the subprime contractor,Right.
(04:52):
So so if you, if you're sub tothat, to that original
contractor, that's still a greatconnection for you to be able
to make.
And so these governmentagencies, they do a lot of
networking events, they do a lotof meet and greets, and being
able to take advantage of a lotof these programs that are free
of charge for us business ownersis very is pivotal, you know,
(05:14):
because that is also anopportunity for you to network
and connect.
Alex (05:19):
I think that you hit a.
You hit a point there with thecertifications.
People almost automaticallythink oh, yeah, yeah, well, I'm
certified, you know.
Now I'm waiting on a business.
You know, it's like waiting forsomebody to come knock on your
door.
Hey, here's this, you know,$200,000 or $300,000 account.
It won't happen that way.
Unfortunately, I was one ofthose people, I'll admit.
(05:40):
Ok, we got these certifications.
Right now, where's the business?
Where's the business?
You have to be in the room.
That's the most important part,right, and some of these
contracts that do come up, likethe big government stuff.
I mean, there are multimilliondollar contracts, right, and
some of the primes that get them.
You know, especially whenyou're a minority, you know the
(06:03):
contract might call for, youknow, a 23 or 25 percent
minority owned company to go inthere with you, and that's the
only way they would get thebusiness.
So then that's when companieswe've seen reach out to us hey,
we're trying to bid on thisproject.
Here's the scope.
We need 23 percent minorityowned business.
Do you want to go into theproject?
And then that's, you know, butthat all entails being in the
(06:27):
room with these people.
Yeah, there's a bigmisconception with the
certifications, right, that thecertifications are automatically
going to get you the business.
And unfortunately it doesn'twork that way.
Right, you still have to workit.
You still have to market yourbusiness.
You still have to go tonetworking events and just being
in the room your business, youstill have to go to networking
events and just being in theroom.
Jessica (06:46):
So, yeah, yeah, and I and we were just at a at an
event a couple of weeks ago.
I was one of the panel coachesat FSMSDC, the Florida State
Minority Supplier Council, andone of the things that that
happened there actually a coupleof times, was that because Alex
and I were in separate areas ofthe event, there were a few
hundred people in there.
(07:07):
When I would meet someone, theywould say wait a minute, is
your husband so-and-so?
And so I would make theseconnections with people because
Alex had already spoken to themabout our business or about me,
and so it was a really great wayto make connections with others
(07:27):
and break the ice too, becausemany people know that I'm an
executive coach and I also ownthe commercial cleaning business
with my husband.
So whenever he would come upwith an interaction where
someone said something aboutbuilding their business or not
knowing how to go aftercertifications or that kind of
stuff, he's like oh, you shouldtalk to my wife, my wife is a
(07:47):
coach, she handles a lot of thatand vice versa.
They will come to me and sayyou know how do you do a bid,
how do.
You do pricing, and I would sayyou know what you definitely
need to connect with Alex, andnot only that, knowing what
agencies to be part of.
You know.
There was another person fromthe janitorial industry that we
met.
There we were like you shouldlook into this agency, that
agency, do this.
(08:08):
Do that because we knew what wehave been able to achieve by
making a lot of theseconnections and networking with
some of these big people,Because when you look at
business, you want to be in thespace of people that are ahead
of you, so that there's no needfor you to innovate.
You just have to emulate what'salready a proven process, Right
(08:31):
, and so being able to learnthat and then share that with
others that maybe you'rementoring it's so important too,
and if you're mentoring someone, I highly recommend that you
invite them to a networkingevent with you so that they can
make some of those connectionsas well and loosen up.
Alex (08:47):
Right, pure example.
That was yesterday.
I got a text from Debbie andher husband that are starting
out in the janitorial space andthey came to me.
They found me in another groupand I answered one of their
questions and they asked if itwas okay to reach out to me
directly.
I said absolutely, what can Ihelp you with?
And you know, they they justgetting started and they wanted
(09:09):
to know how to go about it.
And I told them this is whatwe've done.
And today, as a matter of fact,yesterday they had messaged me,
but today was one of the veryfirst networking events that
they attended.
And here I am cheering them onand she's all nervous because
she's going without her husband.
And she said what should I do?
What should I expect?
(09:29):
I said listen, just relax, it'sokay.
I went through the same thingwhen we first started networking
.
We used to go around the roomand you had 60 seconds or so to
talk about yourself and you knowbackground, what's your
business and what do you do.
And I'll be completely honestwith you when it was next to my
(09:49):
turn where the person before mewent, I broke out in sweat, but
I got over that.
So Debbie was asking you knowI've never done this.
And I said just walk into theroom, you know, say who you are.
Oh, but I don't have businesscards.
I said you don't need businesscards, it's OK.
It's OK, they're still in thevery first stages of startup.
So I share with her.
(10:17):
Hey, you know what?
Sometimes I forget my businesscard too, but here's a free app
that we went to.
Jessica (10:22):
And.
Alex (10:22):
QR me.
I mean it gives the person yourname, your business, your email
, the website, all theinformation that, a business
card.
So I was just trying to cheerher on, not to let that hold her
down, and today I made it apoint to make sure I reach out
to her.
Hey, debbie, how did thenetworking go?
And she said man, it was great.
(10:42):
Thank you so much.
Right so that?
Right so that that for me, youknow.
And I told her, networking isnot just the one and done.
Right, you have to becontinuous with it being
consistent, right?
Yeah, do you agree with that,jessica?
Jessica (10:56):
absolutely, it's about putting you out there.
It's, you know, out of sight,out of mind guys, and.
And so another cleaning companycomes in and they reach out and
suddenly they have a janitorialneed and they won't.
They'll remember your face.
They might be like, oh, whatwas the name of that company?
Again, oh, but this othercompany that I just met last
(11:17):
week, right, so, out of sight,out of mind, you wanna be in the
room at all times, buildingthose relationships, building
those connections, because evenwhen sometimes they come to me
about specific things, I mightnot offer that service, but I
know someone who does, and so Ilove to be able to connect them
with someone else.
And so, you know, we gathered acouple of tips to help you guys
(11:38):
with networking, and Alexshared one of them, which it
wasn't even part of the threetips that I selected, but QRMe
is actually a really cool app ina world of digital connections.
Now the business card doesn'tdo it for you.
Alex (11:53):
Every time I see QR me, it reminds me of our church,
because they always say we'reall about QR codes.
Qr me is it's one of those.
Jessica (12:02):
Yeah, absolutely.
Alex (12:03):
I didn't want to cut you off there, but I just thought
fun fact.
Jessica (12:07):
Well, you just cut me off to share the fun fact.
So that is one of the ways.
Obviously, to connect withpeople is by having a digital
business card, but here's thething when it comes to making a
connection with someone, it'snot the business card that will
do it.
It's all in the follow up.
And so let's talk about thethree tips that we gathered to
be able to share with you guys.
(12:28):
So tip number one is have agoal to meet two to three people
.
The biggest thing that you cando to yourself is get
overwhelmed when you pull intothe parking lot and there's 300
cars outside, because you willget there, and as quickly as you
showed up is as quickly asyou're going to leave, because
you're going to be so far out ofyour comfort zone that you
(12:51):
won't feel comfortable in goingin and even introducing yourself
.
And so what's number two, alex?
Alex (12:57):
For me.
I mean, we have three tips, butone thing that just came up to
mind, right, when you'rementioning you know meeting two
to three people people usually,right, when they come up to you,
what do you do?
Right?
That's the very first question.
I always say be different,right?
Ask something different thanthey're not used to answering,
and that's going to spark theconversation right away right.
(13:19):
So, instead of asking somebodyhey, so what do you do?
So how's your year going?
You know, have you met yourgoals this year?
It opens different conversation, right, Absolutely.
So that's one of my tips.
Another one is following up,having a goal to exchange
contact info with two to threeconnections.
That's usually our goal when wego out networking and then we,
(13:41):
at the end of the day, just like, well, who did you meet, you
know?
And I tell her, well, this iswho I met and this is what they
do.
But the most important part isthe follow up.
If someone really interests youand you want to get to know
their business or how you guyscan, you know, share insight
with each other about you knowtheir business or your business,
(14:02):
join them for a cup of coffee,right?
Right, have a sit down,conversation and one-on-ones.
Those are important, right?
How can you serve each other?
Jessica (14:07):
Absolutely.
And so the last one, alex,touch on it, which is the
follow-up.
It's not the connection thatyou made card, that you
exchanged the selfie that youtook.
I tend to do that I takeselfies and then I'll text them.
Be like, yeah, let me just sendyou those pictures, just so
that you remember who I am, andso so it's the.
The secret sauce is in thatfollow-up, and so just this
(14:30):
morning I was at an event, metfour people at the event.
As soon as I got to the office,the first thing that I did was
send them an email, just so thatthe exchange and the
interaction is memorable, and soI brought up points of things
that they discussed.
One of them said that we shouldbecome a vendor for one of the
other counties because theydon't have a certification
program, and she shared a coupleof organizations and I
(14:53):
obviously I was just about totake the stage to be on a panel,
and so I didn't immediatelywrite it down.
So I, of course, followed upwith an email.
Hey, what were thoseorganizations again that you
mentioned?
So the follow up is key inorder to stay connected.
So, like Alex said, go meet fora cup of coffee, and it doesn't
have to be in person.
Do it virtually, right, if youfeel more comfortable just
(15:15):
chatting, just taking 15, 30minutes to connect with each
other and know what you do andwho you can refer business to.
Oh my gosh, and guys, pleasedon't do it the other way.
I have to share an experiencewith you.
For privacy, I won't share whoit was.
I met someone at an event acouple of weeks ago.
They text me hey, it was.
I met someone at an event acouple of weeks ago.
(15:37):
They text me hey, it was greatmeeting you.
Yes, it was so great meetingyou too.
Oh, we should stay connected.
Absolutely, we definitelyshould stay connected.
I would love that.
About two or three days go byand I get a text back June 12th,
11 AM.
That wasn't the date, but itwas.
You know, that's what themessage said.
And I replied back, excuse me.
And they replied back oh, sorry, that wasn't for you.
(15:57):
And so now, at that point, I'm alittle.
I'm a little ticked off, right.
I'm like, ah, yeah, that's nothow you ask someone to.
You know, set up a meeting.
You know what I mean.
Like that's how you do it.
And so I, I said, uh, I said toher I said oh okay, good, it
wasn't for me, because if thatwas the date that you selected,
I was not available anyway.
(16:17):
But if you wanted to connectbecause I know that's what she
was trying to do I'd love to beable to connect with you in a
couple of weeks, because I thinkthe following week was a
holiday and so we were gonna betied up.
We decided to set a date.
Everything is good.
We set the date, no problem.
I somewhat looking forward tomeeting with this person, just
(16:40):
to see what they were about,right, and I get the invite, and
there's a third person invitedin the invite.
Alex (16:48):
Talk about awkward.
Jessica (16:50):
Right, and so I accepted the invite anyway.
Right, because at that point Iwas just like OK, I already know
what I'm walking into, so Ijump on this call.
No clue what this, who thisthird person is, and they go
straight into the pitch.
There was absolutely noopportunity for discussion, to
get to know anything about me,about our business, about what
(17:16):
we do, what we stand for.
Instead of, this is what we do,and this is what we do, and
this is what we do, and, youknow, tell me a little bit more
about this and that and theother.
And it just got so deeplypersonal, without even building
a relationship.
And so I felt really, reallyawkward.
And at the end, I think she cantell that I was a little
(17:36):
standoffish.
The third person, right, becausethe first person wasn't even
saying anything.
And so the third person shenoticed that it was that I was a
little standoffish and she saidto me well, did you know where
you're coming into this meetingfor?
And I said, absolutely no idea.
I was supposed to come intothis meeting just to get to know
each other and a little bitmore about what each other does.
(17:58):
And she was like, oh okay, well, we'll follow up with you in a
couple of weeks and I was like,okay, no problem, and hung up
the call, probably about 15, 20minutes, and we had blocked, I
think, 30 minutes, and I waslike, oh Lord, have mercy, I was
off the hook, right, because itwas such an awkward, awkward
conversation.
(18:19):
And so, please, when you makethat initial connection with
someone, genuinely get to knowthem Right, because at the end
of the day, yes, we're all in itto do business and we're all in
it to make money, right, we'reall in it to build a legacy.
We're all in it to make money,right, we're all in it to build
a legacy.
But you get more bees withhoney Alex says this all the
(18:39):
time you get more bees withhoney.
And so if you step into aconversation getting to know
more about that other person andwhat they do and how you can
potentially be a referralpartner for them, they're going
to appreciate that type ofauthenticity.
And you wanting to invest intheir business, them, they're
going to appreciate that type ofauthenticity and you wanting to
invest in their business, andthen they're going to want to
know the same thing about yours.
Alex (19:00):
Right, right, and going into that, Jessica, there's a
great book that I read.
It's called the Go-Giver, right, and it's a sales book, right.
But it explains, right, thatyou don't always want to receive
, you want to give, right,whether it's information for
something or connecting them tosomeone.
(19:21):
That goes a lot more than thatsales pitch, right.
So it is a great book to read.
I highly recommend it.
If anyone has not read itbefore, it's called the Go-Giver
and I believe the author is BobBerg.
So if you guys get a chance,you should grab the book and
read it.
And it's called the gold giverand I believe the author is bob
berg.
So if you guys get a chance,you should grab the book and
read it.
And it's all about, you know,giving to get those sales going.
Jessica (19:41):
So anything else you?
Alex (19:43):
want to share on this episode although that was mainly
it.
Jessica (19:47):
I had to get that.
I had to get that out of out ofmy head because it was really
bothering me a little bit.
Alex (19:54):
That's definitely like a networking don't.
Jessica (20:02):
Yes, please, we should do another episode on the
networking don'ts, because weget a lot of those.
We network a lot, we love tobuild connections and you know,
and it's not always going to beperfect.
You're going to do awkwardthings and you're going to feel
strange and you're going to feeloutside of your element.
But as you continue to do it,you get more and more
comfortable every single time.
Continue to put yourself outthere with integrity and
authenticity and I guarantee youthat it'll come back to you
(20:24):
tenfold.
Alex (20:25):
Absolutely.
Those are great words.
Preach it girl.
Jessica (20:31):
All right guys.
Alex (20:32):
That wraps up this episode .
Until next time keep hustlingthat wraps up another episode of
married to the hustle.
We hope you enjoyed today'sshow and found some inspiration
(20:53):
and practical tips to apply toyour own business journey.
Jessica (20:57):
We love hearing from you, our amazing listeners.
If you have any stories,questions or tips to share,
connect with us on social mediaor send us an email.
Your input makes this podcasteven better.
Alex (21:08):
And don't forget to subscribe to Married to the
Hustle on your favorite podcastplatform, so you never miss an
episode.
Jessica (21:14):
And if you enjoyed today's episode.
Alex (21:16):
Please leave us a review.
Jessica (21:18):
It really helps us grow and reach more entrepreneurial
couples like you, join us nextweek for more exciting stories,
insightful interviews andvaluable advice.
Until then, keep hustling, keepthriving and keep loving what
you do.
Alex (21:31):
Thanks for tuning in and happy hustling.
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