An easy way to network

Build a thriving network with this one habit that takes less than 10 minutes a day.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:02):
Good morning. This is Laura. Today's tip is about an
easy way to know. When I ask people what they
want to spend more time doing, certain things come up
a lot, like exercising or reading. Imagine that, right. But
it's not all personal activities. On the work side, many

(00:22):
people tell me they should be networking more. I think
that's wise. Any big thing you're gonna do in life
is probably going to require other people. So the more
people you know, the bigger you're cheering squad. And that's
a good thing. But when you're in the busy years
of building your career and raising a family, going to
a cocktail party and handing out business cards just doesn't

(00:44):
seem like a great way to spend time. Plus, we've
all seen those networkers and I'm putting that in air
quote marks by the way, who are constantly looking over
people's shoulders at parties for someone more important to talk to.
It's all so transactional, no thank you, But there are
lots of other ways to nurture relationships, which I think

(01:05):
is a much better phrase than networking. Anyway. One of
my favorite tips comes from my friend Molly Beck, who
is the author of a book called reach Out that's
just what she advocates doing. Basically, you send one email
a day to someone you either know or would like
to get to know better. Ideally, the email is congratulating
the person or thanking them for something they did recently,

(01:27):
or you might send the person something that made you
think of them. Maybe you're introducing yourself because a friend
or colleague said you should get in touch, or maybe
you're asking a question that's well thought through, like not
something you can just google the answer. So just a
short email, take five minutes in the morning to do this.
One email per work day is five a week. That's

(01:48):
two fifty or so a year. Not everyone will respond,
but some will. Maybe a hundred will respond, and of
those you'll go back and forth with fifty, maybe half
of those will turn out to be people you really with.
That doesn't sound like too many, but building twenty strong
relationships per year is actually pretty good. In five years,

(02:08):
that's a hundred people. If you've got a hundred people
really cheering for you, you can do a lot. These
people will help you find your next job, find new employees,
find new markets for your projects, maybe introduce you to
other friends. And all this comes from sending just one
email per day. I know this works because Molly sent

(02:30):
me one of her reach out emails a few years
ago after she read a few of my books. Let
me read the letter to you. Good morning, Laura, thank
you so much for retweeting my tweet this morning about
my blog post where I gushed about a hundred sixty
eight hours. I really enjoyed both A hundred sixty eight
hours and What the Most Successful People Do before Breakfast?

(02:50):
And I am so intrigued and impressed by how your
writing career in the past few years has focused on
productivity and time management. What a great space. I eve
and made my boyfriend read What the Most Successful People
Do Before Breakfast before he came into a busy time
at his law firm, because I thought the advice was
so valuable. If there's anything I can do to support

(03:11):
or help you, please let me know best. Molly. Well,
who wouldn't like to receive a nice email like that?
It pretty much made my day. Just a hundred words
are so coming off something small I did on social media.
It really doesn't have to be profound. I responded, of course,
thanking her for her kind words, and I started following

(03:32):
her writing we've stayed in touch ever since. Isn't it
great to realize that you can build a network without
putting on uncomfortable clothes and making awkward small talk. So
I'm challenging you to try this, just one short email.
Who are you going to reach out to today? This

(03:53):
is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making the
most of our time. Yeah. Hey, everybody got a tip
or a question? You can share them with me on Twitter,
Facebook or Instagram at Before Breakfast Pod that's be the

(04:15):
number four, then Breakfast p o D. You can also
email me at Before Breakfast Podcast at iHeart media dot
com for the email to spell those words out. I
look forward to connecting and learning how you make the
most of your time.