Reconnecting through storytelling, outreach & value
Checking in with connections and expanding your network is essential to growth and opportunity. It requires storytelling, outreach and value. Your story should be clear and tight. Your outreach targeted and disciplined. And you should make it a value-exchange, not just self-serving. When done right, reconnecting amplifies your inspiration, provides valuable feedback and often will connect you to new people and opportunities in authentic ways.
While I've networked well through my career, approaching it recently in a focused manner has shed new light for me.
A few pro-tips on focused networking:
Storytelling: Make sure your story is clear and succinct. In a few punchy sentences, you should be able to catch folks up to speed and then prompt more open conversation. Think about how you're framing your updates and positioning, test it out, and capture feedback. Also be sure to remember what the things are that light you up. Keep those as anchors. Vibes matter while networking. If you read my earlier posts on “resetting, reconnecting, relaunching” as three layers to new possibilities, you probably noticed that story is present through multiple steps - that’s no coincidence. Great storytelling iterates and evolves with great feedback and brings continuity to the process.
Outreach: Write down a list of all the people through your career who have inspired you or who you've admired. 50-100 people is a good start. Your outreach should emphasize learning and growth, not simply trying to solve a problem or get a job. And remember, networking is a two-way value exchange. Be sure to share recent learnings - remember, you bring a lot to the table as well.
Value: Periodically curate your inspiration and learnings so that you can share during and after conversation. Send follow up notes to recap insights, take-aways and and links to recent inspiration to keep the connecting going. If you're trying to expand your network, don't be afraid to ask for introductions once you've shared your updates and focus areas.
After having reconnected and networked with 30+ marketers and business leaders over the last couple of months, here are some great provocations, insights and tips that came out of my reconnecting conversations:
GROWTH & REFLECTION:
We are all human and asking similar questions.
Make a 4-box. What are you great at, not so great at, what do you want to do more of and less of? A similar way this was framed to me is what do you want to “keep / lose / add?”
Have a sense of where you will you make the most impact in the future and prioritize that among other factors.
Don't forget the seminal experiences that shaped you. My seminal anchors, similar to many I reconnected with have been connected brands, media-fueled creativity, telling stories that matter and build relationships, fueling journeys from brand to demand.
Common stepping up moment: "It was time to bet on myself." The next step that followed often was systematic reconnecting and networking.
PERSONAL POSITIONING:
“Positioning the positioners” - it's not uncommon for marketers to struggle with this a bit, particularly when they have diverse experience.
Ask qualifying questions at the beginning of conversations so that you know your audience and can maximize your relevance.
Don't over-position yourself out of opportunity - but do have a statement that can flex to opportunity.
Uncover the intersections in your experience - the knitting is where the magic happens.
What are your superpowers? Identify 3-4 and align at least 3 success stories to each superpower.
NAVIGATING CHALLENGES & LEADERSHIP:
There are trade-offs when working at big versus small companies, people versus tech-intensive companies, and so on. Your priorities around trade-offs may shift over time and that’s okay.
Know when you're managing to outcomes and when you’re managing to perceptions.
Is Marketing closer to Product (to fuel customer insight) or closer to Sales (scaling an offering with product-market fit)? Or closer to another team, and why might that be?
Demand generation is of limited value if you don't have sufficient relationships to sales and business teams to translate opportunity into revenue.
I hope these reconnecting pro-tips and personal take-aways are helpful. My biggest piece of advice is to start by connecting with some "friendlies." You'll get a sense of whether your story and approach are tracking, take immediate energy from the conversation and see that networking is an activity that naturally builds its own momentum, feedback loops, iterations and serendipity.
