3 Tips On How To Build A Strong Network When You’re Only Starting Out

Welcome back to the list building lifestyle. I’m your host, Igor Kheifets, I don’t care what you do, you’re probably going to have to network and you’re probably going to have to talk to other people and try to leverage your relationship with them. In order to get what you want. Whether big or small, your goals will be largely dependent on your ability to get other people to do your bidding. And so for that, I wanted to share with you three networking tips I use all the time anytime I go to a party or a seminar or any kind of networking environment, where I am required to perform at a high level in order to get other people to like me, trust me, and want to work with me. So this episode is extremely practical, and I’m revealing some really, really advanced networking techniques.

00:50

I’m Igor Kheifets and this is the list building lifestyle. The podcast for anyone who wants to build a wildly profitable email list working from home. If you’d like to make six figures travel the world and help people improve their lives in the process. This podcast is for you. I also invite you to claim a free copy of my bestselling book, the list building lifestyle Confessions of an email millionaire at www.igorsbook.com. Get the free book plus $3,000 Bonus packages including my best capture page templates, email, swipe files, and traffic blueprints, visit www.igorsbook.com for details. And now it’s time to claim your list building lifestyle.

01:35

They say your net worth is your network. And I really started feeling that in the last few years in my business because starting out, it wasn’t about the network, it was more about my ability to drive traffic to an offer, which a lot of times resulted in me just buying media. And I didn’t require a network per se, in order to succeed, my network was pretty tiny and was really, really small compared to some of the other people’s networks, especially the ones who do product launches and recruit affiliates and stuff like that. However, in recent years, I have been incorporating the model of joint venture mailings, and I’ve been really getting out there. And I’m starting to realize just how important your network is and how it can actually define your success. In fact, I was just connecting earlier today, with Ryan live STV manager who almost nonchalantly mentioned they can put to 2500 people on the webinar, which is more than I know that some companies the size of a gore are able to put on a webinar, which means you know, they’re really, really big. But the thing is that Ryan Levesque is predominantly doing product launches, and his list was built off of the back of, you know, other people mailing for him, which means that he was able to achieve in a really short span of time, incredible list growth, simply because his network supported that, you know, his network of people who promote his offers. So I find it to be fascinating, because you can be really toiling away at an outcome for many, many years. But then you can meet one or two people that can really propel you forward with relation to that particular outcome. Which is why over the years, you know, over the last few years, I’ve been joining these expensive masterminds that cost 20,000 hours a year, in hopes to expand my network, and to really try and increase my reach just through the means of just handshakes. And what I’ve been discovering is that the industry does work like that, where you shake enough hands and you get to the right people. And that one connection can bring in a lot of success, your weight, in fact, just associating with some other person alone can make everyone else in that circle want to work with you, because they respect and admire this other person. I’ve seen this many times with my own offer where one high-profile GV picked it up. And I’m not gonna see what I had to do to get them to do it. But they picked it up. And because the entire industry is spying on them, they all hit me up and they’re like, hey, I want to run this offer too, because for them, that’s like the ultimate test. If this other successful person ran the offer, then they want to run the offer. So I want to give you a tip for you networking, because one thing is being able to join an inexpensive mastermind or to get into a room full of people. It’s a whole other experience to try and get these people to work with you. And one tip I’ll give you is that I don’t actually talk to people about working with me. Most of the time. I used to be very straightforward. I’m you know, I grew up in Israel. I was born in Ukraine, but I grew up in Israel. And in Israel, everyone is super straightforward. They really shouldn’t stray. They’re kind of like, it’s as if they’re from Texas, but on steroids. They know, whatever they want from you they’ll actually Ask for it straight up, there’s gonna be no apologies about it. No queasiness about it, they won’t hold back. And you know, just so you understand. You know, one time and this really came up to me, and he really admired what I was doing. And you really wanted to work with me in some way. And the first question he asked me was, so how much are you making? You know, like, it’s just it goes to tell you that it goes to show you that Israelis will shoot straight and I come from that environment. So the first time I went to a seminar, which was in London, that’s how I was I really had no idea there’s a culture difference between someone like me and someone who’s from London, or from New York, or from well, probably less so from New York, New Yorkers are pretty straightforward, too. But, you know, I kind of had to learn it the hard way. Because I would shoot street and I would ask for joint ventures, I would ask for connections, I would, I would really ask for what I wanted. Without much preamble, like for me, at the time, the whole idea of hey, how are you doing where you from? All this stuff was kind of trivial. It’s like, yeah, let’s get past that. And let’s just get straight to making money, because I assumed everybody was like me, and they just wanted to make a lot of money. But what I’ve discovered is, it’s quite the opposite. And incidentally, it was an Israeli friend of mine who taught me this. As somebody who was really experienced in the Western markets. His name is Itay Paz. He’s a dear friend of mine. And he, you know, one time we went to a seminar in Vegas together. And, you know, he told me to stop being so upfront and to do more schmoozing. I said, what the hell is schmoozing? Said, Well, you know, it’s like, the non-business stuff, you just hang out as, like, what, but isn’t the old pain to go to this seminar to go make some money? It’s like, Yeah, but you don’t talk about the money. You don’t talk about doing business. You just schmooze. And that seminar, I did exactly what he told me. And I basically did not mention any business stuff at all. I didn’t talk about my business goals. I didn’t try to get them to promote my stuff. I didn’t mention my podcast, I didn’t do anything business. See at all, I just hung out with these people. We basically had dinners together, drank together, had fun together, I told anecdotes, and I was basically trying to be more of a fun person to be around. And this changed the game, all of a sudden, people wanted to work with me, because I was fun. I was a fun guy. As simple as that. I mean, it sounds so weird, and counterintuitive, and almost back ass words, but people want to work with people who they like. And what’s really interesting is that the less I talk about business, the less I try to get people to work with me in some capacity, the more they’re open to the whole idea. So at some point after the relationship has developed, all I have to do is just say, Oh, and by the way, what do you think of the idea of being blank? You know, what do you think of the idea of us doing this project together?” And because there’s been so much positivity associated with, you know, within our relationship with this person, we’re both open to all sorts of projects, because we’ve now grown to like each other. And that’s, that’s really been key to my networking. Now, at first, I did find it a bit difficult because I thought I had to be a hypocrite for the lack of a better word. Like I thought I had to really go and befriend people that I didn’t like, or tried to take interest in what they liked. Even though I didn’t like what they liked. I thought I was supposed to agree with them about their political beliefs and stuff like that. But you know what, that actually wasn’t true. I did retain part of my Israeli personality. And I basically stay true to my core values. Like if we’re having a political discussion, you know, I’m not necessarily bashing their opinion, but I’m also not agreeing with them. If we talk about religion, or if we talk, you know, with different controversial topics. I express my honest opinion, in a non-toxic way. And we are still able to respect each other, and still continue to like each other. In fact, what I’m finding is that if you do stay true to your values, people respect that and they find it refreshing because most of the time when you connect with people in the business environment, when you try to network, everyone’s fucking fake. Let’s face it. We’ve all been there. We won’t see that world seeing the smiles that move, you know, the lips move, or the eyes don’t move at all. Right? We’ve seen that before. And I absolutely despise that. There’s this fake facade, where I have no idea if I can actually trust the person in front of me. I also hate it when people are way too nice. That’s another thing I really don’t like, like if yours, you know how, like something can be sweet to a point where it’s not to take significantly cuz it’s too sweet. Like, that’s how I find some people are too nice. No one’s that nice, really nobody that nice of a person, everybody has their opinions, everyone has their, you know, personality quirks. So I’m just trying to stay true to who I am, but at the same time be a fun person to be around. And that as a networking tool is, is just very, very effective. And at the same time, I don’t feel like a sleazy douchebag you know, having to pretend I’m someone that I’m not. Now of course, there’s some other, you know, more of a physical, I guess,

10:46

tips that I can give you, I actually recommend reading the book called the light switch, because it gives you lots of different cues and tools and how to be a little bit more likable. But the one thing I’ll tell you about this smile more. Just if you’re at a networking event, just smile more, walk around the room and smile, because what would you think you think you’re smiling? Okay, I’ll give you this, I’ll tell you this, you think you’re smiling, but you’re not, you think you’ve got a friendly face, but you don’t, your face will be friendlier. If you really extend that smile, like from cheek to ear, and walk around the room, just being someone who appears to be approachable. You know, because at every single seminar or networking event, I’ll see people either kind of, you know, getting sucked into their thoughts or something, or thinking about a problem, or just seeing they’re not thinking about anything at all, but their face is like it’s made of stone. If they only smiled a bit, they would be a little bit more approachable. And then they would make way more connections. Again, another lesson I had to learn the hard way, because I’m not a smiley type of personality. But now anytime I network, anytime I even if I get on a zoom call, I actually don’t look at my, at my counterpart on the you know, during the conversation, I look at myself, I look at my own face when I talk to anyone on Zoom to make sure that I am smiling. And the moment I see my face go frown again. Right and because I’m Ukrainian by origin, so my face is pretty. What’s the word? I don’t say brutal, but it’s not necessarily the most. It’s not a Jim Carrey kind of face. That’s, that’s always fun to look at, you know, it’s more of a JSON stem kind of face where it’s like, it’s as if I’ve got constipation, you know, like, it’s not, unless I’m really smiling. I’m not, you know, friendly looking. So now when I’m having zoom calls, I’ll be looking at myself. And the moment I see my, my, the corners of my mouth go down. I am literally picking them up. I’m literally trying to smile almost too much. Almost like a joker smile. Right? At borderlines you know, appearing crazy, but that’s still better than that peering, like you’re about to kick someone’s ass. So, between these two things, you know, just schmooze more and smile more, I think you’ll become at least 80% more effective when you network. Thank you for listening to the list building lifestyle, get access to the previous episodes transcript of today’s show, as well as other exclusive content at listbuildinglifestyleshow.com. Also remember to claim your free copy of my bestselling book at www.igorsbook.com. It explains how I made millions with list building starting from scratch. Plus, I’ll give you $3,000 worth of free bonuses, including my best landing page templates, email, swipe files, and traffic blueprints. Go to www.igorsbook.com. Now to claim your free package.