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Powerful Women Rising - A Business Podcast for Female Entrepreneurs
Welcome to Powerful Women Rising, the no-nonsense, laugh-out-loud podcast for heart-centered female entrepreneurs ready to make an impact (and a profit) while staying true to themselves!
Forget cookie-cutter, one size fits all advice. Each episode provides customizable advice and strategies to help you grow and scale your business - from leveraging authentic connections to mastering the art of marketing without feeling like a salesy weirdo. Plus, you'll hear insightful interviews with experts who shed light on those sneaky blind spots in your businessand dish out practical, no-BS advice for making more money in a way that feels good.
Tune in and transform the way you do business – because when women rise together, the sky's the limit!
Powerful Women Rising - A Business Podcast for Female Entrepreneurs
Expanding Your Network: Strategies for Meeting New People
If you're networking with the same people over and over again, you're probably doing it wrong.
When you're not consistenly meeting new people, your network risks becoming stale and stagnant, which doesn't benefit anyone.
You can easily shift the momentum and transform your business by stepping out of your comfort zone once in a while and meeting new people.
In this episode, I'm sharing practical strategies to help even the most shy or introverted among us build new connections.
We'll discuss how to strike the right balance between meeting new people, nurturing existing relationships, and converting those connections into power partners or clients.
You'll also learn some creative ways to meet new people and simple steps you can take to decrease your anxiety so you can meet new people with confidence and ease.
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Our next PWR Virtual Speed Networking Event is a GREAT place to meet new people! https://powerfulwomenrising.com/events
For even deeper connections, check out the Powerful Women Rising Community here: https://powerfulwomenrising.com/community/
Don't forget my free list of the Top Virtual Networking Events for Female Entreprenuers! https://powerfulwomenrising.com/
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Episode Highlights:
00:02:30 Why Is It Important to Meet New People?
00:03:24 The Three Business Buckets and Why They Matter
00:08:28 Creative Places to Meet New People
00:16:24 Tips For My Shy, Introverted or Anxious Friends
We all know that staying in your comfort zone is so much easier and so much more enjoyable most of the time. I am famous for going to a networking event and sitting in a corner with the three people that I already knew maybe even the three people that I came with for hours and then being like what I networked? I went to the networking event People. This is not how it's done. If you want to grow, you've got to stretch beyond your comfort zone. You need to continually meet new people, even if it feels a little scary. In today's episode, we're going to break down why it's important to always be meeting new people. I'm going to share some creative ideas for how to do that and offer some tips for my introverted, shy and anxious friends who might find this idea a little overwhelming. Let's dig in.
Speaker 2:Welcome to Powerful Women Rising, the podcast where we ditch the rulebook and build businesses with authenticity, integrity and a whole lot of fun. Join host Melissa Snow, business relationship strategist and founder of the Powerful Women Rising community, as she interviews top experts and shares candid insights on business strategy, marketing, mindset and more. Let's get real, get inspired and rise together. This is Powerful Women Rising.
Speaker 1:Welcome back to another episode of the Powerful Women Rising podcast. I'm your host, melissa Snow, and I am a business relationship strategist. I love helping female entrepreneurs grow their business in a way that feels good to them, through genuine connections, heart-centered relationships and networking like a human and not like a salesy weirdo. That is my jam, and so with this podcast, I'm hoping to help you do just that. I love including interviews with experts who are in my circle, these lovely humans who have so much to share about so many different aspects of business, and also these solo episodes where I try to help you out with your networking game, up it just a little bit, or maybe even get it started, who knows. So today we are talking about meeting new people and how that can benefit your business and how to actually do it. I love these podcasts where it's like all these really good ideas and then you're like that all sounds so good. And then, after you listen to it, you're like I don't know what to do now, but it sounded so good. So I'm going to try to give you some actionable strategies, some things you can do today to start making this a little bit easier and meet some new people. So let's start with the question of why it's important to always be meeting new people.
Speaker 1:I've touched on this in some past episodes about networking and I've said, if you are networking with the same people over and over again, you are probably doing it wrong. And that can sound a little bit counterintuitive, because what I also talk about is how it takes time and effort to create deep, meaningful relationships with the people in your network, and in order to do that, you have to consistently be connecting with those same people over and over again. So you've got to find the balance between the two. You've got to find the balance between the two. You've got to find the balance between working on deepening your relationships with the people that you currently know and also still making sure that you are consistently bringing new people into your circle. This is one of the things that I see a lot on a broader level and I've had many conversations about this with my business besties that there are kind of these three buckets in business, where and people call them different things, but one of them is like attracting new people into your circle or into your audience. One is about nurturing the people who are currently in your audience, creating more of that know, like and trust with them. And then one is about converting those people to actual paying clients.
Speaker 1:And what I see over and over again with the Women in the Powerful Women Rising community and even just people that I know who have businesses and I do it myself is we get really focused on one of these buckets and we neglect the other two. Right? So we realize, like gosh, I'm really not consistently bringing new people in. I don't have a lot of new signups on my list. I don't have a lot of new signups on my list. I don't have a lot of new followers on Instagram, whatever it is. I don't. I'm not bringing people in consistently new people. And so we get really focused on that, and while we're doing that, we forget to nurture the people who are already in our circle. Or we're really focused on nurturing, or we're really focused on converting or even just serving the clients that we currently have, and so we forget to keep doing the things that bring new people into the circle.
Speaker 1:It happens with networking as well. We get these relationships that we love, these people that we adore and cherish, and we just want to spend all of our time with them, because they're so smart and fun and supportive and have done fabulous things for our business, and we forget that we also need to be bringing new people into our circle as well. The reason that this is important is because networking only works if both people are consistently growing their network. Right, if I have a relationship with you and you have 50 people in your network now, I have the ability to share my new product, my upcoming event, my service, my mission, whatever it is, with the 50 people in your network. But two years from now, if you still only have 50 people in your network, that's not going to be super helpful for me, right? But if you are consistently bringing new people into your network and two years from now, you've now grown your are consistently bringing new people into your network. And two years from now, you've now grown your network to 2000 people, and so have I. That is going to benefit us both a lot more than when we each had 50 people in our network.
Speaker 1:Plus, you are always going to find new people who bring new things to the table. You're never going to get to a point where it's like every role in my network is filled. I have everything that I need. All new ideas come from the people that I have. All new opportunities come from the people that I have. I have no reason to meet new people, hear new ideas, learn new opportunities right Like. That's never going to happen. So that's also part of the reason that it's important to always be bringing new people into your circle.
Speaker 1:You are building deeper relationships, you're increasing that know, like and trust factor with the people you have in your circle, but you are also bringing new people into the circle all of the time and that doesn't mean again, consistency is not constancy. So that doesn't mean you're bringing new people in every single day. That doesn't mean you're going to networking events every single week and finding new people to follow up with. It could just be that you go to one networking event every month and each time you go to a networking event you set a goal of finding one new person to bring into your network. But if you're doing that consistently over a year, that's 12 new people that you've brought into your network just that year and that is huge. Like we are talking quality over quantity here. So 12 people, that's 12 new opportunities, ideas, people to bounce things off of, people to support you and people to say your name in the rooms that you are not in.
Speaker 1:If you are only ever networking with the same people, your network can become stale and stagnant, and that is not going to do much to push your business forward. Growth comes from new opportunities, fresh perspectives and, yes, new connections. The world is constantly evolving, so is your business, and so your network should also evolve with it. When you meet new people, you expand your influence, you reach new audiences and you expose yourself to new ideas, collaborations and opportunities that you wouldn't have had access to if you had stayed in your comfort zone. Think of it this way Every new connection is like adding a new thread to your web, making it stronger, making it more diverse and making it more powerful. And it's not just about what you can get from new people. It's also about what you can give, too. When you expand your network, you have more opportunities to be of value, to offer your expertise and to connect other people and to be a part of an even bigger community. So how do you do that, especially when you are someone like me who's like do I actually have to leave the house? Do I actually have to leave the house? Do I actually have to talk to humans Like what is this all about? There are still ways that you can meet new people and have fun at the same time and actually enjoy yourself. The typical networking event where you go, you pass out your business cards, you have a drink, you schmooze that gets really old. So let's talk about some creative ways to expand your network.
Speaker 1:If you are like me and you don't like to have to put on hard pants or leave the house, there are a lot of opportunities to create real, genuine connections online. There are some really awesome virtual networking opportunities. There are some really not awesome virtual networking opportunities. Of course, my favorite is the Powerful Women Rising Virtual Speed Networking event, which happens every month, and you can find more information about that on my website. But you can also find on my website a list that I created of the top virtual networking events for female entrepreneurs. It's not just mine, there's three or four other ones on there that I actually have attended, had a great experience at and some information on there for you to know if it is the right fit for you, if it's worth checking out. So I definitely recommend checking out some of those and seeing if they feel like a good space for you.
Speaker 1:You can also do networking online in online communities like Slack or Discord, also in LinkedIn groups or Facebook groups. These are great places to strike up conversations, ask for advice or just get to know people in a kind of low pressure environment. Just make sure that you find the communities that align with you, that there are people who are in a similar niche as you, there are people who have a similar ideal client as you, but maybe not a group of people who all do the same thing as you, and you also want to look for communities where people have similar values, where you can tell that the community is really focused on getting to know each other, creating connections, providing value to each other, and it's not just one of those groups that's like everybody drop your promo, because that is not going to help you in creating connections. I also recommend attending industry conferences or workshops, even virtual ones, that are geared towards people in your industry, whether it is life coaching or maybe it is like marketing and promotion. So you build websites, but you're also going to meet people there who do copywriting and brand photography and build apps or whatever it is right. So that is a great opportunity for you to meet the right people and to find a good concentration of the right people in one place, which is going to make your life a lot easier. You will also get the added benefit of learning new things while you expand your network, and if you find a virtual opportunity, you can do it from your couch in your comfy clothes Hashtag. Winning.
Speaker 1:I also recommend looking for co-working spaces if that is a vibe for you, or local meetup groups of people who are aligned with the same types of things as you, and it doesn't necessarily even have to be something related to your business. You could find an opportunity to volunteer for a cause that you care about. I volunteer with a local cat rescue here. I foster cats in my house, but I also participate in some of their events and help them out. I go to the cat sanctuary for my shift on Friday and clean, litter boxes and feed cats. I do mostly network with cats, yes, but I've also met some great people and built some good connections and people who have been able to connect me to other people just by doing that.
Speaker 1:So think outside the box in the sense that it doesn't have to be something that always has to do something with your business. It could just be something that you enjoy doing and you're going to find other people who also enjoy doing it and that is going to allow you to spark up a casual conversation that doesn't feel as pressure-y or sales-y or weird, because you're just like two people who both like whitewater rafting right, and maybe that will turn into something that benefits your business. Maybe it won't, but at the very least you'll get to do something that you enjoy and you will make some new friends. I mentioned social media. If you like social media, that can be a good place to meet new people and create new connections if you have a plan for doing it. There's a really great episode of this podcast that is about how to slide into people's DMs without being a salesy weirdo. So definitely listen to that before you try that tactic. But in addition to being in those groups on social media and engaging in those groups, there are also a lot of ways that you can just actively engage with new people on your posts. You can comment on their posts. You can send them a non-salesy DM and start a conversation with them. As long as you approach it from a space of being curious and showing genuine interest in what they're doing, they will likely respond in a positive way. It's when you show up in a weird salesy like I'm pretending, like I want to get to know you, but actually we're both just waiting for me to make the sales pitch is when that's not going to work for you.
Speaker 1:Something else I recommend is getting involved in mastermind groups, and I'm talking about a real mastermind. There's a lot of coaches these days who are calling their group coaching program masterminds. That is not a mastermind. A mastermind is when business owners get together to help each other work out their business challenges. You bring something that you want help brainstorming ideas for you. Bring something that you want feedback on. You bring a challenge or a struggle or an obstacle that you're facing in your business and you get feedback from the other people in your mastermind group about things that have worked for them, ideas that you could try. Um, they help you brainstorm. They help you break through whatever is holding you back in a way that is super helpful, without like being coachy or telling you what to do.
Speaker 1:We have a mastermind group in the Powerful Women Rising community and it is like probably one of, if not the most amazing aspect of the Powerful Women Rising community, and one of the reasons it's so great is because it allows the group members to get to know each other better without doing like formal networking. We're not like, hey, what's your business, how's that? Going Blah, blah, blah, like having those surface level conversations. We're really digging deep into each other's businesses and that is allowing all the members to get to know each other better, to see the person behind the business, to understand the business better, which also allows them to become better referral partners for each other. So, whether it's in the Powerful Women Rising community or another group, if you can find a small group of like-minded people that meet regularly to help each other, tackle challenges together, hold each other accountable, share ideas, that is a fantastic way to grow deeper connections while also learning from people who are working towards similar goals as you. So again, I will put all of the links in the show notes to the things that I have mentioned. I will put a link to the Powerful Women Rising virtual speed networking event. That's just $5, it happens every month. I will put a link for you to go to my website and download my list of the best virtual networking events for female entrepreneurs, and I will also put a link to the Powerful Women Rising community so you can learn more about that, about our mastermind groups and the other things that are offered in that community and see if that seems like a good fit for you.
Speaker 1:The bottom line is there's a lot of different ways to meet new people, obviously, and you have to find what works for you. Try some of them out and see if that was fun or it was not fun, if you got good results or you didn't get good results. Some people love social media. I do a ton of networking on social media and other people would rather gouge their eyes out with a spoon than do anything on social media, and other people would rather gouge their eyes out with a spoon than do anything on social media, and that's okay. You don't have to do all of these things. I'm just giving you ideas so that you can go and find what works for you.
Speaker 1:The last thing I want to touch on before we wrap up are some tips for people who are shy or introverted or anxious, but also want to meet new people and grow their network, because I know a lot of times you might listen to this podcast and listen to me talk about networking and think that all sounds really great for you confident, extroverted, bubbly, chipper what other synonyms can I come up with? People, but that is not going to work for me. Like for me, that sounds freaking, terrifying, and I totally get it. Networking can feel overwhelming, especially if you're on the shy, introverted or anxious side of things. But I'm going to share some simple strategies to help you ease the anxiety and make it a little less scary. My first tip is to start small. You don't need to dive into a room full of 200 people. Start with smaller, more intimate events where there's less pressure and fewer people. Virtual networking events where you can participate from the comfort of your own home are also a great option for this. I think a lot of times walking into a virtual room feels a lot less scary than walking into an actual room where you don't know anybody. So start out virtual or start out in smaller groups if that feels more comfortable for you, and then kind of work your way up.
Speaker 1:Another thing I recommend is preparing ahead of time, and there's a couple different ways that you can do this that are going to help you relieve some of your anxiety. So I recommend, before the event, jotting down a few conversation starters, questions that you can ask people topics that you feel comfortable talking about, and that way you're not going to feel stuck trying to think of something to say when you're on the spot talking to these people. I also recommend doing a little bit of practice talking about who you are and what you do. You can do this with another person, you can do it at a virtual networking event that you attend, you can do it on your own. Just practice talking about what you do, and so when you go to a networking event and you have to introduce yourself, you're going to feel a little bit more confident. Now I have several podcast episodes where I talk about not doing the 30 second commercial, not doing a memorized script. But if you are newer to networking or you're super anxious about it, relying on that 30 second script to introduce yourself is going to be very helpful in helping you reduce your anxiety and then, once you get more comfortable, you can start getting off script. But that is a great place to start. I also recommend doing some preparation to calm your nervous system ahead of time, whether it is essential oils or tapping or affirmations or meditations or even just listening to a song that makes you feel really confident and pumped up. That can really help alleviate your anxiety before going into a networking event.
Speaker 1:I have a couple different things that I do. I have some affirmations that I've recorded on an app called Think Up, where you can record your affirmations in your own voice, and these are affirmations that help me feel more confident. They help me feel more excited about walking into the room. They help me think about the possibilities that could wait for me in that room and all the great things that could happen in that room, and sometimes I will listen to them before I go into the room, just to get myself into that mind space of like okay, this is going to be good, I can be excited about this, I can get excited about this, I can go in feeling a little bit more confident, feeling like, yes, people in here are going to want to talk to me, because I'm reminding myself of those thoughts that create those feelings. I also have a pre-networking playlist that I listen to when I'm driving to a networking event sometimes, because those are the songs that get me pumped up, they get me in a good mood, they get me feeling confident, they get me excited, and that makes a huge difference for me as well.
Speaker 1:So, again, find what works for you. If that doesn't work for you, find something else. And then the last thing I recommend is Remember to focus on quality over quantity. You do not need to meet everyone in the room. You do not need to worry that if you didn't meet Susie over there at table six, that she is going to walk out of this room thinking you are not a friendly person and you are not nice and that is going to destroy your whole business. It doesn't work that way. Set a goal to make a couple of meaningful connections instead of trying to meet all of the people in the room. It's about quality relationships. It's about finding your people. It's not about how many business cards you can collect.
Speaker 1:Again, to go back to the dating analogy, I always used to tell my clients like this isn't about you connecting with all of the guys out there. This is about you connecting with the guy that is right for you. So don't try to create a connection with everybody, because it's not going to happen and it's also not necessary. I also recommend bringing a wingman or wingwoman with you if that helps make you feel more comfortable, someone who can help ease the pressure and you can introduce each other to people, and that sometimes helps take the edge off. And I also recommend giving yourself permission to take breaks when you need to. If you start to feel overwhelmed, it's okay to step outside or go to the bathroom and take a little break.
Speaker 1:Networking is about building relationships, not pushing yourself beyond the limits, and if you respect your energy, take it one step at a time and allow yourself to do what you need to do in order to keep yourself in a good space mentally and emotionally, you are going to create so much better relationships than if you just forced yourself to push through that anxiety and that overwhelm. So give yourself permission to do what you need to do to take care of yourself. At the end of the day, the more you practice, the easier meeting new people will become. You might still feel nervous I still feel nervous and I do this all the time but you will build your confidence and you will start to discover that there is no one right way to network. It's just about showing up as your authentic self in the best way possible and then finding the right connections.
Speaker 1:Okay, friends, that's all I've got for you today. I love how, every time I sit down to record one of these podcast episodes. I'm like man, I have like maybe six minutes worth of stuff to say and then somehow I end up talking for 22 minutes and 36 seconds. Go figure. Thank you so much for hanging out with me today. Don't forget to download my list of top virtual networking events for women and subscribe, leave a review, chat with me on Instagram, do all of the things and I will catch you on the next episode.
Speaker 2:Thanks for listening to Powerful Women Rising. We hope today's episode inspired you to keep rising. If you love the podcast, please subscribe and leave a review. It's like giving us a virtual hug and helps more awesome women like you find the show. Click the link in the show notes to get your free list of top virtual networking events for female entrepreneurs. It's time to make real connections and grow your business with integrity and authenticity. Until next time, keep rising and stay powerful.
