An open invitation to join me and my members inside the Dream Business Club

Your Dream Business

English - August 29, 2022 00:00 - 20 minutes - 19.2 MB - ★★★★★ - 34 ratings
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Previous Episode: Replay: How to Build Relationships and Stand Out on Social Media with Mike Stelzner

Next Episode: How to use your energy to create the success you deserve with Emily K Thomas

Today’s episode of the podcast is a solo episode all about the power of networking, what it’s all about and what it should never be about.

I share with you my recent experiences of re-entering the world of networking and invite you to my open house event, taking place this month!

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

All the things that I have unlearned about networking and what I am now doing about it.
The reason why you want to build your network is because you're looking for reciprocity, not to sell to people.
The world has changed a lot, and we need to be considering our network and the people that we surround ourselves with as a key strategy of our business.

THE ONE THING YOU NEED TO REMEMBER ABOVE ALL ELSE

Networking is not about selling, it’s about finding people who you have a connection with, or people who complement your business.

HIGHLIGHTS YOU SIMPLY CAN'T MISS

I am having a Club Insider Experience, to give you a sneak peek into my membership – and I would love you to join me!
During the Insider Experience week, you will get to join me and all of my amazing members for training on systems and getting organised, coaching calls, mindset workshops, content hours and networking.
This all takes place from 12th to the 16th of September and is a chance for you to join me and my members in the Club for FREE!

LINKS TO RESOURCES MENTIONED IN TODAY’S EPISODE

Natalie Hurdley – Networking Queen

Becci McEvoy – Dream Business Club Content Expert

In Person Live Dream Business Club Event

TRANSCRIPT

Hello and welcome to this week's episode of the podcast. How the devil are you? I hope you're good. I hope you've had a great summer and I'm back. I'm back after doing the replay ones. I had some great feedback from them. It's just really nice to hear some of like the old episodes.

Some of the people I've interviewed before. I think probably the one I got the most feedback was Michael Hyatt's. So if you haven't been there, listen to that. You definitely, definitely want to, because it's a great episode. So before we get started today, I want to talk about something that's happening in The Club.

And actually it's, it's really relevant to today's subject. Because I am doing an open house in The Club from the 12th of September through to the 16th. And basically we're calling it the Insider Experience where you can come and see what it's like to be inside the Club for free with all the Club members.

So I am opening up everything in the Club that you can do. And we have got so many good things going on that week. And you can see it as like either a pick a mix. You come in and do the bits you want, or you attend as many as you can. But really the idea is. I get lots of people asking me questions. I get people joining the Club to see if it really is the way I say it is.

And if I'm the way I say I am, because I don't know about you, but I've been a member of other memberships and other groups where I've been swayed by the person who's the face...

Today’s episode of the podcast is a solo episode all about the power of networking, what it’s all about and what it should never be about.

I share with you my recent experiences of re-entering the world of networking and invite you to my open house event, taking place this month!

KEY TAKEAWAYS COVERED IN THE PODCAST

Natalie Hurdley – Networking Queen

Becci McEvoy – Dream Business Club Content Expert

In Person Live Dream Business Club Event

TRANSCRIPT

And if I'm the way I say I am, because I don't know about you, but I've been a member of other memberships and other groups where I've been swayed by the person who's the face of it. And then I've got in there and I'm not gonna name who they are, but I've got in there and that person has never ever been present.

In fact, the only time they were present was to sell. And I just felt like that just sucks, like completely and utterly sucks. That to me is morally wrong. Like you bring someone on because of the fact that you are, you know, they are liking you. You listen to this podcast because you like me, which is so very kind of you.

And I appreciate that greatly. So if I decided I didn't wanna do the podcast anymore and I got someone else to host well, you wouldn't listen to it. Would you? So it's the same with memberships. So I actually had someone, um, I was talking to one of my members who was fairly new and she'd only been in a couple of months.

And she said, I joined because I wanted to see if it was like you say it is. And also like, you know, the marketing quick sand, she said, you hear all these people going, "Oh, it's this and that and the other and you know, come and I do this and I do that." She goes, "And I wanted to see whether you were real." And thank goodness she said "You are. And you're not like maybe some of the others that I've seen." So that was so reassuring and so very lovely. So, yeah, so I'm having this open house. So we have got things like, we've got two lots of training, one by me and one by a guest trainer who just happens to be a member. We have got. So lemme tell you about my training.

Actually, my training is focused around how I stay organized in my business. So I'm gonna be showing you my Trello boards. I'm gonna be showing you how we manage stuff, how we manage the team, some of the systems we use and how you can use things like Trello in order to get organized and how basically the internals of my business work.

So you can take some advice from that. We're gonna be doing a coaching call. So I have a full two hours booked in to come and do a coaching call. You can just come along and watch. You don't need your camera if you don't want. I know some people find this stuff intimidating, but to be honest, the group are so lovely and it's so relaxed and casual and no one has got egos in there.

So it's not like there's ever a stupid question and everyone is so encouraging. But if you wanna come on and just watch, that is more than fine. If you have a question, then you can ask it so you can pick my brain for free. Then we are doing, uh, content hours. The amazing Becci McEvoy will do her content hour that she does in the club normally.

I'm gonna be doing a mindset session. So you hear me wit on about mindset sessions all the time, and you can come and sit and do one with me and with the other club members. And basically it's just an opportunity to, for you to see what it's like on the inside. We're gonna let you into our Facebook group.

I mean, just can I say that there's a lot of admin involved in that but I decided that I didn't wanna open up another Facebook group because that's not where the club members hang out. And also, I didn't wanna not let you see the Facebook group because it's so encouraging and they're so lovely. So I'm opening up the Facebook group, so you can have a go and see what it's like in there.

And it just means we're gonna have to let a load of people in and then remove a load of people if they don't join. And that's absolutely fine. Because I really want to give people a full experience. So. That's what's happening. You'll find a link in a show note. If you go to my site, if you go to my Instagram, you go anywhere.

You're going to find details on the open house. Because at this moment in time, I can't remember the URL, which I should. It's on a Trello board somewhere. But yeah, you will find it. So I really, really want you to come along and see what it's like and hang out with my people. They're amazing. The other reason why I'm doing the open house.

And one of the other things that we're introducing is very much to do with today's episode. And it's about networking. And I know you might have grown when I said that, believe me, I would've been with you a hundred percent. But I think the world has changed a lot. And I think we need to be considering our network and our people that we surround ourselves with as a key strategy of our business. And this is something that I have done myself fairly recently.

Now let me just start off by saying I hated networking. Now I love meeting people and I love talking, but most of the networking I did when I started my business 8 years ago was I would go, I get up very early.

Normally like 6:00 AM and you would drive to some rubbish place and there would be rubbish bacon sandwiches. And horrible coffee. And let's be honest. A lot of middle-aged white men in suits. I didn't fit in. Like I would go and I would be smiley and laughy and nice to heaven and like, I used to be quite corporate cause I worked in corporate, but like by this point I was coming outta corporate.

I wouldn't wanna dress in a suit. I wouldn't wanna dress like in a dress. I, I wear jeans and tops. Like, that's what I wear and that's what I would wanna wear. And I didn't feel like I could. So I felt like I didn't kind of fit in. And also, and I did it, whether it was just my experience. I'd be interested to hear if you are the same, but like they were patronizing.

Like I was smart. I knew marketing. I'd worked in marketing for over 10 years and I'd worked for some big, big companies and they were really patronizing because I was young and I was a woman. And I just think, I just think it was the people I was networking with. So I, I really didn't like it. So I avoided it. The minute I didn't have to network, I avoided it.

And my networking came in the form of me being invited to speak somewhere. So I would rock up. I would speak, I'd meet a load of people. I would have the best opportunity of most people, because I would be on stage for an hour. Whereas in networking, you are doing like 10 minutes. If that introduction. And you'd only meet like one or two.

You'd do like a 60 second this is who I am. This is what I do. Buy my stuff, which again, I hate. And like some people have taglines. I'm. Not against a tagline, but just, just got a bit much. Anyway. Uh, I got all these horrible visions now. And so, yeah. So I, I did it in the form of speaking and I was really privileged.

Like I was super, super lucky that that was the way that I could network, however, COVID happened and the world changed. And although I continued to speak online, obviously it's not the same thing. Like nowhere near the same thing as standing on a stage and being in a room with someone. I basically then didn't network and I started to find myself and, oh, and the other thing was that when I used to go to events and obviously I've been to a lot of conferences. I've traveled a huge amount.

I've been to the States many, many, many, many times, and hung out with people over there. And that's how, again, I built up my network. And it was great, but it got to the point about, I don't know, the beginning of this year where I was like, I'm not meeting anybody else new. And. And some of the people who I've been within the past actually are not resonating with me anymore.

And the way that they're selling or their values or their business is not aligning with me. So then I kind of got to the position of, well, how am I going to build this network? How am I going to get these new people with, with speaking events in person, still being really hard to get. It hasn't ever quite come back to what it was.

And a lot of them. , you know, that was foreign that I used to do in other countries. They're not, we're not doing that at all. Now. Nothing is coming through on that front, which is gutting. I am very sad about that. Cuz as you know, if you follow me for a while, I love traveling. So I decided a little while back.

One of my members, Nat, who, excuse me, has been a member since day one. She was in fact, my first ever member. She is a member of the exec club and she is the queen of networking. And I had a call with her and Nat happens to live very close to me. And I, we, she came around my house and we had a conversation.

I was like, how am I gonna do this Nat? How do I network? Cuz I don't know how to network. Now I'm not even gonna sit here and say, I still know how to network, cuz I'm still trying. But like also I'd been taught from the online world that you don't speak to people like you only speak to people when you go to events, how egotistical is this?

Like someone can't get on a call with you. You're not gonna go into a room and network with other people because you are an online business. It's absolute rubbish. And I'm having to unlearn a lot of the stuff that I was taught. And I see my job as helping my members unlearning stuff that's they've been taught that is either giving them a business that they don't love or is holding them back.

So anyway, had a chat with Nat and I decided to join a membership that was very much aimed at women's networking. It's, uh, over in the States. And I got on and I did my first networking and it wasn't from the fact of, I wanted to sell to people. It was from the fact of, I need new people in my world. Like I need some new influences.

I need some new conversations and new opinions and new thoughts. And how am I gonna get that? So obviously it's online because it's over in the States and I'm in the UK. But. It's great. It's been so, so good that it's something we're gonna introduce into the club. So once a month, we are gonna have a networking get together where our members get to connect with other members.

And the reason this is so powerful, I know you might be start thinking, God, this is so old school. Do I really have to do this? And, but you know what happens? I did a podcast interview yesterday. Someone interviewed me. And she was talking about something else I'm involved with and she's like, do you think that'd be any good for me?

And I was like, who's your customer? And I was like, no, I don't think so. And I was like, but who's your, you know, once I understood who her customer was, there were two people in my world that I know that deal with her customers. And I was like, would you like me to do an introduction to this and this, like these two people?

And she's like, that would be amazing. And that's where I see. And I think maybe the word networking has given a wrong view, but that's where I see this sort of thing being so powerful. The fact that I know so many people and you know, what was ACE as well, the other day, I'm gonna go off from tangent. I, oh, I need to do a podcast about this and I am gonna do a podcast about it, about the I've closed the lower level of my club.

And I will explain why and go through the details. And as you know, I'm very open and honest, but one of the things I did is anybody that was in that level. I got on a call with them personally, and I had a conversation with them to say, this is what's happening. I'm so sorry. And, and had a big chat, big chat about it.

So anyway, I spoke to one of these members who I just happened to know, cause she used to be a member before then she left and then she joined the lower level. And as we were talking away, I was like, "Oh my goodness. Do you know so and so." Someone else in the club. And she's like, "Yes. I met them on one of the calls and we're now best friends."

And I, and it was so funny cuz I was, as I was talking to her, I was like, oh you and her, you would get on like a house on fire. Your values are the same. You're the, you know what you like. And, and it was so ACE that she had now gained a friend in them. And they're both coming to my in-person event, which is happening on the 9th of September.

And I am so excited that they get to meet each other. That is so cool. Yeah, I, this is what I'm thinking, networking isn't the case of go and sell someone. Networking is about A, expanding your network, expanding the people that, you know, in your world. And I don't think I keep my friend group very tight.

Like I don't have many what I would call like really, really close friends, just because I don't know. I don't have those really close friends, but yeah. I like have a handful of very close friends, but my, my network and my group of people is huge. And I love that. I love that I can go and have a conversation with someone about one thing and go and talk to someone else and go and connect with this person and that person.

And I think there's even when you keep a friendship group tight, I think it's really worthwhile having a large group of network community. People that you can talk to and lean on and, and learn from. So I've been doing a lot of this, which is why this is coming into the membership and why I think you should look at it.

So there's a couple of things I wanna say about networking. It's not about going in and selling. It's not about getting on a call and thinking, "Who can I sell to?" Not at all. You, I think the people who go in with that, they don't last very long because one, you don't get sales that quickly. And two, that's not the point of it.

The point is finding people who you have something in common with, or they complement your business or that you have a connection with, like, I have met some amazing people that I just adore since joining this membership that I've been in like some really cool people and I am so glad they're in my world.

And I'm so grateful to them because one of them is gonna come and speak at the event in December that we do for our members, our members only event. One of them is coming on the podcast. One of them is putting me on their podcast. Like, that's the thing, what you are looking for in this network. The reason why you want to build your network is you're looking for reciprocity.

You're looking for, how can I help you? And how can you help me. Not, how can I sell to you? How can I make money? So. The other beauty of this is again, just so happens this morning. I was listening to a podcast of one of my amazing members, Wendy. She has a podcast called Fab Female Nutrition, and one of my other members, Kim is a positivity coach and she just happened to be interviewed on Wendy's podcast because they met through the club.

And she's a great fit for Wendy's podcast because she deals with Wendy's nutrition, looks around perimenopause and the menopause. And Kim's coaching is often around the menopause and perimenopause. So that connection happened. They met each other through the club and now Kim's been put on Wendy's podcast.

So that means Kim has been put in front of Wendy's audience. So rather than thinking, how can Kim get Wendy as a client? Kim has been put on Wendy's podcast, which has then put them in front of Wendy's audience, which is great for Kim's profile. And the same with the kind of networking I'm doing, that I can invite people online.

I can get speakers from my event, which you know, is sometimes difficult finding new and interesting...