I’ve often told my students that networking is essential to their success. To some, it feels monotonous or even risky. However, performed correctly it can be incredibly fun. If you aren’t committing to networking, what are you missing? A lot.
Judy Robinett has over 30 years’ experience as an entrepreneur and business leader. She distills her strategies in How to Be a Power Connector, which centers on how to optimize your interactions with contacts. I have often said making a sale takes up to seven “touches” to come to fruition. Robinett’s book goes hand in hand with that persistence. She believes that you need to be strategic about which contacts you pursue, taking the time to identify and focus on the stakeholders who actually make the decisions.
Chances are you already know someone who can point you in the right direction; you just don’t know who it might be. Robinett’s book will set you on the right path.
Here is the summary from Amazon:
“Create a personal ‘power grid’ of influence to spark professional and personal success.
“Other people have the answers, deals, money, access, power, and influence you need to get what you want in this world. To achieve any goal, you need other people to help you do it.’ - Judy Robinett.
“As anyone in business knows, strategic planning is critical to achieving long-term success. In How to Be a Power Connector, super-networker Judy Robinett argues that strategic relationship planning should be your top priority.
“When you combine your specific skills and talents with a clear, workable path for creating and managing your relationships, nothing will stop you from meeting your goals. With high-value connections, you'll tap into a dynamic ‘power grid’ of influence guaranteed to accelerate your personal and professional success.
“Robinett uses her decades of experience connecting the world's highest achievers with one another to help you build high-value relationships. She reveals all the secrets of her trade, including proven ways to:
- Find and enter the best network ‘ecosystem’ to meet your goals
- Reach even the most unreachable people quickly and effectively
- Get anyone's contact information within 30 seconds
- Create a ‘3-D connection’ that adds value to multiple people at the same time
- Access key influencers through industry and community events
- Subtly seed a conversation with information about interests and needs
- Use social media to your best advantage
“Robinett has based her methods on solid research, proving that social groups begin to break up when they become larger than 150 people, and that 50 members is the optimal size for group communication. As such, she has developed what she calls the ‘5+50+100’ method: contact your Top 5 connections daily, your Key 50 weekly, and your Vital 100 monthly. This is your power grid, and it will work wonders for your career. Nothing will stop you when you learn How to Be a Power Connector.”
