Networking is about connection. And we often hear the tips and tricks on how to connect with others.

Even in my Podcast Profit Course, I talk about reaching out and how to connect with others. And that is important and vital to networking.

But how do you get to the place where instead of being the person wanting to connect with everyone else, you are the person everyone else wants to connect with?

The ultimate goal in networking should be becoming the person that everyone wants to connect with and know!

Today, I want to share a few underground secrets. These are not your normal networking tips. 

And a side note- if you are an introvert, then you will definitely want to pay attention to these hacks. These strategies will help build your network all by getting people to want to connect with you!

Become a Person of Influence

There are two people at a networking event- the attender and the speaker. Both may have similar experience and accomplishments, but the difference between the two is influence.

The person who is asked to speak at an event has established the power of influence in their industry.

So the number one way to become a person that people want to connect with is to become a person of influence.

This is one of the bigger reasons, in my opinion, to start your own show. Whether it be a podcast, a Youtube channel, meetup/event, etc, find a way to cultivate an audience. 

Whatever business or side hustle you are in, find a proper platform to cultivate an audience that can hear or read you for free and be introduced to your brand!

If you can cultivate an audience, then you automatically become somebody of interest.

People will want to connect with you because you have a means of helping them get their name and message out. They see your audience and influence as value.

Here’s the thing to understand about the people you want to connect with you: They NEED ways to get their message out into the world.

So if you are a person of influence and cultivate an audience, then you become the person they need! 

Over three years ago, no one wanted to connect with me to talk networking and podcasting. Now, after starting my show, Build Your Network, and growing my audience, I have become interesting to others to the point that my inbox is full on the regular with people trying to connect with me to be on the show!

There are many people in the world today who have amazing abilities and powerful accomplishments, but their influence is next to zero. No one knows who they are or what they have done, so how could anyone connect with them?

Some may prefer it that way, and that is fine. To each their own. But I do not believe you are one of those people.

I believe you want to be known and want to see your network grow! 

If you want to become a person of influence- cultivate an audience through a channel of communication that will get your name and message out there!

I, of course, will always highly recommend starting a podcast 😉

Become a Person of Interest

And no, I don’t mean in like a police case, ha!

But if you want people to connect with you, you need to become a person of interest to them.

A good example of this is Joe Rogan. Take his show, The Joe Rogan Experience.

He did the first part of this and became a person of influence. He built an audience and now that he has over 100 million downloads, people are trying to connect with him all the time.

But take a look at his guest lineup. Yes, he has big names and celebrities on there, but a majority of the people who come on the show are not people we may recognize.

He has guests that are not necessarily household names, but they do all have one thing in common- they are interesting to Joe.

They’re just interesting people. They have interesting resumes. They have interesting things that they’ve done. They’ve been to a lot of countries, or they’ve written a lot of books.

Or figured out how to hack a certain part of their health doing this certain weird thing that nobody thought of before. 

There is a networking principle that people teach and it is, “Be interested, not interesting.”

Often meaning, talk more about the other person than you talk about yourself. 

And while I agree with the principle, I tell people to be interested and interesting! The more interesting you are, the more you are going to attract people to want to connect with you. 

Generate interest by what you talk about and how you talk about it. 

Some interest will come naturally just based on what you do or the connections you already have. A quick example is my buddy, Davie. He is Manny Pacquiao’s personal assistant.

As a result, he has made some amazing connections with amazing people all over the world because people were interested in what he did and who he worked for. 

 While we cannot all be a world-famous boxer’s assistant, we can all find something that is of interest to others. 

Let it be known! Promote your interests and what makes you interesting. And yes, a great way to do this is through a podcast. See a common theme? 🙂

Become a Person of Value

Now this is really what it boils down to. People will want to connect with you if they know you have value to add to their life or business.

In the beginning, you may not know what value you can add yet, but that does not mean you should wait to start. 

My initial offer was to volunteer or to work for the person I wanted to connect with- John Lee Dumas, a seven figure podcaster who I wanted to model my podcasting business after.

I knew I could sell, and I volunteered to help him sell his journals at an event. The only value I could add was my time so I went heavy and did as much volunteer work as I could up front.

Now, I have a relationship with him, and I can call on him almost anytime that I need something. John’s always there to guide me because I have a real relationship with him based on value. It wasn’t based on me trying to suck as much as I could out of him. 

Now, as I have grown through my career, my value to be able to add to others has grown and become more apparent. 

A lot of the value that I add to people now has to do with my connections. Getting in and helping them meet somebody new that can add value to them. I did this with Molly Bloom who many of you have heard her episode on the show.

Molly has an incredible story. There’s an entire movie made about her life starring Jessica Chastain. Highly recommend watching it. 

When I first connected with Molly, I was the first in the world of podcasting that she was connected to. So I introduced her to my buddy, Jordan, who runs a show with millions of downloads.

I introduced her to my buddy Cole who was able to get her to speak on his stage where over twelve hundred people heard her live.

These were just a few avenues that I was able to add value to for her, and now she’s a friend. 

This type of networking is not a mystical thing. If you know how to add value to people first, you can build real relationships with them.

And in turn, you become attractive to others, and they will want to connect with you!

I wrote a blog earlier this year about the formula for adding value. You might just want to check it out. 😉

Bonus

So I’m all about adding value and connecting others as I’ve mentioned, so here’s a bonus way to have people connect with you.

You ready? It’s called Guestio.com. And if you haven’t had a chance to check it out, do so now while it is still FREE to sign up!

Have a show and want to connect with awesome guests? Find them on Guestio! Want to be a guest that is booked on shows you because you have something of interest to share?

Create a profile on Guestio! Guestio.com is a great tool to connect with others and allow others to connect with you!

Conclusion

So how do you transition from being the person who pushes to connect with others to being the person that others want to connect with?

Become a person of influence. Become a person of interest. Or better yet, be a person of value by becoming a person of interest and influence!

Do at least one or two, but if you can, try to become all three. Start implementing these now, and you will start to see people want to connect with you.

It still takes hard work, but the work is beneficial because you are bettering yourself! 

So let me know in the comments below which person you are going to work on becoming this week!

Here’s to leaving every relationship better than you found it, cheers!