BUSINESS: THE NETWORKER Networking Magic

by Bob Arnold

In business, it is said that to keep people’s attention you need to be interesting. There is a bit more to it than that. In my networking groups, I ask participants what it takes for someone to refer someone else to them. What I hear immediately is “know, like and trust.”

The thought that goes with this is that, once someone trusts you, they will refer business to you. It does not quite work that way. Well, it does, but there is more to it behind the scene.

First off, there is a level missing. I call it “remember.”

I can trust someone to the moon and back, but if I do not remember them at the critical moment of giving a referral, they will not get the referral. This is critical, and I mention it often.

However, within the remembering part, there is a critical component that activates it. It is “interesting.” You must be interesting to your business partners or you will not get remembered nor get the referral.

There are several avenues I could expand on regarding being interesting, but the one I want to focus on here is: “If you want to be interesting, be interested,” Austin Kleon.

Being interested has magic mixed all through it. Think about it: When you were a kid, you were very interested in other kids that had a bit of magic about them, mystery we might say. Kids believe in magic and pursue finding examples of it.

As adults, we have given up on magic. After all, it is trickery, is it not?

Not all magic is trickery; there is a type of magic that surfaces as you are interested in someone. The magic appears in such a way that this person is a captive audience of yours as you show interest in their interests.

So, if you are interested in effective networking and you want others to refer business to you, you may need to show interest in their projects. They will have you on their mind when opportunity shows its face.

Be interesting by being interested!

Bob Arnold is the founder of ONward Networking and the international best-selling author of “The Uncanny Power of the Networking Pencil,” which can be purchased at https://amzn.to/2KSy3Xm. Learn more about Arnold at https://bit.ly/3VLzr1S Contact Arnold at TheNetworkingPencil@gmail.com