Navigating Your Connections at Year End and Beyond! | RR237

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Hi, everyone, and welcome to this week's episode

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of relationships rule. I'm continuing my journey on my four

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part solo series on relationship marketing and navigating your

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year end connections and beyond. And this is episode three in

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this series, we're going to talk about navigating your busy

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networks and, and what I would call the holiday hustle. So

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welcome. My last episode was a bit on the philosophical side.

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And I have to admit it wasn't originally planned that way.

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However, when I received the blog post from Seth Godin in my

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inbox that day, it just inspired me to dig a little deeper and,

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and talk about that. So I do hope that you enjoyed it, and

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got some inspiration around the power of giving and receiving

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generosity and gratitude, and gave it some food for thought.

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My hope is that you begin to think about acting on your

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promptings, sending unexpected cards to people in your network,

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and paying close attention to details on things like your

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LinkedIn profiles and websites that you can use as starting

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points to build rapport easily with new connections and

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prospects. Thinking how you may serve others, rather than

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focusing on what's in it for me, will take you a long way, and

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start to build that muscle until it feels so natural, you'll be

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operating that way all the time. So now we're gonna take a look

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at the importance of strategic networking during this busy

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holiday season. With some practical strategies that can be

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done easily show gratitude, and set you up with new prospects in

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the new year. Let's start with LinkedIn networking tips. Number

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one, take inventory of your existing connections, it's a

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great time of year to do that. And here's a way that you can do

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it. That might yield some new business for you. You can bring

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up all your first level connections by going to your

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mind networks page and listing your connections and hone in on

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a particular type of prospect by using filters, perhaps using

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Boolean search logic to create your optimal list. And if you

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aren't familiar with Boolean search logic, then let me know

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and I'll send you some information. It allows you to

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cover more than one option for a name of a title for example, or

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some other things that you might want to search by, then choose

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one of your first degree connections. To do this, to do

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this project with and look at their first degree connections.

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Using your therefore your second degrees, and using filter

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searches there as well have them do the same thing with your

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first several connections. Review the names with each other

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with the goal of making a few warm introductions for each

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other. Maybe choose five or 10. To get started with. And that's

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probably all you could ask somebody to do an introduction

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for at one given time anyway, then let the magic begin, send a

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threeway message introducing the person to your connection. And

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you can ask me for a sample intro message if you like. This

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strategy is a great proactive way to initiate and nurture new

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connections for the new year. When you take inventory, you can

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also identify those prospects, past clients and referral

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partners that you may have ignored this past year, and

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perhaps send them a mobile video message reconnecting and wishing

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them well for the new year. Notice I said mobile video

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message because in order to send a video message, you do have to

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do it from your mobile device. And it just wanted to remind you

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of that it will show up on people's desktops and laptops as

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well when it's recorded. But to record it, you must do it on

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your mobile device. When scrolling your newsfeed, Don't

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be the person who just likes your connections posts. add

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value to the conversation by taking the time to comment. So

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you'll be noticed and seen for your expertise and leadership as

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well. Number two, show gratitude to your LinkedIn network. You

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can endorse your first degree connections for their skills,

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although I only recommend this if you have experienced those

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skills from that person recently and personally. So it is indeed

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a sincere endorsement. You can share or repost someone's post

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they will always appreciate that it gives them their their

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comment there content, a new audience when it lands on your

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profile or your newsfeed. So that's always appreciated. And

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also you could give some recommendations to some Have

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your most recent connections that you've worked with, for

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example, or people that you know their character and so forth.

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That's always a win win. When you recommend people without

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being asked, it's amazing what happens, the law of reciprocity

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always comes into play. And it might not be reciprocated by

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that very same person. But it will happen, trust me, it's just

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the law. Another fun thing you can do to recognize a person or

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group is to give kudos. This is a feature that's not used very

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often, but it can be very effective. And actually more so

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when it isn't overused by you as well. To find how you can give

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kudos to somebody, you would go to their profile, and just below

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their headline and so on, you will see a more button and one

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of the options there is to give kudos. It says that in LinkedIn

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that you can use this feature three times a week, but I

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actually think that's too much to be. To be honest, I think you

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want to send it to your connections once in a while just

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to make it stand out and make them stand out. Number three is

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seeding new connections. I love New beginnings to you. While

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it's time to direct your attention to the New Year and

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being proactive to initiate and nurture new connections as the

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year begins. LinkedIn can be leveraged for the new year by

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doing strategic searches. As you decide what your goals are for

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relationship marketing in the new year, you can begin to

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search specifically for new connections that will help you

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move towards those goals. Do you want to venture into new

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geographic locations? Do you want to focus on working with a

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specific industry, financial industry health and wellness

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manufacturing specific types of entrepreneurs, coaches,

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consultants, authors speakers, begin to create specific

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targeted searches to find your target market or your ideal

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market, and start to build a list on a spreadsheet perhaps,

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of people to reach out and connect with. Remember to keep

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your connection request note brief. Then when someone accepts

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that's when the work begins to build the relationship. How many

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new connections can you manage each week? How will you keep the

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new connections moving forward. This is a great time of year to

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plan your approach your target audiences and your tracking

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methods for leverage leveraging LinkedIn to plant seeds for

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fruitful relationships going forward. This is also a great

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time of year to spruce up your LinkedIn profile for the new

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year. So you will start the new year making a strong first

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impression. This is the backbone of your presence on LinkedIn. So

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remember, if you're busy putting up a lot of content on LinkedIn,

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and you don't have your best foot forward with a fully

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optimized magnetic profile, showing you in your best best

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best light, then it may all be for naught. So now I want to

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turn my thoughts to thoughtful gifting. Yes, this is the time

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for gift giving. And gifts can be so many different things.

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They can be unique time effective ideas that leave a

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lasting impression on your clients and colleagues.

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Sometimes it's good to shake it up and not do the same thing as

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you have done year after year. It disrupts things doing

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something new and it gets people talking. It makes them pay

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attention. For example, I've already received two calendars

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this year. Some print print calendars from two realtors that

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have been sending them to me for years. Do you still use a print

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calendar? I don't know. I just think it's time for a change

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sometimes. There's a motto or credo from Send Out Cards, the

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company that I'm partnered with that I love to share and that I

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follow. Give to give send out to give. Create joy everywhere you

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go. Be kind to those you come across today and all day. Every

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day. Choose kindness, kind words kind of actions kind thoughts.

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Every time you send a card or gift you are choosing kindness

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and kindness matters. sending letters of appreciation,

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recognition and joy. It matters. Every single card and gift you

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send creates a ripple effect of kindness that reverberates over

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and over again. As long as the kindness keeps going. That keeps

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happening. Be the start of a kindness ripple in the lives of

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your friends and family by sending them what I like to call

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a hug. With the folded it.

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There is a lot to think about an axon in this episode, and my

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hope is that you begin to integrate something from each of

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the ideas I've shared with you. Examine your existing

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connections and shake the tree a little with those you haven't

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spoken to for a long time, rekindle those relationships,

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show gratitude to your connections, LinkedIn and out

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and elsewhere. Even disrupt your usual urine process, send a

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different message, send a Happy New Year card instead of a

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Christmas card. Sometimes a small act like that will get

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noticed and trigger a new and different response. Seed new

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connections for next year, make this app activity part of your

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daily and weekly operating procedure. Now I just like to

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share a little quote with you that comes from an ancient

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Chinese philosopher, Lao Tzu the founder of Taoism. He said

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kindness in words creates confidence. Kindness in thinking

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creates profoundness kindness in giving creates love. I like

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that. So I will see you next week with the last episode in

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this series in which we will take a look at sustaining those

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relationship marketing habits, and how to look at how to be

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consistent all year long. So thanks for listening, and if

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something inspired you or if you have any questions about this

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episode, please feel free to reach out. And in the meantime,

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stay connected and be remembered