Story time!
One night during an internship, Molly Beck was stuck in conversation with a man who was rambling on about his successes because “knew the right the people.”
The next day, she asked herself, “how do I just…know more people?” Fast forward to 6 ½ years later, Molly’s publishing her first book, Reach Out: The Simple Strategy You Need to Know to Expand Your Network and Increase Your Influence.
In the latest episode, The Growth Show interviews Molly to answer the question, “how can we know more people?” and makes the sometimes-anxiety-inducing idea of networking much less…scary.
Every day at 9:15, Molly sends one sincere message (keyword sincere) to someone at the “edge” of her network. That is to say, someone she is loosely connected to.
This isn’t about gunning for famous people and sending fan mail. Think about your career goals and who can help with them. Molly offers a ton of awesome, tangible advice that can work for anyone.
- (05:30) Avoid sending to the biggest names in your network — your emails will likely get lost in their inbox.
- (07:12) Be specific with the question you ask, like one nobody else can answer (especially Google).
- (07:40) Make it obvious to the person that it’s from you and to them. Site topics and ideas specific to them.
- (12:35) The routine Molly’s been doing for 6 ½ years. Naturally, she didn’t know she’d write a book one day, but she could because of these conversations.
- (13:05) How she went back the original threads from years ago, and started conversations again.
- (17:30) Molly’s first “professional Tinder date” that motivated Molly to continue her “reach out” strategy.
- (19:07) What happens when things get negative and how she handles rejection.
- (23:55) “If you keep at it, only the best responses will stick with you.”
- (27:20) The future of professional networks.
- (29:30) The need for getting away from the mentality that networking is a “coffee date.”
- (37:55) Focus on being a joy in someone’s inbox.
