Building a network is hard. It takes time.
But, is it possible to speed up the process?
We are working hard to establish a strong network in Vancouver and have chosen to treat ourselves as our own client. Practice what you preach. What advice would we give ourselves?
Right now, we are running two different activities to strengthen our network, and we thought it could be interesting for you to follow our thought process.
Some background: We have been trying to work our way into the Vancouver business community for the last year. Much time has been spent seeing people we already know to get their help. Some of you are receiving this newsletter, and it’s amazing to see how people, through kindness, decide to help us grow our network. We are very thankful to you for being true ambassadors on our journey.
This would be our first advice
You need to start getting the ball rolling. Connect with people you know and ask for their advice on strengthening your network. Listen to their stories about how they have built their networks, ask if they can introduce you to others, or open doors to interesting events and organizations.
Hopefully, this will give you new names to contact or tips on events to attend. This is how the ball gets rolling. However, it takes time, and if you’d like to speed up the process, what options do you have?
Step 2 – Define who you want to talk to
The strategies and actions will differ depending on what you offer. We know that we need to meet people in person to show how we differentiate in the way we are doing things. The challenge is to find people who are open to doing things differently and they must be in a position where they can make it happen.
Our definition of who we want to talk to is someone:
- who seeks new ways of doing things to get a competitive advantage.
- who has the influence to implement change.
- to whom the timing is right.
Step 3 – figure out how to reach out, The Unexpected
I receive between 8 to 15 emails daily from people who want to help us create massive email campaigns to acquire new clients. I don’t even read them; they go directly to the junk mailbox. And if I don’t care about them, why would someone in a C-suite position pay attention to me doing the same? Conclusion: the email inbox is locked. It would not be effective to reach our audience that way – and we don’t want to be perceived as spammers by using tricks such as different URLs to send out extensive amounts of emails and so on. That’s not aligned with our brand.
So, what can we do? This is where our main offer comes into play. As communicators, we need to cut through the media’s blur to get attention. Our best description of what we as a company are doing is “The Unexpected.”
If you aim to cut through and establish trust in your brand, the Unexpected funnel is essential. See the image:
You need something Unexpected to grab Attention. Hopefully, this leads to Likeability; people like what you do. This builds Trust, and Trust is the foundation of a Relationship. It becomes My Brand.
Do what others don’t
We started doing something downright odd these days. We write letters. Traditional letters with a stamp in the corner. Our insight was that the email inbox is locked, but the old-school traditional letter is Unexpected. Could that be a way to get in contact with people who would consider helping us? It looked like this, see image.
A hand-written letter, a business card and a little box explaining the Brand bank (read more here) – and some treats.
This has given us good feedback and meetings, and we continue to send out letters and ask for help to build a stronger network in Vancouver. The ball is rolling.
Don’t underestimate people. People are kind 😍 – they want to help 🙏🏻
We created a post on LinkedIn to see if we could get more attention from people in management positions. We aim for the top executives, board members and other decision-makers. So far, we have a handful of contacts with people who kindly want to help, and the post is still active.
This is the post on LinkedIn, see image.
Do you want to help?
Building a network is hard. But people are kind. We believe in the power of kindness, and most of us genuinely want to support one another. This forms the basis of our approach, and we strive to practice what we preach: we love meeting new people to foster connections that may be brief encounters but can also develop into lasting relationships built on trust.
We would appreciate if you can help us sharing the post on LinkedIn to reach a wider audience. And, of course, if you want to meet or know someone we should talk to we would be happy.
Use the link below, or click here, to send us a note if you want to help us build a stronger network. We are very thankful for every new contact that helps us grow stronger.
Want to know more about Edenvik?
Sign up for our Newsletter or Book a meeting. >>>
Building a network is hard. It takes time.
But, is it possible to speed up the process?
We are working hard to establish a strong network in Vancouver and have chosen to treat ourselves as our own client. Practice what you preach. What advice would we give ourselves?
Right now, we are running two different activities to strengthen our network, and we thought it could be interesting for you to follow our thought process.
Some background: We have been trying to work our way into the Vancouver business community for the last year. Much time has been spent seeing people we already know to get their help. Some of you are receiving this newsletter, and it’s amazing to see how people, through kindness, decide to help us grow our network. We are very thankful to you for being true ambassadors on our journey.
This would be our first advice
You need to start getting the ball rolling. Connect with people you know and ask for their advice on strengthening your network. Listen to their stories about how they have built their networks, ask if they can introduce you to others, or open doors to interesting events and organizations.
Hopefully, this will give you new names to contact or tips on events to attend. This is how the ball gets rolling. However, it takes time, and if you’d like to speed up the process, what options do you have?
Step 2 – Define who you want to talk to
The strategies and actions will differ depending on what you offer. We know that we need to meet people in person to show how we differentiate in the way we are doing things. The challenge is to find people who are open to doing things differently and they must be in a position where they can make it happen.
Our definition of who we want to talk to is someone:
- who seeks new ways of doing things to get a competitive advantage.
- who has the influence to implement change.
- to whom the timing is right.
Step 3 – figure out how to reach out, The Unexpected
I receive between 8 to 15 emails daily from people who want to help us create massive email campaigns to acquire new clients. I don’t even read them; they go directly to the junk mailbox. And if I don’t care about them, why would someone in a C-suite position pay attention to me doing the same? Conclusion: the mailbox is locked. It would not be effective to reach our audience that way – and we don’t want to be perceived as spammers by using tricks as different URLs to send out extensive amounts of emails and so on. That’s not aligned with our brand.
So, what can we do? This is where our main offer comes into play. As communicators, we need to cut through the media’s blur to get attention. Our best description of what we as a company are doing is “The Unexpected.”
If you aim to cut through and establish trust in your brand, the Unexpected funnel is essential. See the image:
You need something Unexpected to grab Attention. Hopefully, this leads to Likeability; people like what you do. This builds Trust, and Trust is the foundation of a Relationship. It becomes My Brand.
Do what others don’t
We started doing something downright odd these days. We write letters. Traditional letters with a stamp in the corner. Our insight was that the email inbox is locked, but the old-school traditional letter is Unexpected. Could that be a way to get in contact with people who would consider helping us? It looked like this, see image.
A hand-written letter, a business card and a little box explaining the Brand bank (read more here) – and some treats.
This has given us good feedback and meetings, and we continue to send out letters and ask for help to build a stronger network in Vancouver. The ball is rolling.
Don’t underestimate people. People are kind 😍 – they want to help 🙏🏻
We created a post on LinkedIn to see if we could get more attention from people in management positions. We aim for the top executives, board members and other decision-makers. So far, we have a handful of contacts with people who kindly want to help, and the post is still active.
This is the post on LinkedIn, see image.
Do you want to help?
Building a network is hard. But people are kind. We believe in the power of kindness, and most of us genuinely want to support one another. This forms the basis of our approach, and we strive to practice what we preach: we love meeting new people to foster connections that may be brief encounters but can also develop into lasting relationships built on trust.
We would appreciate if you can help us sharing the post on LinkedIn to reach a wider audience. And, of course, if you want to meet or know someone we should talk to we would be happy.
Use the link below, or click here, to send us a note if you want to help us build a stronger network. We are very thankful for every new contact that helps us grow stronger.
Want to know more about Edenvik?
Sign up for our Newsletter or Book a meeting. >>>