relationships

How networking leads to PR success

How networking leads to PR success

In the last week of August, I had the awesome pleasure of going to Panama with The Christian Travel Club

It was such an amazing experience with a great group of people in an amazing country

Whilst there, I had the opportunity to attend a small mastermind breakfast with Anthony O’neal

In case you’re unfamiliar with him, he’s a former Dave Ramsey personality and host of The Table. He’s also the guy with the mic in the video above.

During the mastermind I witnessed something which was a great reminder of why networking is so important and how, if heeded, could lead to PR opportunities for you too…

3 common networking mistakes and how to avoid them

3 common networking mistakes and how to avoid them

There are many old adages attached to networking and how it can help you to thrive in life and business, including:

#1 Your network is your net worth

Because the people in your network can help seed, invest or support your business ideas. They can also refer clients to you, recommend you for business advancing opportunities and so on.

#2 You are the sum total of the 5 people that you surround yourself with

As the people in your network help expand your ideas about what is possible for you (financially and otherwise), especially if they’re doing better than you in that area.

#3 People only do business with people that they know, like and trust

Meaning: to have a profitable business you must learn how to build and leverage profitable business relationships.

In other words, networking is one of the best ways to increase your authority, your bank account and- most importantly- your impact.

You know,

That message that you want to share with the world

That legacy that you want to leave

The reason you believe God put you on the earth

That’s your impact or your “why”

However, networking is an art that not everybody gets right. Here are 3 things to avoid to ensure that you do:

How to network for PR success

How to network for PR success

Recently I wrote about what attending Tiwa King’s first in person event since the "panoramic" taught me about how to do purpose-driven PR

You can read that here if you missed it, sis

Here's the thing, though, when I first started going to networking events by myself, it used to make me so nervous and fill me with so much anxiety- mostly because I had no idea how to break the ice so that I could form connections with the other attendees.

Can you relate?

Well, although going to networking events on your own can be daunting, your network really is your net worth.

In other words, to have a profitable business you must learn how to build and leverage profitable business relationships.

Here are 5 tips to help you do this through live events:

How to share your story

How to share your story

Have you ever had someone in your life who started out as a friend of a friend but then ended up being yours too? Well, that's exactly what happened with me and Vickie (of TEACH Educational Consulting, LLC).

I first met Vickie online through my girl Deanna because we're both board members of her charity (Needle Movers for Social Equity) earlier this year and finally got the chance to meet Vickie in person over afternoon tea on Friday (she's in London from the States doing research with UCL. Can we say beauty and brains?!).

Not only was our time together super fun, we're literally talking about working together on other projects and meeting up again later this month! So, in the spirit connecting with new people, I want to do a Deanna and introduce you to someone you'll love too- Denisha (Dlang) Ferguson.

Dlang is the CEO of the Indiana Fashion Foundation, produces Indiana Fashion Week and is one of my clients. I recently had the pleasure of copywriting and pitching an article idea that she had about "how to share your story"- which has now been published on The Good Men Project.

So much of what she shared in the article is relevant to you and your PR journey because science has found that storytelling causes the release of Oxytocin in the brain, which is a hormone that is associated with social bonding. This is a powerful tool for all forms of content marketing because it:

#1 Basically means that sharing stories helps build the know, like and trust factor needed to get your ideal clients to support and ultimately buy from you.

#2 Allows you to practice and hone your story so that, when the time comes to share your expertise on larger platforms, you’ll be ready to do so.

#3 Can create positive change and legacy for lasting impact.

Like me, when Dlang mentions these facts to her mentees this typically leads to questions or remarks such as “What could I possibly share?” “I don’t know where to begin” and even “I don’t have an interesting story”. If you can relate, I’d like to tell you what she tells them:

Lessons from Esther on how to get on the radar of influencers in your industry/niche

Lessons from Esther on how to get on the radar of influencers in your industry/niche

There are some seats at the table that you have to be invited to rather than create yourself

This is known as vertical networking. For example, Esther would not have been able to get her audience with the king and save her people if she hadn’t first gotten on his radar as described in Esther 5:1-2:

“Now it happened on the third day [of her fast] that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne... So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favour in his sight, and… Esther went near [to speak to him]”

But how do we get close enough to the influencers within our industries to get on their radars in this new digital age?

How do we get to their inner courts, so to speak?

By being an asset to them and/or they’re community through:

Lessons from Esther on what NOT to do if you want to network successfully

Lessons from Esther on what NOT to do if you want to network successfully

Networking is one of the best ways to increase your authority, your bank account and- most importantly- your impact.

You know,

  • That message that you want to share with the world

  • That legacy that you want to leave

  • The reason you believe God put you on the earth

That’s your impact or your “why”

However, networking is an art that not everybody gets right

Hence the reason that it gets the bad rep of being really icky and gross

Here are 3 things to avoid to ensure that you do, as demonstrated by Esther