Good evening everyone. I am beyond excited to be here with all of you! Welcome to this incredible venue for this awesome event thanks to TASIS England.
So it said on the invite, ‘Guest Speaker Dee Brady-Smith’, Class of 1979. Yes, in 1979 at TASIS England, we did have running water, electricity, and an underground smoking area lovingly referred to as ‘the dungeon’! There was however no gym, no baseball field, and no fancy theatre worthy of a West End musical. Yes, there were curfews and lots of sneaking off trying to get into the Red Lion … but one way or the other you were bound to get caught. Isn’t it incredible how we can talk about these things together even though we have all never met before? And not only can we talk about them, but it also evokes feelings in each one of us. That’s because TASIS England has given us a common platform to be here tonight to network. Before I share a few tips with you, let me tell you a little about myself.
After leaving TASIS England, I headed to Scripps College in Southern California, followed by UC Irvine, finishing with a summa cum laude in Art History…my interest sparked by Mrs. Page! Having finished university at the height of a recession, my glamorous dream of a world in corporate art was short lived and I ended up working 14 years in recruitment. Life, marriage, and children happened, and then divorce led me to look for other opportunities as a single mom. After working for a small clothing designer, eventually securing the eyes of many celebrities who wanted to wear her designs, I came to realize something . . . I was making all of this . . . creating all of this . . . making money for someone else! No matter if you are on an incredibly generous hourly rate as a consultant, working as a sole trader in a profession, or you have a healthy six-figure salary, you are still trading your time for money for someone else. You have no time leverage in which to create an additional income.
Whilst out at a networking event, I heard about my present company, a networking marketing company in the health and wellness industry. It was something that I never thought that I would do, but having heard all of the facts, I jumped in with both feet. I now run a half-a-million dollar global business in five countries from my laptop and my iPhone. I am part of a team based here in the UK that turns over 2.2 million dollars a month. The company has just blasted through 500 million dollars and is currently expanding in Taiwan, with two more countries in the next two years, along with more, in the pipeline.
Networking marketing is not about giving up what you love or your current career. It is simply a vehicle to create time leverage and multiple income streams online with a consumable product that people use every single day. We are a team of all ages, from 18 to 80 made up of every profession you can imagine: accountants, lawyers, doctors, dancers, photographers, and teachers. This business is for anyone with skin and hair who wants to create a significant income, online in multiple timezones. Now here is the kicker: we do absolutely no advertising, no billboards, no celebrity sponsorships, and no tv ads.
So how do we do it? Word of mouth networking attached to a recommendation. Word of mouth recommendation is the most powerful form of advertising . . . just ask anyone in advertising! So how does that relate to why we are all here this evening? Because it is about marketing your brand though networking . . . and the best feature of your brand has to be YOU.
Let’s start with mindset. It starts with belief. You absolutely have to have unshakable belief in your product or service, and most of all in yourself. I cannot recommend personal development enough for this. Being the best version of you will be reflected in everything you do and say about your product or service. It will also help you to attract the caliber of people that you will want in your business.
Next on the personal side of all of this is to listen. We have two ears and one mouth. You are all TASIS England alumni, I know you can see the big clue there. Ask what the person in front of you does. The law of reciprocity will naturally kick in. They have you ask you what you do. Here’s the thing…be classy. When you are asked, this is not an opportunity to share your business plan and all of the perks to the person in front of you. This is so, so important and probably one of the biggest faux pas of the networking amateur. I have experienced it so many times. People come up to you and shove their card in your hand and start talking.
Next, be authentic. Be genuine. Networking is referred to by the real professionals as relationship building. You need to start building a genuine and authentic rapport, with the underlying intention that your product, service, or yourself is exactly what this person is looking for. This all ties in with your belief. You need to firmly believe that what you are offering is going to be of value to this person. You have to constantly ask yourself, ‘What’s in it for them?’ If you are thinking about your commission check or looking at this person like they are a number, they will know it. You want to evoke a feeling. When you share what you have to offer always always have ‘how will this person personally benefit from what I am offering?’ at the front of your mind. A great way of finding this out is by totally taking the pressure off the person you are speaking to by suggesting that you are looking for someone who may be interested in X, Y, or Z with certain qualities. Ask if they know someone that this could be a fit for. This gives you the opportunity to share what you are offering without the person feeling threatened, and they will actually be paying more attention rather then thinking ‘how do I get out of this?’ This is also beneficial for you as a way of extending your network by getting into someone else’s network.
So now, what’s the plan? You absolutely need to have a plan. If you don’t have a plan, it is all too easy to find yourself at endless networking events, running around town, always out of business cards, and not growing your business or service...or yourself. Like so many things in life, it is easy to confuse activity with productivity. So start by breaking it down. Networking can be done extremely effectively in a focused 10 minutes a day. Start with the ideal qualities and attributes that the ideal candidate you are looking for will possess. Look at the common denominators...are these people likely to be professionals in medicine, stock brokers, lawyers? Do they work out? Are they stay at home moms or students in grad school like many of you?
So here is my last tip for you to incorporate all of this. In order for the time you put into networking to be effective, you need to think about it a bit like fishing. So back to the earlier qualities. Let’s just narrow it down to two types of fish. If you were fishing for tuna or fresh water salmon, you wouldn’t find them in the same pool. What social media platform are they spending most of their time on? Facebook? Linked In? Instagram? Profile these people and break it down into what they want. Is what you are offering likely to be a fit? Is it time, or money, or lifestyle, or simply someone who loves products or people? Identify their problems because you are there to offer the solution to a specific problem. So this is the first part of the exercise. Narrow it down to where these people with these types of qualities are hanging out. What pool are they in? Next, think of the type of bait you are using. You wouldn’t use the same bait for tuna as you would salmon. The bait is actually what you are saying. It is about how you talk about your product or service that makes a big difference as to how people will respond. This comes full circle to knowing what you are offering and being clear on your intentions before you set out networking. If you don’t, it can prove to be a massive time waster for both your business and you personally.
So think of networking as a relationship building exercise. Yes, you are there to solve a problem, but keep the bigger picture in mind. You are there to build relationships. You want to evoke a feeling. Trust me, people will not remember any of the details about your product, service, or even your background when you are looking for a job. Make it your intention to listen and to extend your life network. You never know.
Listen and you just might hear something from an old TASIS England alumna that could build you a multimillion dollar global business. And it just might be in a box you weren’t expecting. People don’t remember what you say, but they do remember how you made them feel. Every single person walking around on this planet has an invisible sign on their forehead that says, ‘make me feel important’. You have all made me feel so incredibly welcome here this evening and I am grateful for your time. Thank you.
We thank Dee for speaking at our event. It was a memorable and special evening spent networking and reconnecting. Watch our alumni event page for news about our next London Alumni Networking Reception.
This article first appeared in the TASIS England Alumni eNews, Autumn 2015 issue.