What I Learned Today While I Networked

There’s a lot of people who need to be sold on the powers of networking. My best guess to why this is, is that the general mindset is “I know who I need to know, and I’m busy keeping my relationships with them. I just don’t have the time.”

Yes, most of the time, networking is work. But so is everything else that provides a bigger return on investment. And what’s the investment to network? Nothing. Nada. Zilch. There are no dollar signs related to the costs of networking. Just a little bit of that magical thing called time. And in many cases, the time investment is minimal.

We’ve all heard of word of mouth, and that its impact can be great. But relying on your customers or clients to start the word of mouth is expecting a lot out of them. Make it easy for them. Give them something to talk about. What experiences are you providing them that they just have to tell their friends about? How did you make them feel like your number one customer?

Some of you may be thinking, “yeah, sure. Word of mouth is great, but I don’t have a story to tell. Or, no one would listen. Or, what’s the big woop of affecting just one person? It’s not like they’re going to bring me 10 new customers from one solitary experience.”

Here’s a fun little exercise. It’s easy, it’s free, and it doesn’t require much time at all. And the results might even make you laugh. Next time you’re in a public place, yawn. Yup, just yawn. And then start watching the results. There’s no doubt it’s contagious – it’s like a human game of dominos. Apolo Ohno does it before each of his races. I watched him during the Olympics and did exactly the same thing (and just did it again when I found the image online). In fifth grade science class, Jessie Micke passed me a note. It said “yawn” in big letters. I did.

What’s great about this exercise is that you can measure the results, and they’re immediate. What’s also great is the added benefits of yawning.  Yawning allows excess amounts of oxygen to the brain. Extra oxygen causes us to be more alert. Alertness allows us to think clearer. Thinking clearer allows us to communicate better. Good communication is exactly how we start the effective game of word of mouth. Word of mouth…well, I think you get the picture. Ahh, the power of the mouth. You have more power than you realize.

(And for the record, I yawned twelve times while writing this. Make that thirteen.) Did you?

‘Til next time,

Andee