The easiest way and my absolute favorite way to create MASSIVE value for your network is by connecting people to each other.

Yup, sounds soooo basic.

So basic in fact, you’re probably like “duh“.

… but like with anything else, building the mindset of being someone whose focused on connecting people is a habit and skill to develop.

It’s super easy to connect people and the benefits are insane.

First and foremost, when you connect people your network learns to help each other and you look like a rockstar because you’re at the center of it all.

By becoming a connector, your network learns to help each other and you look like a rockstar because you're at the center of it all. Click To Tweet

You probably hang around the same type of people as yourself, so by connecting people in your community to each other, you’re infinitely magnifying your own impact.

Not to mention, it trains your network to give referrals.

Connecting people trains your network to give referrals. Click To Tweet

When you go to ask for a referral, they realize it’s the norm of the relationship and are way more likely to give it.

In the name of efficiency, you connect with two people at the same time so you’re doubling the number of people you can keep in touch with while using half the effort.

When they do connect, the first thing they have in common is you… So what do you think they’re going to talk about first?

Yup.

They’re going to talk about you AND how awesome you are.

Andddd can we talk about the fact that people will actually open and answer your emails because you’re CONSTANTLY creating value for them.

Think about it this way…

One connection can literally change someone’s life AND it takes you less than 5 minutes to make the connection.

One connection can literally change someone's life AND it takes you less than 5 minutes to make the connection. Click To Tweet

I don’t think there’s a better way to create such a massive impact while still being efficient with your time and energy.

People like to associate with movers and shakers, so the more connecting you do, the more credibility you gain.

Plus, connecting people shows people that you actually care… and when you care, they care too.

That teeny tiny introduction can literally change your entire experience with your community.

Now that you’re sold on the concept of connecting, how do you actually do it?

Great question.

Finding The Opportunity

First things first, before you even think about connecting people, you have to have an intimate understanding of their goals.

One on ones are INCREDIBLE for doing that… and it just so happens that I have a wholeeee post about how to do a one on one.

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As you're chatting with people, make sure that you're asking about their goals AND their challenges. In fact, I would argue that understanding their challenges is MORE important than understanding their goals. Click To Tweet

As you’re chatting with people, make sure that you’re asking about their goals AND their challenges.

In fact, I would argue that understanding their challenges is MORE important than understanding their goals…

By understanding what their challenges are, you can present someone in your network as a potential solution and THAT will generally help get them to their goal.

The more you get intimate with their goals, the faster you’ll identify opportunities to help them and the best way to do that is to ask great questions and to make them feel comfortable enough to share.

As a side note, keep in mind that to continue connecting people, your network has to be constantly growing otherwise you’ll run out of people to introduce to each other.

Reasons To Connect People

More specifically, here’s how to identify opportunities to connect people:

SOLVE THEIR PROBLEM: I feel like you’re probably rolling your eyes right now by how obvious this one is but we miss the opportunity all the time. Most people think in challenges, not solutions. With that in mind, as a connector, it’s your job to hear their challenge and connect them with the person that can be their solution. For example, one of my girlfriends was complaining about having to get waxed and shaving all the time, so I told her about laser hair removal and connected her with my girl. If I wasn’t focused on making connections, I’d just go along and agree about how much waxing and shaving sucks.

GET THEM AROUND THEIR TARGET CLIENT: this won’t apply for everyone, but in a lot of industries, sharing resources actually helps them. For example, being that I sell real estate, introducing me to another realtor is of ABSOLUTELY no value to me. I also have a lender that I love, so introducing me to them isn’t of value to me either. However, given the fact that my ideal client is a young professional who makes $75k+ per year and wants to stay in South Florida for BOTH my real estate business and for Millennial Empire Builders, inviting me to happy hour where you’re meeting your friends who fit my target audience would be CRAZY valuable. Any quality professional is going to know who their target audience is and will be able to tell you. As a side note, you should also learn about their approach with their ideal audience or else you might find that you bring your new contact around your people and they’re on them like vultures.

SHARE RESOURCES: This exact reason is why mastermind groups are so powerful. By introducing people who can share resources, ideas, tools, systems or manpower, you’re helping them leverage and elevate their business. Maybe you have a friend who’s KILLIN it with Facebook ads and another who is doing amazing with blogging… Those two should meet as they can teach each other and share best practices.

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MAKE THEM FEEL LIKE THEY BELONG: you know how we all have that one weird thing that we’re into that we feel like no one else is into, too? We’re constantly DYING to feel like we belong somewhere, so by introducing them to people who share their passions and interests, you can give them that sense of belonging that they’re looking for. This ESPECIALLY goes for nonprofits! If you know that one of your contacts is really passionate about a specific cause and you have a contact at a nonprofit whose focus is that cause, get them involved. The nonprofit wins because they get another volunteer or donor while the individual wins because they’re fulfilling their passion.

How To Make The Connection

Seriously, connecting people is way easier than you think.

When you make the connection, tell them why you think they should chat and make sure you brag about them to each other. A quick little intro about how you met them is helpful too.

Here’s an example:

Subject Title: Intro 🙂
Hi [FIRST NAME]!
As mentioned, I wanted to introduce you to ___. They are [why they’re awesome] and I thought you guys would make great connections because [how the person can help them]. Here’s their bio to learn more about them: link to bio or LinkedIn profile

Hi [FIRST NAME]!
Hope all is well! I met ___ the other day at __ and they were telling me about __. I was so impressed by __ and you instantly came to mind because [make sure you mention how it’s a win for both sides].

You guys should grab lunch or coffee! Happy connecting 🙂

Kindest Regards,
[Your Signature]

This little script works like crazyyyyyy.

Firstly, the title alone gets people to open the email.

Next up, make sure that you’re bragging about them to each other equally and you’re reminding them why they’re valuable to each other.

As a little disclaimer, I ALWAYS let them know how I met the other person because if for some reason, the person ends up being a dud, they’re not going to be mad at me since I just met them too.

Oh, and you see the little suggestion at the end telling them to grab lunch or coffee?

Yea, don’t leave that out.

By you setting the stage for how they should connect, they will follow instructions.

Remember, when there’s rapport, the person who’s most certain will influence the other.

You have rapport with both of these people so they’re going to look to you for proper etiquette for handling each other.

I’ve made no secret about how passionate I am about one on ones, so by encouraging them to do the same, you’re making it easy for them to start building a relationship.

Pro Tip: Follow-Up After Connecting People

About two weeks after you’ve made the connection, follow-up with both of them to make sure they connected and got value out of it.

If you’ve been reading my blogs for awhile, you already know that I’m going to tell you that you need to have great systems in place to do this without burning out and this little follow-up is part of my eight week follow-up plan for new connections that you can get right here.

You know they say, “it’s the thought that counts”?

That doesn’t apply here.

If the people in your network aren’t connecting, it WILL hurt your credibility.

Checking in to make sure they’ve actually connected ensures that you’re keeping tabs on whether or not they actually connected… and if they can’t even bother to connect, you don’t need to be investing your time in them anyways.

Yes, I’m fully aware of how harsh that sounds.

In fact, I said that during a workshop I did recently and one of the women raised her hand and said, “I’m the person that probably won’t connect… Not because I don’t want to but because I don’t have time”.

I get that.

I know that people get busy and there’s nothing wrong with that… but it’s not worth it to invest time in them if they don’t have time to invest in you, your network or any other opportunities.

That’s just a fast road to burn out mode.

Once they get things settled, you can always reconnect and make those introductions later.

It’s not harsh, it’s protecting your time, reputation and energy… and no one is going to do that except for you.

Putting It To Work

To help you put this into action, I went ahead and created a totally free worksheet for you to follow-up after you meet people.

It’ll help you breakdown the person’s goals, identify the other people who can help them and then outline the introduction.