- Networking does not have to feel gross.
As a matter of fact, let's not even use the word
networking, okay?
Let's just come up with a whole new word altogether.
What's up socials?
Welcome back to AmyTV.
You probably have lots of goals and ideas
that you wanna make happen for yourself,
but you know you cannot do it all alone.
Sure, there are a million little steps
that you can take yourself and you will need
to do that along the way, but knowing people
and getting connected with other people
is the surefire win to expediting any kind of success
whatsoever, definitely making it happen at all
because you can't just be in a bubble
and achieve your goals.
So knowing people and not only just knowing them
but finding ways to benefit them is the best way
that you can set yourself up for success,
set yourself up favorably for anything
that you want to make happen, and I know that's difficult
for us introverts to fully embrace, but it's true.
The really good news is that in order to stand out,
all you gotta do is leave your comfort zone.
If you are willing to do something most people
would not, whether it's from fear or laziness
or any of those things, you are the person
that does what others do not do,
you will immediately be a little bit more special
and stand out for the fact that you take
any risks whatsoever.
It's so much easier to not do those things,
so you're not gonna get very far if you choose
the easy route.
Now when I say leaving your comfort zone,
I'm not saying go to a networking mixer
and hand out as many business cards or invitations
to follow your Instagram account as you possibly can.
That's actually a pretty terrible idea,
but I do want you to become the most connected person
that you know, and it's actually a lot simpler
than you might guess, so that's what I want
to talk to you about today.
First I wanna give a massive shoutout
to today's sponsor of AmyTV and that is HP.
In my business, it is so important to have reliable tools
that help me take care of the little stupid stuff
so that I can take the simple, small steps
that make big moves for me.
And even in 2018, I do some printing.
I know, it's crazy, but it actually is connected
to how I wanna talk to you about building
those relationships and becoming the most connected person
that you know, because if you add a little creativity
and some tangible things for people to look at
and hold, some magic can start to happen there.
These HP Proprietary Inks are so legit,
they make everything look so much better,
even if you are not in business, you want everything
to look professional, not to mention sort of
on the silly stuff side, they don't corrode,
and they really prevent against clogging,
not to mention the whole environmentally friendly thing
because you can't just toss these things in the trash.
These cartridges are reused and recycled.
I cannot wait to show you why HP and their superior inks
are the perfect little touch to me becoming
the most connected person that I know.
Before we get started, make sure you subscribe
to this channel, I make new videos every Wednesday
and Sunday, and I would love to have you back
for the next one.
What are the things that you think of
when you think of getting more connected
or building your network?
Everyone has a network, no matter how hard you've tried
to not get to know people, you do know people
and for those of you who love getting to know people,
you definitely know people, and no matter what,
no matter who you are or where you stand
at this stage in your life in your network,
we have to start there: who do you know right now?
Working under the assumption that getting to know
more people's gonna help you achieve greater success,
we've got to find ways to do this that are more effective
and more authentic.
Some people think you can just get retweets and shares
and all of that and it's helping you network or growing
your community, but it's truly not.
That is not how you become a reliable connected individual
to others.
All it takes is your own starting point:
who do you know?
The more you nurture your own existing network
right now and help them grow, the more it is going
to pay you back in spades over time.
So if you wanna nurture that network and help them,
how, how would you help them?
Well if you're thinking about getting more connected
to become more successful, don't you think maybe
people you know are thinking the same thing?
Maybe they're thinking if only I knew this type
of person or this type of person, then things
would get better for me or I'd be a little bit smarter
or be a little bit more connected myself.
You can actually help yourself in the same way
that you would be helping others,
and that's why I named this video become the most
connected person that you know,
because if you do that very thing,
all you're doing is connecting the people
within your network to each other.
When you introduce someone to someone else,
especially if you know something
that they might mutually benefit from
by knowing each other, you become the center
of that relationship.
You invite Joe to meet Suzie and now Joe and Suzie
every time they talk because they hit it off,
you thought about why they might wanna know each other,
they now say oh, Amy introduced us,
and now you are the center of that connection.
I love doing this as much as I possibly can.
If I think like oh, that person's a podcaster
and that person's a podcaster,
maybe they could benefit from each other's strategies,
I'm gonna introduce them.
Do you know each other?
No, let me connect you.
There are a million ways that you could do this:
you could do an email introduction, that's really,
really simple, or if you happen to be at the same place
as a couple of people, just walk them up to each other
and say hey, I think you guys should get to know
each other, but my personal favorite is when I get to go
a little bit above and beyond, and that's getting
to host my own little intimate dinner party.
This is special because it is an occasion created by me
with a guest list of people that I think
would benefit from knowing each other.
We're also doing this for you, so you can't
just invite people you know yourself
to a dinner party, you have to do one better.
So let's say you have five people on your guest list
and you're thinking oh my gosh, this is gonna be great,
these five people should totally already know each other,
I'll be at the center of these connections.
Then you also ask each of those five people
to bring a plus one.
Literally, four or five people, that's all you need
and then if those people bring one more,
look at how many people you're hosting at your event,
holy crap, you better order the food.
Yes, we do, we order food at my dinner parties,
I don't cook.
So depending on how much space you have
and how many people you have then you kind of
have to figure that out, hopefully you can host it
in your own apartment, I'm going to be borrowing
a space because I need a little bit more room
for more people.
Next you need to get those invitations out
and that is where my HP printer comes in.
Sure, I can go out and buy a generic invitation,
but I like to customize a little bit.
I like to make them feel a little bit more special,
very much more intentional.
You can't just use any printer though,
like the invitations need to look good
or this is not going to be taken seriously,
so the ink really does matter in this case.
Next, I'm gonna need a few more printables
to really set the tone for when people arrive,
so I'm gonna have a sign for the door
just in case you need to give people directions.
In my case, I wanna let people know that I'm having
a dinner party and I don't want you to come in
unless you've been invited.
Next is one of my favorites, and that is placecards.
It's really important to have these little things
with someone's name on it so they know
where they're gonna sit, they understand the etiquette,
it also kinda makes them feel welcome,
like oh, okay, clearly I have a seat here.
This was not a mistake, you know, it's really important.
And one little pro-tip here is make sure
that you don't sit people next to each other
that know each other.
Have someone's plus one be across the table
so they can see each other but have people
that don't really know each other very well
sit next to each other so they're more likely
to strike up a conversation and get to know each other.
I don't want people to feel put on the spot
but I also like to ask sort of fun questions
throughout a dinner party, depending on sort of
what the theme is of what everybody has in common.
So another principle I have is just some questions,
some prompts that give people something to think about
before maybe we start eating or before we start
having conversations all as a group,
as we're just getting settled in.
If they see that there and they notice like oh,
there's some more to this story, it's not just
sitting down and eating, they might start thinking
about what the answers to these questions would be
and then that makes for really
interesting conversation later.
Oh, and one last printable for the hostess,
we need a list of addresses, so you just wanna make sure
that everybody that was there just in case
you didn't get who the plus ones are or any of those things
get their name, get their email address
and get their mailing address.
This is great if you go above and beyond
for the holiday season and send out holiday cards
like I do, my business does,
we personally do, but we're definitely gonna need
that sheet so we can take attendance.
It's kinda like school, we're not too organized around here,
I swear.
So now that you have all of your printables in place
as your intimate dinner party, it's so much easier
to lead from here as the host or the hostess.
You can just basically start with everybody
going around the table and introducing themselves
and maybe giving them one of those prompts
to answer.
- I work for a tween retailer,
I do communications and my favorite place to travel,
anywhere in Europe really, but very excited,
we just planned our honeymoon in Italy.
So pretty ready to go.
(laughs)
You're up.
- I'm up.
Hi everyone, I'm Michelle, I manage
a luxury retail store.
- [Amy Voiceover] But from there,
the conversation can just flow
and everybody can just eat and enjoy
and have a great time and you are at the center
of it all and you just introduced a bunch of people
and you just met a bunch of people
and look at what you did.
Look at this, you are the most connected person
that you know.
- I'm so glad all of you guys could be here,
thank you so much for coming to our dinner party
and cheers to you.
- You don't have to be hosting parties
all the time, this is a little bit of work,
but just doing stuff like this that the average person
won't make the time to do or won't orchestrate
makes you different, makes you special,
and makes a huge difference in who you are
to your friends, to your acquaintances and everybody
in between.
Alright, I wanna hear from you,
if you hosted one of your own dinner parties,
what would be a question that you would want everybody
in the group to answer?
Leave that in the comments below,
I'm gonna steal your ideas, let's be honest,
I'm stealing your ideas.
Thanks again to HP for sponsoring this episode
of AmyTV and so appreciate your inks,
I've been using these printers for so long
and I rely on them because I cannot handle
a crappy print job, it's just not an obstacle
I wish to have in my life.
So definitely check them out if you're looking
for a great resource for your home office.
That's all for today socials, thank you so much
for tuning in, I appreciate it as always.
Make sure you subscribe for good vibes
and remember to continue to go after the life
that you want.
Cheers.