Network slowly - How To Meet People Without Trying - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career

Network slowly - How To Meet People Without Trying - Personal Branding Blog - Stand Out In Your Career I hate networking events: theyre overly crowded, people always have an agenda (the need to meet a potential client), and its difficult to build a relationship with an individual. Instead of pursuing networking events, Ive decided to network slowly and utilize my current network to meet new people.  Heres three ways that I do it and how you can do it too: Email newsletter with close friends Instead of trying to meet random people at a networking event, I leverage my close personal friends to make the introductions for me.  I utilize MailChimp to email a list of about 100 friends who I greatly respect, and who are as highly motivated as me. Once a month, I send an email newsletter about what Ive learned, useful resources that Ive found online, and requests for  introductions  to interesting people. When I first moved to the Bay Area in Northern California, I emailed my list to make introductions for people I should meet in the area.  Upon moving to the Bay, I instantly had 7 lunch meeting with young professionals and entrepreneurs that Im still close friends with today. But I dont just focus on taking from my community; I also focused on giving back to my community.  A good friend of mine in Los Angeles, CA recently asked me to connect him to a hungry entrepreneur that is looking to lead a profitable project.  I again emailed my list to let them know that I have a great opportunity for a young entrepreneur.   One week after I sent the email, I connected my friend with an entrepreneur that is now leading the project and increasing profitability for my friends company. Network slowly: let your friends make the important introductions for you Personal blog My personal blog has worked wonders for me in terms of opening up doors for unique opportunities and making me introductions to successful entrepreneurs.  At the moment, I try to keep a steady schedule of new posts every Tuesday and Thursday.  Its tough to keep it consistent, so if you dont have time to write 2 posts a week, try to at least post once a week every Tuesday. Make it clear on your About and Contact page that youre looking to meet people and youll find emails from awesome people in your inbox. Network slowly: show value to people online and valuable people will reach out to you Join valuable organizations Personal Branding Blog is a great community that Ive decided to join by contributing blog posts once a week.  Dan Schawbel has done an amazing job, and Ive leveraged his success to find introductions to other successful entrepreneurs. I am also a part of the Young Entrepreneur Council.  The YEC has been extremely valuable in terms of making introductions to young go-getters that are making a difference.  Its very easy to meet people through the Facebook Group, and the content and community managers have been super helpful in getting my content published on A-list blogs around the web. I highly recommend that you apply to be a part of the YEC right now. Network slowly: allow community manager and chief editors to do their job and connect you with other important people in the community As an immediate next step, create a free MailChimp account and create an email list with 100 people that you follow on Twitter.  Send 1 email a month with valuable content and ask for introductions to people that they recommend you meet. This action alone will greatly open up the doors to a network of successful professionals. Author: Jun Loayza  is the Co-Founder of  RewardMe, a customer loyalty  platform  for restaurants and retailers. In his entrepreneurial experience, Jun has sold 2 internet companies and lead social media technology campaigns for Sephora, Whole Foods Market, Levi’s, LG, and Activision. On the side, Jun helps his girlfriend run an  online boutique.