Now networking events have kind of morphed a little bit Dennis I know we’re we see networking events are all happening now on zoom’ like we’re doing right now you know what they might be easier Craig yeah you got a singer you don’t have to wear pants to a networking event now no you got to wear socks oh hang on other way around you don’t have to wear socks but you should wear pants well these shorts okay short all the dry cleaners are gonna be cleaning shirts and no pants that’s right exactly pants will be $1.00 shirts will be 20 bucks so the reason why you’re really that I think networking events have changed possibly further positive it used to be that you know you had to meet everybody one on one right so you’d go to a networking event and you literally would have to meet them one on one unless it’s like a vbn where they actually have you all do the little introduction thing you go you roll up to a networking event with the Chamber of Commerce and it’s free orders and maybe a free drink and you start talking to people and there’s a hundred people there and you got to do your best not to get trapped in a conversation and you got to do your best to move through the room and get as many contacts but now that they’ve gone online to zoom the interesting thing is a lot of people ask a question and then a person says oh yeah send me some information and oh yeah me too me too me too so all of a sudden you collect 10 leads because you said well I’ve got this thing you know what do I do I’m a real estate professional and I have this really cool guide that I’m willing to give anyone for free that puts their email address in the chat box so all of a sudden instead of you needing to move through the room one at a time you can put your lead magnet out there and have ten people jump on so I’m fairly convinced that networking events online are actually a better use of your time you don’t have to drive there you don’t have to drive back if the audience sucks whatever you move on you don’t have to sit through it so I think maybe we’re learning some power techniques by accident we’ve been forced into a power technique but most people are not utilizing it so I’d even suggest that paid networking events online the one are charging you $20 to get on to it you’re gonna get a higher level of people in there it would be worth spending $20 you know you were gonna buy a beer at the networking event anyways pay your $20 get into a networking event have a couple of lead magnets available so when people ask what do you do you pick the one based upon what you learned about everyone else right if everyone’s telling you who they are you can start to figure out if they’re homeowners not homeowners or you better off with a renter guide you better off the renovation guide and then boom when it’s your turn hey I’m a real estate agent and I have a special freebie for everyone today Oh twenty thirty forty fifty people suddenly jump on your list in one hour you’ll never get through 20 or 30 or 40 maybe twenty in a networking event of two hours I’ve got through 20 people before but boy you feel just a little bit dirty doing it because I get okay okay okay okay you got a boo-boo yeah and you know if you’re looking for a really good one a meetup by every Tuesday night at I think 7 p.m. go 7 to 9 Vancouver Business Network look at it up on Meetup they’re a great one right now that are not even charging to do it online and you get a chance on that networking event too you have 30 seconds to say who you are where you’re from and what you do so really great way to be able to connect with a lot of people and the best part about it is you can stick a link in the chat box saying anyone who wants my guide boom you put it in the chat box and this is acceptable procedure now once you’ve said your piece and your piece was about that free lead magnet almost no organizer is gonna be angry if you put a link for them to go get that 3 B I want to be in these networking events and these meetups you want to be consistent I mean we have been participating just as guests in the in Vancouver business network for over two years now.
Yeah and we always made sure that we were there we added good value we talked to everybody we were never Scelzi or preachy people knew what we did and we participated but we participated every single week we did this exhausting once in a blue moon we were all these ki– otherwise why should people trust you if you’re not there constantly then how serious are you about your business if you’re there once and then you come back six weeks later everybody there is just gonna think oh there’s that real-estate agent again just trying to get from us instead of give to us so yes consistency should not end you do have to have your one-minute answer to what do you do that can be easily shrunk to 30 seconds because you’ll usually get 30 seconds to a minute at any networking event to say what do you do it’s critical that you have a proper what you do and what you do is not I’m a real estate agent that can buy or sell houses everywhere in the world that’s not what you do the you know you need to go specific to go broad it needs to be I’m a real estate agent that focuses on the North Burnaby area and I mostly work with Asian immigrants between the age of 25 and 39 preferably male wow you got to go specific to be broad because that’s what makes you the expert Craig yeah be the expert is when you’re expert in a niche you’re able to go outside your niche and work as people say well you know what I don’t fit into that but I know somebody that is close to that can you help them – exactly so the more specific you go the more they want you and the more they’ll try to convince you that you could handle someone that’s not quite your niche because it’s a good friend of theirs and they really need help so it’s it’s quite like magic we’ve watched this at a live networking event where I coached a lady right before and I thought she was very unhappy about my unsolicited advice she was pretty standoffish I think she was Sri Lankan and she had all this beautiful ethnicity about her so I told her to use that and she says now and then it came her time to speak and she used exactly what I taught her to do she had four people mobber at the end of the thing and she just looks over at me like that’s so it does work we’re not crazy it sounds crazy I know but it’s not.