How can you budget for networking and relationship building in your career advancement?

Events I actively attend lead to increased ROI—ie. new business, advice, networking, relationships, etc. I attend 4-5 strategic events per year. I pick ones that light me up. If I pay, I prefer in person events—the magnetic resonance between people is palpable. (Often the digital version is free or greatly discounted, so it’s still a great way to learn!) Living in NYC is expensive, but attending events is more accessible. And, I’m frugal. I’ll spend $2.90 for the subway rather than a taxi. Once a year, I may fly across the world for a global event, expanding my mind with global perspectives and exposure to listen to and learn with the world’s greatest builders and leaders. I am patient with my career—all in due time.

Before I attend any event, I’ll research the event itself, the topics, speakers, and their companies. If there is a list of attendees, I’ll scope them out too, highlighting those I’m most interested in getting to know, in hopes of developing a meaningful IRL relationship. Thanks to LinkedIn, I can cross reference names with professional profiles to learn more prior to the conference or event. Then, I follow people on LinkedIn and introduce myself with its connections prior to the event, mentioning my excitement to listen to their speech (*if genuinely excited*). Then, I memorize their faces and names. And when I meet them, I’m so much more at ease with flowing conversations in person. Note: Genuine interest is key. (Don’t be fake.)

The key to develop a great network is to be a great person. If you’re genuinely interested in someone’s work or experiences, tell them with a kind compliment. Fill up their bucket. If you sense that you don’t really care about uplifting that person, you may realize you are reaching out for selfish reasons. In this case, I’d recommend working on yourself first. Then reaching out when you can feel genuine. People sense the intentions of another—when someone is truly in their own light, the other person will sense it with goosebumps or hairs that standup on their necks. Use your intuition to sense the appropriate frequency. Put yourself in their perspective too. How can you show up in a way that multiplies their light and yours? ✨

Focus. Clear your path of everything that is not your path. With a path that’s clean and simple—driven by a deep why— you will save time, energy, money, and more. Every distraction has a cost, not just on your bottom line. If you’re ‘invested’ in attending an event—and you know why—it will probably pay off. But if you’re attending an event to avoid facing the focus you know you need in convoluted attempts to procrastinate your next steps, you’re wasting time, energy, money, and you’re creating clutter for others.

Personally, I am overwhelmed with spammy incoming messages on email, LinkedIn inboxes, and even intrusive text messages and calls. No, I do not want these services, or to be sold things that I don’t need, want, or would buy from a complete stranger. This kind of lead generation does not work for me. They’re canned messages, that sometimes pull creepily bizarre details from my profile to seem like it’s genuine. It’s so gross. Stop. I love to receive genuine notes from people who’ve actually researched me, as I research others, to establish a genuine connection. Be a human. Be real. Be focused. You need one person to love you / your work, for that person to tell another person, to vouch for you, and so on. Over a career, it adds up.