How can you make a living doing what you love - inside or outside an organisation? There are several rules for finding sponsors. These apply whether you are a freelancer or seeking fresh challenges within an organisation. As we know, people often buy from those they already know in their network. So potential ‘sellers’ are told to go out and ‘network’. But real networking is not about self- promotion. It is about helping others to succeed. If you help others to succeed, however, you are more likely to get hired by sponsors. Let’s explore how this works in practice.

1) You can build and maintain your network.

How to find work? There is both good news and bad news. The bad news is that old-style methods of job search resemble a lottery and destroy confidence. The good news is that ‘people buy people’. Why? In an increasingly unpredictable world, leaders want to buy ‘predictability’. So they prefer to hire somebody they know who has a good track record. They can then build on the person’s strengths and find ways to compensate for their weaknesses.

“More than 90% of my work comes from my network,” said one freelancer. “The hard part is getting started. You must spend masses of time visiting people, sharing know-how and helping them to succeed. Providing you keep planting seeds, sooner or later somebody will say: ‘How can we take this further?’ You make clear contracts, do superb work and deliver success. Then you just keep networking.”

Start by drawing a map of your network.  If you are an employee and want to stay in your organisation, write the names of people you know, those you admire and those with whom you can think of working. If you are a freelancer, write the names of every potential sponsor in every organisation.

2) You can reach out to people in your network.

How to make this happen? Some people suggest the route of cold calling or direct mail, but it is important to be a giver, rather than a taker. It is vital:

a) To reach out to people in a way that fits your values-system.

b) To recognise that real networking is about helping other people to succeed - it is not about self-promotion.

c) To meet people face-to-face, explore the challenges they face and share knowledge that will help them to succeed.

Follow your natural way of networking. Do things that put a spring in your step. As a writer, for example, it is natural for me to send people free copies of the latest exercise, article or book. The key is to find your way. You might want to recommend books, gift a session on a client’s ‘away day’ or connect people by putting them in touch with each other.

Do something every day to reach some people in your network. Keep planting seeds - but be patient. It may take up to a year investing time in potential sponsors before the right opportunity appears. Remember: people buy face-to-face, so find a way to visit them. Most of your future work will come from present customers - so increase the chances of meeting. For example, if you have a 2.00 pm appointment with a current customer, arrive at 12.00. Sit in their Atrium or restaurant and do e-mails. You will find that individuals will pass by and say: “I was thinking about you the other day. Could you help us with…..?”

3) You can help people in your network to succeed.

Let’s return to the key point. Real networking is about helping other people to succeed. It is always about the other person, it is never about you. So when meeting potential sponsors, after a short while ask them: “What are the key challenges you face? What is your picture of success? What are the real results you want to achieve?” Share knowledge, ideas and tools that will help them to achieve their goals. If appropriate, sit alongside them and do some creative problem solving. Try completing the following sentence.

The specific things I can do to help the
people in my network to succeed are:

*

*

*

Keep giving to people. Providing you plant enough seeds, eventually somebody will say: “How can we take this further?” You can then move onto the next stage – making clear contracts about how you can work together.

Bookmark It