The Boss of You

I participated yesterday in an “Entrepreneurship 101″ panel discussion for Arts Co-op students at the University of British Columbia, and one of the questions we fielded was about networking. Personally, I’ve always disliked the word “networking,” partly because it’s one of those verbs that’s been awkwardly adapted from a noun (”impacting” being my least-favourite example of same), but also because it sends prickles up the spine of my inner introvert. (I suppose really I’m an ambivert (speaking of awkward words), but when it comes to working a room filled with strangers, I tend towards the shy end of the spectrum.) When we started our business, one of the things that filled me with dread was the thought that to be a successful entrepreneur, I would need to master the art of glad-handing, delivering elevator speeches, and handing out business cards with aplomb.

As it turns out, none of those things were all that necessary in our field. We tried joining professional associations and attending functions that were billed as networking opportunities, but we simply didn’t fit in. That’s not to say they aren’t useful, and even crucial, for some business owners, but for us they were not only painful but fruitless. The fact of the matter is that our potential clients were nowhere to be found at those events, and we were wasting our time.

Let me cut to the chase. I have pink hair. I don’t wear suits. In a room full of grey flannel and mid-height pumps, I stick out like a sore thumb. Now, I don’t mind standing out — and I know plenty of clever, interesting people who wear suits to work — but I didn’t enjoy feeling like the weirdo that crashed the preppy party in high school. For a while there, I thought maybe I was going to need to start getting comfortable in a suit in order to succeed in business, but eventually I figured out that most people would rather do business with someone who speaks their language, and that I just needed to find my people.

So I dropped the suit-wearing folks and examined the networks I already had. I realized I already had plenty of contacts in other fields: the arts community, for example. I had spent years and years singing in choirs (and as a soloist) around Vancouver, and had developed a huge network in the music community, which had then branched out into other artistic disciplines. Our firm had in fact been working with arts groups since its inception — our very first client was the Vancouver Recital Society, the city’s premier presenter of intimate solo and chamber concerts. So it was a Eureka! moment when I realized that for me, “networking” might include regular attendance at music, theatre and dance shows, art openings, and the like. I was always likely to see someone I knew, who could introduce me to their friends, and so on and so forth. It might not result in an instant sale, but it did build relationships that kept our company at the forefront of potential clients’ minds.

Emira had her own networks she circulated in — political circles and media activist groups, for instance — and her participation in those communities did a great deal to bring us business, too. The best part of it was that not only were we doing “natural networking,” which was far more enjoyable and painless than the formalized kind, but we were also attracting like-minded clients whose vision and values synced very nicely with ours. In other words, by doing networking our way, we were getting clients we actually liked, and whom we understood — which meant we were always inspired to do our best work, and keep client satisfaction levels high. It was a win-win situation.

We have a whole chapter in our book about networking, and although we do encourage you to stretch a little beyond your comfort zone, we don’t insist you join a bunch of clubs where you won’t fit in. I really believe you can succeed in business without compromising the things that make you unique. After all, how are you ever going to stand out enough to be noticed if you follow the crowd? Blending in isn’t always a good thing. But by the same token, there’s no point swimming upstream at traditional networking events if they aren’t paying off. Examine the networks you already have — your natural networks — and ask yourself how you can expand and deepen them to increase business. Chances are, you’ll find ways to make stronger, more genuine connections within those groups than you’d be able to create in a room full of strangers trading business cards.