13: Grace Estripeaut- Connecting with influencers

13 of 101 Conversations about How to Build a Community Around Your Business

Learn how Grace is reaching out to influential people to grow her network and find success in a big way.

Location: Denver

Business: Yoga and meditation for corporate businesses

Like me, Grace is seeking out many opportunities to learn about how to network effectively.

She took an online class called “Connect With Anyone” from Scott Dinsmore, in which she and 8 other people worked together to identify people with whom they wanted to connect, and then to brainstorm together how to connect to those people.

Grace said she learned that there are different ways to connect with different types of people. For example, connecting with a well known, industry leader, can be more challenging than connecting with a peer, and might take longer to accomplish.

On connecting with influencers:

It’s important to follow what they do and see how you might be able to help them.
Don’t settle for basic giving – be creative, offer something of value.
We can give more than we think we can. Influencers are people with needs, just like the rest of us.

She also read Never Eat Alone by Keith Ferrazzi. I have started reading it myself, and have already learned a lot from it. Two main ideas I have hit on so far are:

Social equity increases, instead of decreasing, when you share it.
It’s just as important to ask for help as it is to give it.

Keep in mind, I’m only 2 chapters into the book.

Grace is at the beginning stages of her business, in which she is working hard to make a name for herself.

She knows that she may have to work with a few clients for free in order to get experience and testimonials. Right now, she says, it’s all about building credibility. Once she gets in the door and shows clients what she can do, they are interested, but it’s all about getting that initial meeting.

Like many other entrepreneurs, Grace is unimpressed with networking events.

She says that she gets a lot of wrinkled noses when she says that she goes to networking events. Just the word “networking” seems to have a negative connotation. I wonder if we could re-shape it and call it “community building.”

Grace says that being successful at networking and building a network are very different things.

Whereas being successful at networking implies that you are good at fitting into established networks, building a network is more self-based. Instead of being one of many networkers, you build a network that is true to you and your business. It’s not about collecting many acquaintances, but how to turn some of those acquaintances into friends.

Building a community is about creating relationships, and that can be hard.

Grace says that making true connections can be hard for everyone, and admits that it can even be difficult for her sometimes, even though she is a naturally friendly, likeable person. After you meet, how do you keep going, nurture the relationship, and then eventually turn it into a friendship? It’s not just meeting, it’s also integrating the person into your life and your community.