Building a strong network of YOU is critical to the success of your business. However, I see so many people sitting in the waiting room of now, versus networking for their future selves. So why is it so important to network for the future, and how do you do it effectively? Today, I share my practical tips and strategic advice I’ve gained over the years so that you too can harness the power of connections.

I take you back to 2020 when the COVID pandemic wiped out 80% of our revenue. It was a moment of truth – what on earth was I going to do? After receiving advice from a friend on leveraging networks, I reached out to my people for help in promoting my upcoming book Be Brilliant. The response was overwhelming, and within two weeks of launch, my book reached number two in Australia and number six globally. 

This to me is a living, breathing example of the power of connection. The network of you starts with four key people:

1. Promoters: those who help you become more, acting as your cheerleaders and marketing machines.
2. Pit Crew:  Individuals who care for you deeply, ensuring you maintain balance in life.
3. Teachers: Mentors who challenge your thinking and enhance your knowledge.
4. Butt-Kickers: The truth-sayers who push you to act and hold you accountable.

Now, you can't build a network without first understanding what it is that you want to achieve. I encourage you to think about what you want to achieve in the next six or twelve months. Then, ask yourself who in your life fits the four key networking roles to help you reach those goals. 

Your network is your asset and the very thing that will support you to secure your future - so grab your pen and paper and get to work on building your team today!

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Now, back in April 2020, I found myself literally in the fetal position in the shower, crying my eyes out, wondering what on earth I was going to do and like so many people, so many business owners, so many individuals I was facing the reality of the impact of COVID in our business. The majority of our revenue at the time was coming from in person events was coming from speaking, was coming from working with people actually in person and pretty much overnight we lost around 80 percent of our [00:01:00] revenue as things were being canceled, left, right, and center. I'd also come back that January of that year. I'd been in the U S speaking at an event which was Intentionally put in place to essentially launch our business in the U S. So I had this amazing opportunity to travel out to San Francisco and speak at an event with the likes of Simon Sinek and essentially launch my brand in the U S. And as a result of that, we had probably about five amazing clients that were prepared to book me in for that year.

And what became apparent for me in April of 2020 was this feeling of, Oh my gosh. What am I going to do? I've lost 80 percent of the revenue the U. S. opportunity had pretty much shut down overnight. And on top of that the book launch... That was due to happen a couple of months later was all at risk.

Nobody was buying books. There were no events from which to sell. There was no mass volume activity happening. And quite frankly, who in April 2020 wanted to buy a book about Be Brilliant. Unleashing your brilliance. Nobody felt like being brilliant at all, did they? This realization hit of, Oh my gosh, what am I going to do?

And I phoned up a really good friend of mine and amazing peer and colleague guy called Shane Hatton uh, has written numerous books himself. And I literally said, Shane, what am I going to do? And he, on the phone call said to me, Janine, you need to use your own IP. I went. What are you talking about, Shane?

My next question, which I hear, So many times from my own clients is why would anyone want to help me? To which Shane said, Janine, you've helped so many people over these last few years. You'll be surprised. Anyway, it was the wake up call that I needed because what I did is, and you can probably find it on the interwebs somewhere.

I recorded a quick video that I literally asked people to help me. I shared the challenge that I was facing, the fact that I'd written this book, the fact that I had no distribution, the fact that I had a publishing contract of minimum quantities to sell, the fact that I knew the first 90 days were critical for this book.

And so. Way before Zoom became such a normal part of life, I set up a Zoom meeting and put this date out to there, out to the universe, said here's the link and literally said, if you're interested in helping me jump online. The day of the Zoom meeting came and all I can say is I was blown away of page after page after page of people coming to help me launch Be Brilliant.[00:06:00]

People from all over the world. We had South Africa. We had Europe, New Zealand, Tasmania, Australia, we had Canada, we had America, we had people from all over the world, all walks of life jump online onto this zoom call saying, I'll help you. And I literally asked them, I literally said. Here's my challenge.

There is zero distribution. There is zero opportunity to do any mass marketing. All I can rely on are individual sales and the marketing that I can do through the internet. On the day of launch, within two weeks of launch be brilliant, hit. Number two in Australia. So we reached number two status in terms of sales in Australia, and we reached number six globally beating Brene Brown.

And this to me is a living, breathing example Of the power of connection and the power of network. When you are so clear on what it is that you are trying to achieve, when you are so clear on what you're good at and the help that you need, and when you engage other people and ask them to help you, incredible things happen.

This to me is the power of network and it's the power of connecting in the right way. And this is the networking that I talk about in my book, It's Who You Know, it's IP that I live and breathe every single day, where essentially what I talk about is not the transactional networking that so many of us have been fed through the first, you know, years of our, Corporate or working existence.

We absolutely need that, but it's not networking, it's business development, it's lead generation. It's essentially finding a pool of people that are going to help you drive your business success, open up opportunities for your business, or for those of you that might be listening that are currently working in corporate, those networking events are purely to support the growth of the organization you're working in.

In the present moment versus chasing shiny stuff or suddenly getting taken off course, it's the network that holds you accountable and that will share with you everything that they know, because they want you to succeed. It absolutely is an intentional network. It's absolutely about mutual value exchange, and it absolutely is the very thing that will create the ripple of change that you want for yourself and also for the people around you.

And the first thing I do when I'm working with people is really get them to map out what, what does future you look like? Now, I'm not talking about 10 years time. I'm not talking about the big why or the purpose. What what I actually encourage my clients to do, and I'm encouraging you to do is go think about what it is that you want to achieve over the next 12 months or over the next six months. If 12 months is too long, what do you want to achieve? What do you want to achieve in your, business or in your career? What do you want to achieve financially? What do you want to achieve? In terms of those relationships that matter to you, that feed your soul and what you want to achieve just for you.

Who knows? From a financial perspective, it could be that this next 12 months is about paying down debt or increasing your wealth or getting up in your, your rates or getting a promotion and getting paid more, or it could be investments like own what it is that you want to do over the next 12 months financially, and then when we talk about those relationship pieces. it's the stuff that fuels your soul, the things that make life worth living. And I often find that this is, people related. The people that you want around you that make you feel good. What are some of those goals? So it could be holidays with your family.

What is on your life list? What is the one thing that you want to do or two things in the next 12 months that are just for you? Take a moment to think about that. And as you consider what it is that you're trying to achieve over the next 12 months. My question to you is, who's going to help you get that?

Who's going to help you achieve that? If you had to list the people down, if you had to write a list of four, six, eight, ten, twelve people that are going to help you achieve those goals, who are they? Do you actually have them in your world? Are they diverse? Are they from different industries?

Here's the people you actually do need. So I want you to think about that. You've got that goal, that, that 12 month plan in the middle of your hands. And I want you to imagine that you're smack bang in the middle of the network of you. The four key people that we need are people that are going to stretch us further than we can ever go ourselves.

They're people that are going to keep us in the moment stable and in the present and they're people that are going to push us away from our current and pull us towards our future. The first person you need is what I call a promoter. And the promoter is all about helping you become more. I want you to think about who could that be for you.

So one person can't take all these roles. They need to have one of these four roles. You need one of these. So you need at least one promoter and that promoter is a person that, is all about helping you become more. They understand that vision that you have for yourself of what it is that you want to achieve next of what it is that you want to become over the next 12 months.

And they are your walking billboard. They're cheerleading you on. They are your marketing machine. They're helping you explore the different ways to get to where it is that you want to go. And they're firing up your belly. They're inspiring you to go off and do that. They're talking about you all the time because they believe in.

They don't care about any of that stuff. They care about you. They understand that you are running a marathon and not a sprint and that it's important that you get balance right in your world. They keep you in the moment. They make sure you stay present and that you look after the mind, the body, and the spirit.

They open Up connections for you and they really care for you unconditionally. Once again, this can't be a significant other. It has to be someone outside of any of those types of relationship. These people really check in on how are you. How are you really? How are you really, really, really doing? Do you have that pit crew in your world right now?

And so what the teachers do is they develop your thinking. They get you to think outside the box. They understand that diversity of opinion and difference of opinion is the very thing that's going to shape your competitive advantage. They're not yes people, they're challenging you. They're often further ahead from a business point of view or a career point of view.

And we need this right now because we are living in challenging times and our ability to connect dots differently, to think differently, to see around the corners is the very thing that we need to be able to navigate into the future. So do you have a teacher in your world? And the final person that you need are what I call butt kickers.

These are the people that, that are all about and they're committed to you doing more. They are your truth sayer. They call you on BS. They don't accept excuses and they are essentially committed to you doing the very thing that you've said you're going to do. This is the sort of person that goes Oh, you talked about wanting to double your prices.

Do you have one? Yes or no. The teacher. That's all about you knowing more. Do you have one? Yes or no. And that butt kicker. That's all about you doing more. Do you have one? Yes or no. I'd love you to get curious about who is missing in your world. And if you'd love to find out more, grab yourselves a copy of it's who, you know, it's available at all on right line retailers.

There's a whole heap of content here on my YouTube channel. Or alternatively, reach out because this is something that am so passionate about. Your network becomes your game changer. It is your asset and it's the very thing that will secure your future. If you learn to network in the right way.

Take care and I'll see you next week.