Networking That Works: Building Lasting Connections for Business Growth

Sandra Yancey [00:00:00]:

Out, I'd have a bunch of cards, I wouldn't know who they were. I couldn't put a name in a face because I'm just collecting them or passing them and passing my card out as if it's Halloween candy.

Briana Dai [00:00:10]:

Whether you want to hear it or not, whether you're going to like me for saying this or not, I feel like it would be really crappy for me to not acknowledge it because it is the unfortunate truth.

Kym Yancey [00:00:20]:

I also know from being in the music business that the key to all those recording stars is what?

Briana Dai [00:00:38]:

Welcome back to another episode of she Means Millions. Today we're going to talk about a hot topic that we have noticed a wave of other people starting to hit on. And because I think of the trust recession with AI, the topic of getting out there and actually connecting and networking in person is more important than ever. And what's interesting is that people are talking about it like it's a new strategy that they have to implement.

Kym Yancey [00:01:06]:

Yeah, it is.

Briana Dai [00:01:07]:

Like, yeah, but at eWomenNetwork, we've kind of been about it for a long, long, long time and know a thing or two about how to not only network, but network really well, because there's also a lot of misinformation out there that I've heard about how to effectively network. Some good tips here. And that really no one has taken the time to dive deep into how to really effectively not just grow your network, but grow relationships that really mean something.

Kym Yancey [00:01:36]:

Yeah, you know, I think it's. Honestly, I think it's the most important thing we could be talking about because it's the one thing that won't let you down. It's the one thing that serves you constantly when you're doing it right. I remember, you know, it changed for me, for both of us, really, years ago, when a dear friend of mine, George Fraser, was doing an event, we were acquaintances. We weren't dear friends. The first time I saw him, saw him because I just heard about him. But he had written a book called Success Runs in Our Race. And he said something that for me, changed everything.

Kym Yancey [00:02:08]:

And that was the whole notion that, you know, the reason why people feel so empty when they go to a networking event or they leave or they feel like, you know, how was it? It's okay, you know, is because they went there with a clear indication. I'm here to get. I'm here to get, you know, I'm trying to get new business. I get this, get that lead. And when you don't get these things, you feel like, man, it didn't work out the way I thought, you know what I mean? Or they feel a little deflated. And that's how so many people approach networking. In fact, I'll never remember. Sandra.

Kym Yancey [00:02:39]:

I had a group of young high school young men and young women, each separately, a group of them in a focus group. And I asked in, in those groups, what do you know about networking? What is networking? And they raised their hand. I'd ask each one, what does it mean? And in every case, these young kids said, it's about getting, you know, it was. It's getting this, getting, getting access to, et cetera. And I explained to them, then I said, it's. It's actually the wrong way. Every one of you came up with the wrong way to network. You network to give.

Kym Yancey [00:03:10]:

And then you should have seen their face. Like, that's a foreign concept. Yeah, but no, I think it's probably the most important thing. In fact, I took a minute prior to this podcast just to jot down some of the reasons, some of the ways to network. You guys want to hear them?

Sandra Yancey [00:03:26]:

Sure.

Kym Yancey [00:03:27]:

All right, now a little more enthusiasm from the. All right, so here's things that people don't think about when it comes to networking. You network. I'm going to give you reasons to network. You network for resources. All right, Think about. You know, sometimes when you're going, you're like, maybe you need a copywriter, or maybe you need a social media person, or maybe you need that. But you're networking for resources.

Kym Yancey [00:03:51]:

Others are. You're networking for ideas. You're there because you want ideas. You want some new perspectives. You network for partnerships, potential people who could. Who could be within your field. A compliment. You could be a compliment to each other.

Kym Yancey [00:04:05]:

So you're networking for those reasons. You network for femtors and mentors. Femtors is our word, you know, for mentor. Right? You network for social connections. You network for leads. You network for investors. You network for friends. You network for employees and contractors.

Kym Yancey [00:04:25]:

You network for marketing. You network for help and wisdom, and you network to give. Now think about that. I mean, how many people, you know, go and think, you know, listen, I travel a lot and I have a cute little puppy, and, you know, I'm looking for someone that will watch my pet. That's a successful thing if that's your need. You know it. So business and relationships are critical, but these are just some of the other ways that you network and ways to use it that make it so abundantly special. Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:04:57]:

One of our values, one of our top three values has always been give first and share always. And I think it's so counterintuitive. I mean, it is one of the things that I am asked most, one of the top three things. And it is how, Sandra, have you been able to create connections with people like a Mark Cuban who ended up coming to our office and me interviewing him, or Ken Cragan who was a Hollywood legend at one point, I think 40 was it.

Kym Yancey [00:05:32]:

48% of all the number one selling artists were under his management.

Sandra Yancey [00:05:36]:

And he built brands is what he did. I mean, he was a business manager. And of course he became not only a coach and a dear friend and a business manager, but I brought him to a lot of the conferences and some of the private platinum members only events that we had. And so how has that happened? And even Beyonce's dad, Matthew Knowles, who then came to the conference and all of these people came complimentary, you know, and it's because I focused on them and who they are and connections that they might need that I might know someone who knows someone, you know, and putting the effort into work for others success. You know, it's that whole thing of, you know, no one will ever care about you until they know how much you care about them. And I think it's so counterintuitive because people are like, I paid, you know, $50 for this, you know, 15 dol lunch. What am I getting out of it? And it's. And it's the get what am I getting out of it? And it's really what you said, Kim, and that is focus on the other person.

Sandra Yancey [00:06:45]:

I mean, in many ways, they won't actually even remember who you are until you do your follow up, you know, your fortune and your futures and your follow up where you say it was so great to connect with you. And we talked about this and so, and I wanted to follow up with you on this article that I read or a link to this book that you might want to get that I was telling you about or something that reminds me of that would be of value to you. I mean, I think the really savvy networkers out there aren't looking for their next transaction. They're not looking for their next customer. They're looking for the person that could help them solve a problem that could get them hundreds of customers, right? And that becomes the exponential value of really great networking. And what you find is that your networking can then almost shrink in size, but expand in value. I mean, you don't have to be in a thousand places. You can find that One place that feels like people are noticing you.

Sandra Yancey [00:07:48]:

I'm telling you, you want to be remembered, focused on being seen as the person that's always helping others. And before you know it, you will start to see the residual impact of that kind of behavior. And before you know it, people are referring you and have you met this person? Do you know her? Because they see how much you are in it to help. And yes, it does take some time to do that, but it is time well spent. And I promise, I'm just, I'm here, I'm living proof that you will find more reciprocal, reciprocal value. It does come around. What goes around comes around. What you put out will come back tenfold if you are consistent over time.

Sandra Yancey [00:08:34]:

It starts to pay back and pay dividends and compound in huge ways.

Briana Dai [00:08:41]:

Yeah. I find that the most effective networking that I see is when people introduce themselves but then immediately start asking questions versus just talking about themselves. It's an immediate turn off when somebody just comes and just wants to tell you all about them. It's me, me, me, me, me. Because it really is more about the other person. And I think that's what you both were talking about when it comes to serving. It's listening to how your, how the person that you're talking to, what do they do? What are they, what are they dealing with? What is their biggest need or their biggest challenge or the biggest obstacle that they're trying to overcome? And it's always interesting when I start to network and I start to have these kinds of conversations and ask those questions, how people are like, surprised, like taken back, like, wow, no one's ever asked me, like, what my biggest obstacle is right now. You know, they're used to kind of the surface level conversation, the small talk, the.

Sandra Yancey [00:09:35]:

Oh, yeah, that's cool.

Briana Dai [00:09:36]:

Cool, I love that. Yeah. Give me your card. Sure. Awesome. You know, but it's, it never gets really deep. And, you know, it's not about connecting and getting as many cards as possible. It's about how, how many real relationships.

Briana Dai [00:09:49]:

And if you're doing it effectively, you're going to walk out with fewer real relationships than you would if you were just trying to collect as many cards as possible.

Sandra Yancey [00:09:56]:

You're building contacts, you're not building community and you're not building real connections. And that's the difference. You can, this is where I'm telling you, you can make a lot of money with a smaller list of true connections than you can with a ginormous list of nothing but contacts.

Kym Yancey [00:10:15]:

We started with nothing. I mean, between the two of us, I think we had 35 people. Even though I owned an advertising agency, when I think about, you know, real connections and I mean, we're living proof that networking works in a, and delivers in a massive way, especially when it's sincere. You know, one of those, the authentic word, you know, where it's authentic, where you're, where you are listening to someone. In fact, I like, when I'm talking to someone, I like to always ask them, do you have a card? I keep their heart out in my hand as they're talking and I'm looking at their card and I'll bring out a pen or something and I'll make a little note on the card. Sometimes I put four, the number four on the back and I do that. And sometimes people ask me, what, what, what's the four for? I said, you're four star, man. You're four.

Sandra Yancey [00:11:02]:

That's cute.

Kym Yancey [00:11:03]:

You know, I go, I go one to four star. You're four star. I just love what you do. I love what you're about. I love what you're thinking. The thing is, is the conversion there, you know, because when you think about, you know, starting eWomenNetwork, I remember, you know, our why was pretty clear back then. It was the whole notion that here's Sandra Yancey, she's got her master's in organization development and there are people. And I could see from where we live, when we first moved here, because we built our house, there was an open field.

Kym Yancey [00:11:33]:

There's no open field there now, but when we moved there was an open field and you could see what was a couple of miles away, EDS and some other companies, Ross Pro's company, like seven buildings, Toyota, just all kinds of different things. And I remember saying to Sandra, Sandra, there are people right now in those buildings that are looking for your organization development, consulting ideas and don't know your name, don't know how to find you, don't know, you know, who you are.

Sandra Yancey [00:11:59]:

But I'm catching a plane flying to Atlanta, meeting with Coca Cola, I mean, which were great clients, don't get me wrong. But at the time my children were young and I was like, if I can build a million dollar business right here in Dallas, you know, while my children are young and be home for dinner at night, why would I not do that? Right?

Kym Yancey [00:12:17]:

Yeah, it was so incredible. And of course your needs were, you know, I want, I need to meet them too. But we don't know each other. I mean, the whole premise of eWomen networking, it came to networking, which was what we stood on was the whole fact that there are people who are looking for you and they don't know where you are and you're looking for them and you don't know their name, you don't know how to reach them, is how do we bridge that gap? And that's really the birth of the whole idea to make it work.

Sandra Yancey [00:12:43]:

And I can tell you it's so much easier, I think, than some people think it is to be other focused versus self focused. Right. I talk about this in my book, which I wrote, what in 2005 or 6? Something like that. Relationship networking, the art of turning contacts into connections. And it really starts with mastering these three words. And then once you've mastered them, then you can use substitute words kind of things. But can you explain to me what it is that you do? Can you expand on that and tell me who is your right fit client? Right. Can you give me an example of what it is that you're looking for or who it is that you want to meet next? I mean, just learning those three what I called X words is really how I built Ewin Network in the very beginning, you know, and then you can move into other things.

Sandra Yancey [00:13:30]:

Like, you know, if you could wave a magic wand and change one thing about your business, that would change everything about your business. What might that be? You know, and you can ask other. But to this day, I mean, if you want to start saying so, okay, Sandra, so and Kim and Briana, you talk about being other focus and giving. How do you actually do that? I'm telling you, if you just begin to have conversations with explain, expand, example, you'll understand and you will see people fall in love with you because most people do not network and get other people to ask them these questions. And what's really cool when you know you're doing it right, is that when you go back and you leave and you actually look at your cards and you're going to know who those people are. You're going to be able to put a name and a face and you'll be able to put true, powerful examples and antidotes of that conversation that you will remember that I know it used to be I would walk out, I'd have a bunch of cards, I wouldn't know who they were. I couldn't put a name and a face because I'm just collecting them or passing my card out as if it's Halloween candy, like I'm going to win a prize. And I think most of us would be pretty humbled, if not Disappointed to see what most people do with our cards.

Sandra Yancey [00:14:53]:

Do you feel like you're drowning in your business? Like you're doing everything and something has to give, but you're afraid it might be you. What if I told you there's a network of over 500,000 women entrepreneurs all dedicated to supporting each other? A network of women helping women. I'm Sandra Yancey, founder of eWomenNetwork, and I'm inviting you to join us and become a member. ewomennetwork.com we can't wait to meet you.

Kym Yancey [00:15:23]:

Every major accomplishment as it relates to growing attendance, being effective with bringing on national sponsors. In every case, it was because of networking. In every single case, it was meeting someone at a trade show. But let me give you what I think is the. Well, it's an unspoken truth, but it is. The reality is you can't be in a hurry with this. People pick up on, you know, I need to close this deal.

Sandra Yancey [00:15:53]:

Breath or talking to you, but looking over your shoulder around you, like, who else is here? And you know, they're not really connecting with you. Right. You have to be so planted and trusting of the person you're talking to is the person you're supposed to know right now.

Kym Yancey [00:16:09]:

Yeah. And I. I know that I. I think as I'm talking to you right now, I think about a car dealership, of all things. A car dealership back in Dayton. And the owner of the dealership, used to his commercials were these basic. He'd be out in the front of the store with a car behind him. He says, we got the best cars, the best selection, the best value.

Kym Yancey [00:16:28]:

Come on down, you know, come on down. And I knew that I could produce something better for him than what he had. I knew how serious he was. He was running ads all over the place. And I remember giving him a call on the phone, and he says to me, I told him, I said, I've lived here for years, most of my life. I said, I've got some ideas for you that I'd love to share with you on something you might not have thought about, that are in your blind spot that I think could help with your marketing a lot. He says to me in a rather gruff voice, young man, you know how many calls I get every week and people claiming to have something better for me. I'm giving you five minutes on this date.

Kym Yancey [00:17:06]:

Give me five minutes on a date. Three weeks later, I said, thank you. You know, huh. Hangs up the phone. I remember telling Sandra, before I'm getting here. I don't even know why I'm going to go see this guy. I remember this because I thought, here's what I thought. Here's what I thought.

Kym Yancey [00:17:19]:

This is, you know, I know we have a lot of multicultural people out there. I'm back there with a big afro, I got a goatee. You know, I look like a little, you know, dressed up gangster. That's what I look like. And he was, I think he was like, you know, 68 or 70, something like that. And I just thought, you know, he's going to see me and think, who's this guy? What's he think think he's doing?

Sandra Yancey [00:17:40]:

Generational gap.

Kym Yancey [00:17:41]:

Yeah, you're just. But. But I'm playing all these scripts in my head, right on how he's going to view me, what he's going to think of me. So I go, go to the dealership, which, by the way, I so admire these people. It was called Pepley Ford. I don't mind giving you guys the name of it, but it's Peply Ford in Dayton, Ohio. And I went and I met with him, and he brought in some of his salespeople. And I talked, I shared with him, and I did have some ideas because I was a music person.

Kym Yancey [00:18:06]:

So I had, like, some musical stuff to share with him about creating a whole different vibe for his dealership. He. He liked ideas. And halfway through the presentation, he stopped me. He says, young man, he says, you got my business. And I was kind of like, you know, I didn't want to seem shocked inside. I'm like, holy hell, yeah. And he.

Kym Yancey [00:18:27]:

But he could tell from my look. He says, do know why you're getting my business? And I said, well, I'm assuming it's because you. You like the ideas. He says, oh, the ideas are okay. He says that you had an idea, you got on the phone, you made the appointment, you came to me and you presented your idea with unbelievable enthusiasm. That's what I want in this dealership. You know, it's the network. Networking encompasses your energy, your vibe, your enthusiasm, you know, your excitement for them.

Kym Yancey [00:19:04]:

And people pick up on all of that. And that same equation is what I've used personally with everything, everything with the eWomenNetwork, with sponsors, ups, American Airlines, every single one of them. And you want to do this. Here's the magic key. The magic key is you want to introduce yourself and present yourself in a way that someone else could say, you know that look, you see that young lady over there? Her name's Brianna Day. I met her here tonight. You need to meet her. She's impressive.

Kym Yancey [00:19:32]:

She's doing X, Y and Z.

Sandra Yancey [00:19:35]:

And people talk like that. They do, they do.

Kym Yancey [00:19:38]:

You know, and they can't introduce you if you got some long winded, confusing, confusing introduction. I mean these are all the things that go into. Because people will make a decision. Networking doesn't do that much for me. Tell me what you do. And they do. And it's like, oh my God.

Briana Dai [00:19:54]:

Well that's why.

Kym Yancey [00:19:54]:

30 minutes later.

Briana Dai [00:19:55]:

Yeah. That's why it's not working for you. Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:19:59]:

Do you know, one of the things I love is when I see someone with a name I don't know how to pronounce and I literally lean into it because you know, being. Being first generation American, both my parents had foreign names and so and which was always botched, you know. And I love leaning in to say tell me. So how do you pronounce like Brianna. How do you pronounce your last name? I would probably assume is it. Is it die? Is it day? And then allow you to correct it, say thank you. I always like to get names right and sometimes I'm hesitant to even try because I don't want to botch it. But it's so important to me to get your name right.

Briana Dai [00:20:39]:

Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:20:40]:

You, you would not believe. You will watch people like somebody cares about my. What else are they going to care more about than their personal ident. And then to say so how did you get that name? Is it a family name? And then allow you to tell the story. And now you become distinctly memorable like someone I've never met. When you tell your story about your name that it's not your last name but your middle name, how you got it, all of that. And then that leads into this much more personal connection. So just the ways in which people go right to name, rank and serial number.

Sandra Yancey [00:21:17]:

So what's your business? What do you do? So what? You know what I mean? Which sounds so much like everybody as opposed to slowing down and getting more personal for sure.

Briana Dai [00:21:27]:

You know, can I just begin another kind of. It's like an uncomfortable truth and that is this. I naturally gravitate towards people who look put together.

Kym Yancey [00:21:39]:

Oh yeah.

Briana Dai [00:21:40]:

If I'm walking in a room and I see somebody who looks kind of frumpy or just. Or just not as professional. Not like they really put the effort in to really show up and show out. I'm probably not going to go out of my way to introduce myself and start a conversation. And I think it is just a. Maybe it's because of the industry That I was in. And I just appreciate fashion and I appreciate effort, and I appreciate. But I.

Briana Dai [00:22:07]:

But I think that it's. I think that that's more common than not. You know, I think that it's an a subconscious. You just gravitate. Your eye gravitates towards beauty. And even if that beauty isn't necessarily conventional beauty, that beauty could just be somebody who really put on a power suit and they just look the part. You're just going to gravitate towards people who look the part. So if you're going into a networking event and you're thinking to yourself, oh, I just want to go hear the speaker, I'm not really there to connect or network.

Briana Dai [00:22:36]:

I feel like you're doing yourself such a huge disservice because you never know when you could meet the very person who could change everything for you. And if you don't, I always joke, you got to stay ready. So you don't got to get ready, you know, you got to stay ready for that moment.

Kym Yancey [00:22:52]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:22:53]:

Because you never know who you're going to meet.

Sandra Yancey [00:22:54]:

My mother used to say, better for there to be. For you to be prepared and there to be no opportunity than there for you to be an opportunity and you not be prepared.

Briana Dai [00:23:04]:

Yes.

Sandra Yancey [00:23:05]:

And what I will tell you is people ask me all the time when I do events and things like that, so what should I wear? My answer is what you would wear if you were to meet someone who could change your life. Yeah, that's what you should be wearing.

Briana Dai [00:23:17]:

I always try to dress like as if I. I want people to look at me and think, oh, she must be one of the speakers. That's what I want people to think. When I go to an event, I want people to look at me and be like, oh, she looks like she's going to be speaking. Because people naturally want to know the speakers.

Sandra Yancey [00:23:33]:

Yeah, they do. You know, get their picture taken with speakers and.

Briana Dai [00:23:36]:

Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:23:37]:

And all the things. My big thing I have to say is a truth. And that is when I see somebody who isn't put together, it makes me wonder. I mean, I certainly am making a judgment on whether I want to give my business to that person. Because I'm thinking, if that's how she's going to take care of my brand, that's how she's going to take. Or he's going to take care of my business. I don't think so.

Briana Dai [00:24:01]:

It's true. It really is. I think that there is. It's like an uncomfortable unspoken truth when it comes to networking. And that is that first impressions really are everything before you ever open your mouth. And how you show up is a huge indicator of how seriously somebody's going to take you in the conversation or even the time of day somebody's going to give you, whether you want to hear it or not, whether you're going to like me for saying this or not. I feel like it would be really crappy for me to not acknowledge it because it is the unfortunate truth and

Sandra Yancey [00:24:33]:

it's where sometimes you least expect it. And I'm going to say that it's not just in networking events. It's for. I have made million dollar relationships and built million dollar clients at the airport.

Briana Dai [00:24:45]:

Yeah.

Sandra Yancey [00:24:47]:

And it is amazing to me how people show up at the airport. And I've also learned that the people that check your bags and also that are at the gate, they have so much discretionary power it would blow you away what they can make happen for you. And you know, I always, you know this Kim. I always put a little extra effort before I go to the airport. Is amazing how many upgrades I've gotten. I have been in coach and had them come back to coach and say Mrs. Yancy and all. Yes.

Sandra Yancey [00:25:20]:

Could you follow me please and not say anything and move me up when someone didn't show at the last minute. I've had just literally I've had what I know is extra effort go out for someone when my bag has been lost to get me my bag by sometimes one o' clock in the morning as opposed to, you'd be surprised, you know, two to three days where you've missed it. Now you're onto the next city. I mean it is just amazing to me how you treat the people that are servicing you, their power, that relation. You learn their name, you let them know you say, can I take a picture of you with your badge? You then can put it on Facebook or Instagram or LinkedIn and do a shout out to that brand who we know from, Kim, all of the brands that you have created, you know, partnerships or sponsorships for us, they track all that stuff. To see the shout outs and to see the people that have made the difference. I mean, you know, it is just amazing to me how you show up, how that translates to help for you that in the least expected ways that will make all the difference.

Kym Yancey [00:26:33]:

I remember, you know, and not only, first of all, Brianna, I couldn't agree with you more that the way you style yourself. We're not talking about being a fashion model, we're talking about you style yourself Makes it big, a big difference. And I think a lot of people just are not getting the feedback, but the feedback is you're not getting sales, you're not getting deals, you're struggling, and you're saying, you know, I'm as good as someone else. I remember even. Even in a work environment, I remember one of my friends telling me that their wife was very frustrated because she was passed over on a promotion and had more skill than the person who took over.

Briana Dai [00:27:13]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:27:14]:

And then I, you know, and I realized I had met this guy's wife and she was not the most friendly person to be around. You know what I mean? She had an. She had an edge, you know what I'm saying? So it's a lot of unspoken things I didn't want to say to him. I know what it is. I know what brought that down, because, you know, you want a certain level of camaraderie and alignment, you know, through line, even in your work environment.

Sandra Yancey [00:27:38]:

But glad you brought it up, Brianna, because this is the unspoken thing that screams loudly. It really is.

Briana Dai [00:27:46]:

And it's one aspect of the networking conversation that I haven't heard anybody talk about. And it needs to be talked about because it's costing so many opportunities, you know, and I. I'm really passionate about it because I did come from the beauty industry, and so I noticed those things. And I also know the level of attention and the detail that goes into getting people's attention. I was in the print advertising industry, and so for me, being in the beauty industry and being a hair and makeup artist in the print advertising world wasn't necessarily making the model look so, like, the prettiest. It was about making her look the most interesting. And there is a difference. It's not about having to be a beauty queen.

Briana Dai [00:28:29]:

It's just about being an attention grabber. And how are you grabbing people's attention and magnetizing them so that you don't have to work that hard, you know, I think that that's when networking could. Can become uncomfortable, is when you're feeling like you're having to force conversations with people. But when you walk into the room

Sandra Yancey [00:28:47]:

like a magnet, with a smile, the

Briana Dai [00:28:49]:

smile with confidence, with a swagger, you're just gonna find that the conversations come and flow so much easier, you know, I mean, that's my icebreaker. When I walk into a networking event alone, I'm always looking for the person that catches my eye, because I'm gonna

Sandra Yancey [00:29:07]:

go up to them, I'm gonna say,

Briana Dai [00:29:08]:

oh, my God, I love that. That blazer what do you do? Or, oh, my gosh, your hair's amazing. You know, to me, the physical piece, because I don't know somebody yet. I don't know what they do. So I have nothing, no basis as to why I'm going up to them. So it is the physical piece. That is my icebreaker when I start a conversation.

Sandra Yancey [00:29:27]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:29:28]:

You know, it's always, oh, I love the bag. I love your eye color or your hair, your blazer, your shoes. Like, that's how you start a conversation for me. That's what works for me. And then it gets into. So what do you do? You know, I'm fascinated. What business are you in? Are you in the fashion industry? No. Oh, well, what do you do? You're in accounting.

Briana Dai [00:29:46]:

Oh, my God. Tell me more. You know, and that is how I get into it personally. Works for me.

Kym Yancey [00:29:52]:

Gosh, I'm just really digging this conversation. You're right. It isn't. It isn't talked about, you know, nearly enough. Yeah, yeah. You know, I got to tell you, we discovered this was not part of our plan with the eWomenNetwork. Sandra and I, when we started this, had no design on doing events. All right.

Kym Yancey [00:30:12]:

It shows you how what kind of novice networkers we were at that time, because we thought it would all be done online. We had the whole thought was, we're going to put together an online directory so that if you were looking for a female plumber, you could put that in a search bar and get a female plumber, and, you know, you wouldn't get that. You get other things that would come in after. After female plumber. You know what I mean? And we just realized, wow, you know, while women said, it's really cool that we got this network that you can network online, the very first thing, and that there were no, quote, meetings, the very first thing they did is jump into meetings, started meeting other people within the IMAM network at house parties and things like that. And it forced us to create something that's become an unbelievable business model. Now, here's. Here's what I mean by that.

Kym Yancey [00:31:00]:

You get the lead, you meet people, you talk to people. Networking is the best way to get it, to get real, true connection. But then, you know, there becomes, like, how do you monetize that? I mean, how do I take that? So, one, you have to be patient. But it is through multiple exposures. I mean, research says that up to 85% of all purchases being made, especially big purchases, are after a year. Like, people will see something. And it's like almost a Year later that they're like, oh, I'm gonna buy that blouse, or I'm gonna buy this thing that I've been seeing. I mean, you know, you're online, you see a lot of things that, you know, maybe appeal to you and you don't.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:36]:

Faster.

Briana Dai [00:31:37]:

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:31:38]:

You might be a little bit faster.

Briana Dai [00:31:39]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:31:40]:

But. But whatever.

Sandra Yancey [00:31:42]:

But average, right?

Kym Yancey [00:31:43]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:31:44]:

Maybe a high ticket item.

Kym Yancey [00:31:45]:

But the thing that we did that I'm really excited about is that we were able to. To create a networking system.

Briana Dai [00:31:53]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:31:54]:

Process. So we created a platform for it and we had women that were flying in. I remember Marianne preston out of St. Louis, started our St. Louis chapter and I mean, flew into Dallas, wanted to see what EWIM Network was all about and licensed our brand. And she became one of our first managing directors in St. Louis, Missouri and tore it up. I mean, just blew up, grew this unbelievable chapter of engagement.

Kym Yancey [00:32:22]:

But what made it neat was we were. She was able to get paid for every member that she brought on board the network. No one was doing that. No one was creating a

Sandra Yancey [00:32:34]:

monetization, a

Kym Yancey [00:32:35]:

monetization model that allowed them to get paid to network. And that model has been incredible in the growth of vwiman Network, but especially in the group of the managing directors who never had an opportunity before.

Briana Dai [00:32:51]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:32:51]:

To monetize networking. Yeah. You know what I mean?

Sandra Yancey [00:32:55]:

Well, back in 2000, people weren't talking about multiple streams of income.

Kym Yancey [00:32:59]:

Yes.

Sandra Yancey [00:32:59]:

Like they do today. It's not that it didn't exist, but not like they do today. And you know, once you understand the eWomenNetwork umbrella, you start to see that it's. It's just like the spokes, if you will, of the umbrella. There are multiple ways in which we service our members, and some of those have different levels of membership, whether it be our podcast network or our speakers network, et cetera, and our various levels of membership. But the truth of the matter is, I know that when I had my own consulting practice and I went networking, I was looking for people that could be potentially be clients of my consulting practice. And if. If I met someone and it was clear that they already had someone or they didn't have the kind of company that was going to be in need of my kind of services, I was mentally saying, next.

Sandra Yancey [00:33:52]:

Right. And I. And I started to think about all the ways in which I was missing opportunities to build that relationship and, you know, monetize the interaction. And so the managing director program became the ultimate lead generation machine. So that when you would meet someone and let's just say I was a realtor and I met you, Kim, and I ask you and you say you're just new, you just moved here and I find out where you lived. I mean, mentally, if I'm a realtor, I'm thinking this guy isn't going to be a potential client for me. But now I can take everybody I meet, right, and turn them into a customer. By now getting totally focused on what is your business, what are your goals, what are you trying to accomplish.

Sandra Yancey [00:34:44]:

I know other people that you need to know and who need to know you. And now you come into my circle, if you will, and now I'm developing a relationship and sooner or later it might not be you that moves, but you might know somebody that's moving or you might have a kid that's been away at college and is now coming back and wants to move and needs a starter home, or you've got, you know, an aging parent that you know needs to downsize and you need to help them. And suddenly by being front and center holding the mic every single month, you're building that relationship. You're building that relationship. And if they weren't ready at the beginning, when you first meet someone, they can over time, by the frequency of getting to know you, become another client. And everybody you meet now can become a customer in some form or fashion. And what a beautiful way if someone isn't ready to buy from you now, to serve and to give and to connect and to make deposits into that relationship. And before you know it, they're referring you to other people.

Sandra Yancey [00:35:50]:

Right? I mean, it is the ultimate lead generation machine.

Kym Yancey [00:35:53]:

It is for a managing director, ultimately generating machine, you know, I mean, no one has put together anything for on our level that creates an open pipeline for a woman to walk into a city. I mean, I think about, I can think of any number of cities where women have started chapters and inside of the, inside of a year, they've become the most popular person in the city.

Sandra Yancey [00:36:21]:

We've seen them become, you know, featured on covers, magazines that they don't have to pay for, by the way, you know what I mean? And, and asked to speak, you know, and being called by the news stations for their opinions on small business market and that kind of thing. So yeah, I mean, it's a way to separate yourself from the sea of sameness of everybody else. That's just networking. That never goes away. But it's also another way to elevate developing those relationships over time that can turn into really great customers.

Briana Dai [00:36:56]:

It's also cool because they not only get to leverage every single relationship and turn every relationship into a customer. Customer through the membership, but also they get access to leadership and CEO training like we are. What's cool about Ewoma Network when you come to an accelerated networking event is there's a system. It's not like just loose networking. Sure, you can just. There is time to just network. But the container of our accelerated networking process is so cool. I think everybody should go and experience it at least once and.

Briana Dai [00:37:31]:

And then you can decide if it's where you want to be. But I feel like once you experience it, there's no going back because it's so intentional. The process that we train our managing directors to facilitate that then allows our members to connect in a super intentional way.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:46]:

But that is not speed dating.

Briana Dai [00:37:48]:

Yeah, it's not speed dating.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:51]:

Like you said, the word is so intentional on bringing the best parts of you out.

Briana Dai [00:37:55]:

Yes.

Sandra Yancey [00:37:55]:

That allow people to say, oh, she needs this, she needs this. I know how to connect her.

Kym Yancey [00:37:59]:

Don't you think? We've created an unbelievable Win, win, win, win. And what I mean is. All right, so the managing director learns all about the process, goes through leadership training, and they learn things they've never known before.

Briana Dai [00:38:11]:

Sales training, everything. Yes.

Kym Yancey [00:38:13]:

All of which benefits what they do

Sandra Yancey [00:38:15]:

in their core business.

Kym Yancey [00:38:16]:

In their core business. All right, so that's a win. You know, at the events, when you go to the events, the facilitation of the networking process. Plus we always have a speaker with new ideas. So we always have like, like creative input coming, a perspective. And it's in a short format, like a, like a TED Talk kind of thing. You know, we like, we refer to them as E Talks, you know, and so you, so you have that. There's also the giving because of the foundation raising stuff that we do that's fun for everybody, where people are doing raffles and things like that.

Kym Yancey [00:38:47]:

You know that again, just tap on the fact.

Sandra Yancey [00:38:50]:

Cause oriented.

Kym Yancey [00:38:51]:

Yeah, yeah. Because we, every year we give away grants to nonprofits in local markets.

Sandra Yancey [00:38:57]:

Scholarships.

Kym Yancey [00:38:58]:

Scholarships, you know, and. But the whole notion that you can have a room full of people, that no one buying your product, but they can all be customers of yours. They didn't buy your product because they didn't have a need for it or timing or whatever it might be. But everybody in the room wants to promote themselves, wants to market themselves, wants to get the word out about who they are and what they have to offer. And they get that through email, network. And so I love the loop.

Briana Dai [00:39:26]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:39:27]:

You know because it's, it's, it's self liquidating from the standpoint that no matter where you are in the loop, the opportunity to have unlimited, you know, financial gain is incredible.

Briana Dai [00:39:39]:

Yeah, that's so true. I mean, if you haven't experienced if, if she Means Millions Podcast is your first exposure to eWomenNetwork and you haven't actually ever attended an event, I'm just gonna go ahead and do a shameless plug and just create an open invitation to go. Go to ewomennetwork.com and click on the events tab and browse your area. Find one that's in a city near you. Because they're happening all over. We're hosting over 300 events a month across all of our chapters. They are getting together not just once a month, multiple times a month to connect through accelerated networking events, through strategic business introductions. One of them literally just happened today in our office.

Briana Dai [00:40:22]:

Our North Dallas Plano chapter, since we're North Dallas based, actually came to our conference room and did one here in our office. I mean, women are. And there's probably a dozen others that happen today all over the world. And so what we've created at ELO Network is truly special. And I don't think we've ever really just. Just straight up acknowledged it on the podcast before. So this is the first time. And I think that it's more important than ever with the trust recession to get out there and to connect.

Briana Dai [00:40:50]:

And we have the ultimate platform for you to do that.

Sandra Yancey [00:40:54]:

So people want to know you. They want to know what you stand for. They want to know what you're about. They want to meet you and know that you're real. They want to connect with you. Heart to heart, eye to eye, knee to knee. And this is the ultimate place for you to be seen and acknowledged. And the cool thing is is it gets.

Sandra Yancey [00:41:12]:

Everybody gets that opportunity to shine.

Briana Dai [00:41:14]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:41:15]:

You know, ladies, I also know from being in the music business that the key to all those recording stars is what? Repetition, repetition, frequency. You know, as much as you love Britney. I was gonna say Brittany. Taylor Swift. Taylor Swift, who I love, by the way.

Sandra Yancey [00:41:32]:

Yeah, sure.

Kym Yancey [00:41:33]:

But the point of the matter is it's through the repetition, songwriting, she gets sharper and better. All of them, everybody. Everybody finds their signature song or their signature talk, you know, but you only find that by doing it over and over again. And I ask people, you know, all the time when I'm meeting people, I always want to find out, what is your distribution system? And they kind of look at me like, what do you mean, what do you mean by distribution? How are you distributing your knowledge?

Briana Dai [00:42:00]:

Yeah.

Kym Yancey [00:42:01]:

How are people learning about your wisdom?

Briana Dai [00:42:03]:

Them?

Kym Yancey [00:42:03]:

How are people being introduced to how you can meet them? How's that happening? And people like, you know, because. Well, I've gotten on this podcast, right? Great, you got on that podcast. What's next? Yeah, everything is what's next. What's next? Because the market is just clipping along. But when you've got a system, you know, which we've created with the managing director program, where people can, you know, they're constantly circulating the market, they're constantly in front of the group, they're constantly meeting new people.

Sandra Yancey [00:42:33]:

And once you're a member, you're an international member, you don't have to join each chapter like you have to do with a lot of others. You join once and you are welcome everywhere as a member. Because what we know is that you're going to grow. And as you grow, so does your outreach need to grow, so do your connections need to grow. So we're into your getting to that, you know, seven figure mark and, and we want to give you the tentacles by which to do that and not have to charge you every single step of the way every time you want to tap into one of our other communities. You're an international member.

Briana Dai [00:43:07]:

Yeah. And if you do happen to go to the website and try to find an event and there's not something near you, then maybe that's your assignment. Maybe you should start the chapter.

Kym Yancey [00:43:16]:

Yeah.

Briana Dai [00:43:16]:

And you can do that on the website too. So you can go to the starter chapter page. Because this is what it's all about. Networking is what it's all about. Because she does not just mean business, she means.