\u201cYou can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.\u201d \u2013 Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t care what your goals, industry or interests are, there\u2019s no getting around it: Personal relationships run the world. But why is it that some people seem to build instant rapport with most anyone they come across, while others are left with a network of one?<\/p>\n
Over the past few years, I\u2019ve conducted a study of exactly what sets these people apart. Turns out, the results are more simple, and more powerful, than you\u2019d think. And they led me to interactions and connections with world-class CEOs, best-selling authors, professional athletes and other seemingly untouchable folks, including Tony Robbins and Warren Buffett.<\/p>\n
Regardless of status or fame, people are people. And the 7 pillars of making a connection with another person are always the same \u2014 whether applied to your next-door neighbor, one of the world\u2019s biggest celebrities or even the cute girl sitting at the bar:<\/p>\n
Be genuine. The only connections that work will be the ones that you truly care about; the world will see through anything short of that. If you don\u2019t have a genuine interest in the person with whom you\u2019re trying to connect, then stop trying.
\n Provide massive help. Even the biggest and most powerful people in the world have something they\u2019d like help with. Too many people never reach out to those above them due to the fear that they wouldn\u2019t be able to offer anything in return. But you have more to offer than you realize: write an article or blog post about them, share their project with your community, offer to spread their message through a video interview with them. Give real thought to who you could connect them with to benefit their goals. If it turns out you can\u2019t be that helpful, the gesture alone will stand out.
\n Pay ridiculous attention. It\u2019s nearly impossible to genuinely offer help if you don\u2019t pay attention \u2014 I mean real attention, not just to what business they started or what sport they like! Do your research by reading blog posts, books and articles about the connection beforehand. Learn about their backgrounds and passions. Invest genuine time in learning what really matters to them and how you can help.
\n Connect with people close to them. Most job openings are filled through networking and referrals, and making connections is no different. You automatically arrive with credibility when referred to someone you want to meet by a mutual friend. For example, I recently wanted to meet a best-selling author, and it turned out we had the same personal trainer. In reality, that fact means nothing, but in the world of social dynamics, it\u2019s gold! Spend more time connecting with your current network of friends and colleagues and see where it leads.
\n Persistence wins most battles. If you can\u2019t get a direct referral, simply click send on that email or leave a message after the beep. But do not stop there, as most the world tends to. The first attempt is just the very beginning. Realize that the first try may get you nowhere, but the fifth or the tenth tries are the ones that start to yield results. An unreturned email or voicemail doesn\u2019t mean they don\u2019t want to connect with you. It\u2019s your job to be persistent! I sometimes get hundreds of requests in a day from readers who want to connect, but only about 2 percent ever follow up. Don\u2019t be in a hurry, but don\u2019t be invisible either.
\n Make real friends. Think about how you\u2019ve made the friends you have. That\u2019s all this is. You only make friends with people you genuinely want in your life. The same rule should go for bigger-name connections. Don\u2019t over-think it. Be human, be helpful and most humans will happily be human in return, regardless of who they are.
\n Remain unforgettable. All of the above are simple \u2014 yet sadly underused \u2014 ways of standing out. Send birthday cards. Mail your favorite book with a signed personal note from you on the inside flap. Send them your family Christmas card. Be genuinely helpful. You\u2019d be surprised how the simplest things actually never get done. Being memorable isn\u2019t as hard as some think!<\/p>\n
It all comes back to helping others. If you spent 100 percent of your waking hours thinking about how you can help absolutely everyone you come in contact with \u2014 from the woman who makes your latte, to the top authority in your industry \u2014 you will find everything else tends to take care of itself. The world will suddenly be in your corner.<\/p>\n
When meeting people I do all seven of the tips mentioned above and it always works. I think the real key though to connecting with anyone, is being genuine and actually interested in the friendship, anything else that develops from it is a bonus. Let me know what you think about the seven pillars below in the comments, anything else help you with connecting with people?<\/p>\n
Source: http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/theyec\/2012\/04\/25\/the-7-pillars-of-connecting-with-absolutely-anyone\/<\/p>\n
Image(s): FreeDigitalPhotos.net<\/p>\n
Best,<\/p>\n
Julian Tang<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cYou can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.\u201d \u2013 Dale Carnegie, How to Win Friends and Influence People I don\u2019t care what your goals, industry or interests are, there\u2019s no getting around it: Personal […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2894,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,4,5,2,6,7,8,9],"tags":[10,11,13,14,15,12,16,17,18,19,20,21,22,23,24],"class_list":["post-4","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-advertising","category-assignments","category-bannersbroker","category-empower-network","category-expired-listing","category-good-news-lifestyle","category-internet-marketing","category-mobile","tag-advance-marketing","tag-apple","tag-apple-employees","tag-apple-retail","tag-apple-store","tag-apples-retail-store-staff-compensation-criticized","tag-banner-ads","tag-bannersbroker","tag-borino","tag-borino-productions","tag-communication-and-influence-system","tag-empower-network","tag-empower-network-affiliate-check","tag-empower-network-assignments","tag-empower-network-check"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2894"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/empowernetwork.com\/juliantang\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}