3 Networking Techniques for LA
Alastair Caithness
Strategic Business Development Leader | 15+ Years in Crypto, Energy, and Financial Sectors | 🧠 Mental Health Advocate | Follow for Bitcoin and Blockchain updates!
Ziyen lands in LA
After being in Dubai last week for the Middle East Electricity Exhibition, exhibiting as Rebuilding Iraq and launching our new software Ziyen, this week we were up in LA.
It was a crazy two days of hectic meetings, PR events and an opportunity to see Jose Gonzalez. Business and Pleasure, Pleasure and Business but what I really believe is if you have found the right path then Business is Pleasure.
It was the first time I had been in the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and what a venue. Acoustics were amazing. José González with Los Angeles Philharmonic and Ymusic, and put on a great performance. Sold out weeks in advance.
Primarily we headed up for two business meetings with music licensing companies and an advertising agency who are interested in the Ziyen Technology, and will be trialling the new Ziyen Lite service, which just went live last week.
Our second meeting was at The Standard, followed by heading to see Francesca Lombardo at Disco Dive, one of our clients suggested we get tickets for coolest party in the city that weekend, and will be a good place for networking and to enjoy the LA skyline in the afternoon.
After our meeting we met up with my old school friend from Inverness, Mingus Johnston, who was in LA for a special acting course and some auditions.
Mingus usually plays one of the movie bad guys/henchmen, with his best known roles in Mission Impossible 5 and Jack the Giant Killer (that is Mingus on the back right in picture above from Mission Impossible - Rogue Nation)
So after the lunch, and on our way to the roof garden, who do we meet in the Foyer but Jose Gonzalez. We had a brief chat as we could see he was busy but he had already been on the roof checking out the warm up DJ Droog, and said even though he would like to go up there and continue, he had another gig in Oakland that same night.
Three key networking techniques
I understand that networking doesn't come natural to everyone but if you run your own business then its something you need to become good at, there is a lot been written about it but I would say just stick to these important 3 rules and you won't go far wrong:
1) Be Prepared
When it comes to networking, its important to realize that at any given moment you need to be ready, as it is in that 15 seconds you may meet a person that can change the way your business operates, or provide you with that idea that sparks that opportunity which can take it to the next level.
Therefore have your business cards ready, and ensure your 15 second elevator pitch is prepared and comes out natural (Yes you have 15 seconds to let them know what you do. Which means you need to explain it in less than 10 words)
It might not be your business, but it could be that new job opportunity or even that chance for a promotion at work. So what I'm saying is make sure are ready, if you were ever in the cub-scouts remember the motto 'always be prepared.
2) Be Helpful
If all you do is talk about your own business, or what you can offer then you will probably be a bore. The secret is to find out about the person you are speaking to, and if you can help them in someway.
Even if it won't give you any new business, remember the world is in a perpetual state of circulation and its the law of giving and receiving which is key. I think Anne Frank put in best in her diary from World War II :
“No one has ever become poor by giving.”
Trust me people will remember you if you help them.
3) Don't be afraid and go for it
This is the most important one and the most difficult to overcome. You need to put yourself out there. You need to go join a conversation, or go over and introduce yourself to your hero (or potential next boss) if he or she is in the room.
The problem is we all get nervous, and this means sometimes you fluff your lines but its actually doing it is much easier that running the scenario over in your head multiple times.
The more you do it, the easier it gets. I remember in one class at Robert Gordon University, over 20 years ago now, when a student asked my old professor Dr Bob Gammie about tips for networking. Bob said 'if there is a group of 3 people together, and two are talking, go and talk to the other person to join into the conversation.'
Believe it or not after all these years, seems to still work just as well since i first tried it.
Hope these tips help, and if I didn't go for it, then I wouldn't have a selfie with Jose Gonzalez for the lead picture of my post.
So, to finish my story, I had a great afternoon at Disco Dive which takes place on the rooftop of The Standard Hotel in LA, if you have never been I would recommend going.
It was great fun to catch up with my old mate Mingus, and it was great to see some clear benefits for the Ziyen Technology and the new Ziyen Social services can seriously benefit the players in the music publishing and entertainment industry.
(The picture above is me heading to the roof top with my beautiful wife Leilani at The Standard, and below is the picture of Francesca Lombardo DJing just after the sun went down with the back drop of the high rise skyscrapers in downtown LA)
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P.S. So what else did I learn from my trip. Well I found out how important it is for you have a strong social following in the entertainment and sports industry. Whether it is Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Youtube etc. The number of followers you have is now a key negotiating tool to getting that next gig, or provides your agent or manager a key bargaining tool in the financial aspect of negotiations.
If you are a NBA or NFL star and are changing teams, and have in excess of 500,000 followers on Facebook or more than a million followers on Twitter then this can have a huge bargaining chip as the amount of additional merchandising sales you will bring to the team.
In the movie and music business, its about how much additional branding and marketing you can market it across your social network to increase ticket or album sales.
For everyone else out there with your own business, if you have less than a 1000 followers then work needs to be done to grow your network, as whether you like it or not people trust Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, YouTube for credibility of your brand.
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More about Ziyen
Ziyen Lite provides you with a 14-day free trial of the Ziyen Technology, due to the nature of the software we can only run so many trials at the same time, if your interested in a free trial please get in touch as the backlog in now meaning if you don’t get in quick you will have to wait until April to try it.