I think a lot of us are guilty of finding excuses not to go somewhere when asked out by a friend or business acquaintance.
My kid has practice that night.
I have a PTA meeting to go to.
Family is coming into town.
These excused might be true, but I’m going to go out on a limb and say most of us have fibbed and said we were busy in order to not avoid going out with someone.
It’s easy to do, and it’s even easier to fall into a rabbit hole where you’re never networking and people stop asking you to meet with them.
Except, in real estate investing, networking is power.
The more you network, the more you learn and the more opportunities you’ll have.
I’m not saying you need to go to every local event, but you should set goals on attending a certain amount of events and planning so many one-on-one type interactions.
Networking for an investor includes things like:
- REIA events
- Happy Hours put on by vendors (ie lenders, IRA companies, etc.)
- Lunch with other real estate investors
- Lunch with vendors
- Mastermind type events
- Educational events
- Investor Meetups
You never know when an opportunity might arise. You might meet an investor who’d like to JV with you, a hard money lender with better terms than you currently have, an investor who was able to lower his marketing cost and lets you in on his strategies, etc. Also, by people knowing where you invest, they might send you deals if they are more on your side of town.
When you aren’t meeting people in person, you can still reach out on social media, by phone, or by email. See if you can help them with anything and see how they’ve been doing, personally and professionally.
In the technology-driven world we’re in today, we’ve lost the genuine interactions and relationships have almost become transactional. By making this a habit, it’ll become more natural over time.
Remember to always have a giving mindset.
Even if you aren’t a people person, networking in the investing industry can help you increase your business, improve your brand reputation, and open the doors to opportunities you had never thought of before.
So, I ask again… who have you networked with this week?
If the answer is no one, start small and reach out to someone you’re comfortable meeting with one-on-one or at least have a genuine conversation with them.
