Networking Unleashed: Building Profitable Connections. An Interview with Joe Mindak and Michael A Forman

Welcome to Networking Unleashed, building Profitable Connections. I'm your host, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com Forman, and today we're tackling a question a lot of people think about, but few talk about openly. What if people who connect others, the one who open stores, bring opportunities together and build rooms that matter actually got paid for the value they create.

Today's guest understands how communities turn into income, why connectors should stop apologizing for charging, and why real results only come when you put in the time. This episode is about ownership, credibility, and earning. What your relationships produce. If you've ever wondered how to turn your network into something that lasts and pays, you're in the right place.

So let's start getting into it. I'd like to introduce today, Joe, you are my guest today on my podcast. Welcome. Why don't you give me a little bit about your background and where you are today? Sure. Thanks for having me, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com. This is great. I'm excited to be on here. We got, had a lot in common.

We were talking before we get on, so a lot of Jersey, Rockland County stuff, so a lot of connections there. But yeah. But I'm a Jersey guy. I went to school in Ohio, came back, I started a marketing agency right outta college. I ran that for 20 years and I became a connector. I just fell in love with networking.

I went to a b and I meeting. When I was 25 and someone's yeah, you network. I'm like, what is this? And next thing you know, I, I loved it and I am like, wait, if I introduce you to that person, you could get me business. And just the whole idea behind it. So the next, whatever, 15, 20 years or so, I was running the agency, I became a real big connector.

And then I sold the company and I started another company and people are still calling me, right Joe, I need this, Joe, I need that. I was like, oh, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, listen, I'm happy to connect you, but. You know what? How about you pay me if I connect you to another deal, right? I had a hundred thousand dollars deal that I connected somebody on.

I'm like, I should have gotten paid for that. That was a nice sized deal. And I went back to them and said, how about I bring you more business than you pay me? And they were like, yeah, like you literally walked me in the door. President of the company and I got a hundred thousand deal, I'll pay you 15% or whatever you bring me.

So that's when the whole thing started. It was like maybe connectors should be getting paid. And I think we all as connectors, you as a connector, everyone, I think we all in our back of our minds like, oh man, I've given out millions of dollars over the years. My, I should have been, I should have been getting paid.

And people get frustrat. I don't even get a gift card, not even a bottle of wine. And I've done that before and it's you should be thanking people. And it's now that we have the upfront contract that we put together through our software, it's like you're going in saying, I'm gonna, if I introduce you, you're gonna pay a commission.

And just, let's stop. Playing around with this, and we're just calling it connectors get paid. This is the book I put out. I feel like I'm always hawking the book, but connectors get paid how to build a referral network that pays and we trademarked it. Connectors get paid. Let's all start paying each other.

And that's our mantra. If you're a good connector, get paid. And the people that aren't good. I'm happy to pay you, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, if you get me business. I don't like selling, I don't like opening doors. I don't like doing all this networking, but if you get me in the door somewhere, I'm happy to pay you.

So both sides are happy right now. The connector's getting paid and the other people that are afraid, not afraid, but are just uncomfortable with networking sales, they're getting paid as well. And that's it. It's very simple. It is simple. It is simple. And I based my whole business on that concept. I truly believe it.

I believe that networking is the lifeblood of business. Sure. And some people. Don't have the salesmanship. They know what they're doing. They know how to do it, but they hate to go out and sell. So if they find somebody like you or me or somebody and we put the two together why not get paid?

Get a little piece of the pie. So that works. It's not a, yeah, it's not a sale at that point. It's, no, it's not MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com to somebody I know. That's looking for your service. They know me. Oh, Joe. Okay, good. Yeah, let me, I'm looking for your service, and like you said, they know what they're doing.

Our friends are just looking, our colleagues are looking for someone that could do the service we're looking for and Right. And if you're always gonna ask for a referral, people always want a referral. So we're just making that introduction. It takes that, that, like I said that awkwardness that I'm doing a sale.

It's just an introduction to someone who wants to do business with you. It is, and it's so well put I'm gonna ask you about the book later on. Okay. Let me get right into this. Why do connectors often create massive value for others, yet struggle to get paid out themselves? Yeah. I think, look, connectors just love connecting, right?

It's something we want to do and just love making that introduction. But are always, always been afraid to ask after because it's like I introduced you to somebody and I just heard you close that $250,000 deal. I can't go back to you after. So you gotta get that upfront thing going now.

And that's what we're talking about. So they're often giving out those referrals 'cause they love making introductions. I didn't make introductions all day long and they're just, they're hoping, I think that someone would pay them and do the right thing, but. Why would they have no contract to do and that's why we're putting it in place to say, look you should start getting paid now, but put that up upfront contract that says, I will introduce you and I'm gonna get paid now.

So because they haven't been getting paid. And they're always giving giving, and not rec, getting reciprocation. I think that's the bottleneck in a lot of these networks is I give you four referrals. You don't give me anything back. I don't get paid back. I gave you four deals, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, you closed two of them.

You don't have one person you can introduce me to now. Now, I'm not giving you any more business. Not because I'm a jerk. Just because I'm like, I give you four deals. There's not one person. But if you paid me on two of those deals. Now I'm gonna keep that flywheel open to keep giving you business.

I'm happy now I'm, I would love if you gave me a referral back reciprocated, but maybe you're not a connector. Maybe you don't have a good network, but I do. So I'll keep giving you business. I just want a little piece of the business and the other person's, again, happy because you're the one that's connecting me, right?

So you have all the introductions. I'm happy to pay you 'cause I know you bring me more business. So it's a simple, simple, two way street here. On a small business plane. If you're just dealing, 'cause I, I hold a networking group every week and it's about 15, 20 businesses come together, but they're all a single man shop.

They're just starting out. So how would you handle speaking to somebody, let's say, of that group on what you're doing? So listen they gotta utilize the other people in the group, right? Because every one of those, there's only 20 people, right? And they're a single man. They're the only person that's doing sales.

You gotta use the other 19 people in our group to open those doors for you. But a lot of times people just sit back and wait for them to open a door, right? But you gotta ask the other person, group, Hey John, listen, I noticed on LinkedIn, three people that are CFOs. I'd like to talk to CFOs 'cause I'm an accountant.

Do you know any of those CFOs well enough to make an introduction. Oh, I do. Yeah, I know. I know this one and that one. Good. Do you mind asking 'em if they're looking for somebody at my, with my services? And then yeah, they go it. They go back to that person and say, Hey, I wanted to introduce, shoot.

A friend of mine, he does accounting. He'd like to talk to you. Maybe one of those two CFOs are like, yeah, actually we're looking for a new accounting firm for a company. And then they make the introduction. But these are 19 other salespeople. That are you're a one man shop. You don't have a sales crew.

No. You do. You have 19 other people that are a salesperson for you. You just gotta ask them who they know to get you in the door, and if they tell you they don't know somebody. Tell me, you know what? Okay, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, go on LinkedIn. Look at it. 'cause a lot of times we forget I don't remember what every one of my buddies from college does, people I went to high school with you forget.

Oh, you know what? Do me a favor type in CFO in LinkedIn. Oh yeah. You know what, I do know John. I forgot he's an A CFO. Yeah. I can make that introduction for you. So utilize those people. They're your Salesforce and that's why you join a networking group to hire a Salesforce. Absolutely.

Absolutely. Okay. At what point does a network stop being just relationships and become something people should be compensated for? Stewarding. I, that's the tough part, and that's why we're out there with this mantra. Connectors get paid. Like we all have to, with all have to agree on upon it, right?

And we're trying to get it out there, and that's why I'm doing these podcasts. Hey, if you're a connector, demand your networking group to pay you. Hey, I could join another group. This other group over here, I heard they're paying their people that are making introductions. So I think all the networking groups, and look, I've talked to a lot of 'em, like we don't do stuff like that.

We do, you scratch my back, I scratch yours. But again, these networking groups have this bottleneck because the good connectors are in a group. They're giving giving, not get anything back. They go to another group and then they go to another group. You want to keep 'em here. You wanna keep those good connectors that are gonna stay with you if they're getting paid, and then they're giving business to the other people.

So they're gonna keep the other people there. So I think every networking coop should be doing this because you should all be paying each other again, getting, you have a, B and I, which, it's a one person per in, one industry per group, and it's let's say 30, 40 businesses and they are required to give a referral or an introduction or something else, and they don't get paid for it.

But the requirement makes it a BS referral. That's the problem. Oh, I'm required. Okay. MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, who do you wanna talk to? CEO. Good. I got a CEO. Let me, here's my friend, Kevin and I introduce you. Hey Kevin. Joe told me to call you about what? Oh, I do accounting services. My brother's our accountant.

So why would he tell you to call? 'Cause I had to put a referral in, otherwise like you can't force referrals. So what we teach is, look, do you know the person well? MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, I'd like to, do you know that person well enough to make an introduction? Oh yeah. That's my college roommate. Okay, good.

Can you ask him, he, if he liked the services I provide, here's what I provide. Is he in the market for those services? And if he is, then you make the introduction and you are making the intro because you're gonna get paid on the intro. So you have a, you have an incentive to get that introduction done and to make sure that.

Both are following up. I'm following up with the lead you gave me and your roommate is following up with me and making sure I get back to you. So otherwise, everyone just throws out a referral. Oh, here you go. You want a referral? Yeah, I could give you a referral right now if you wanted one.

I give everyone. But is it actual referral that's gonna close and do you want to Yeah, no that's why all I left BNI. Four years ago, I went through one year of it because everybody said, you gotta go, you gotta go, you gotta go. I went and I'm like, there's nothing here. It's just it.

They refer everybody within and they don't, I didn't get a lot of it, so I know exactly what you're talking about. And and it is high time that this is unneeded, this is a needed something for what's called a super connector. Yeah. Okay. And I think, and every super connector is I can't believe you guys are doing this.

I've been thinking about this for years. I can't believe you guys built something that actually does this. This is great. So good. Good. What must be in place inside a community before money can enter without damaging trust? Again, we built the software, so not to sell the software, but we built the software to take care of all that up.

Like the upfront, you're gonna sign a contract that says, I will pay anyone in this group that gives me a referral. I've agreed to pay X percentage. So you need everything in writing, just like anything in life, right? If you think you're gonna get paid on something, Hey MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, look, no. Put it in writing.

Send me an email. I sent the guy an email the other day. Hey, just wanna put this in the email. So it's in writing that we, this is what we've agreed upon, right? So if you don't use our software, some sort of software that is gonna put that agreement in writing. So what we do is we have an upfront contract that says, I will pay a percentage.

Everyone puts their percentage on the, on their actual profile, here's the percentage I actually pay, and they have to accept. An introduction. Say, yes, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, you introduced me to that person. So again, they click on a link that says in writing, yes, you are the one that made an introduction. So I can't, three months from now, say, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com I already knew.

I already knew Susie. I, oh really Joe? No, you accepted that. I made the introduction to you. So you just have to have those things in place, right? You want to trust everybody. But you can't. So we have a bunch of things in place that before anything goes across, before any money's done sign these contracts that everyone's in agreement on what's gonna happen here if your client closes the deal for 10 grand, I know I'm gonna get 7% of that.

So I know I'm gonna get $700 into the pot. It's all in there in writing. Good. Okay. What separates communities that generate steady income from those that stay social but never go further? I mean that steady income is gonna keep people there. And I think people get to, I've seen a lot of communities I've talked to over the last couple years that get to 60 people and then it just goes stagnant.

Because again, after that first year, you get all that momentum building, and then the connectors are leaving because they're not getting business back. So they leave, the other people leave 'cause they're not getting business from the connectors anymore and just go stagnant. And they stay at 60 and they lose a couple people.

They never get to that other point. I have a guy. He's been running a group for 10 years now he's got 60 members. Our group has been three years. We have 550 members. They're like, why do you have so many members? And our car group charges double what they charge. I said, because everyone's getting paid.

It's just a simple switch. Let's all pay each other. And now that money's flowing in. So if you get a deal, more deals are happening because people are introducing more people 'cause they're gonna get paid. And then the connectors are getting more money so they stay in a group and keep giving one out.

Without the ROI and we've talked to a lot of chambers, like we're talking to chambers right now. Chambers love what we're doing. They're like, we need non dues revenue. We can't just rely on the dues to come in. 'cause if that's all it is, our members are gonna leave. But now they want other revenue sources.

This is great. Now, our me, we could pay our members when they get deals done and the chamber could get a cut of every deal that goes through. This is great. This is a great revenue source and the software doesn't cost $129 a month. It's not like we're charter because we're invested in people being successful.

So they, the deals come in, we all make money, including us, and that's how we set up the model, right? Deals come in, we make money. The community makes money, the member makes money. Everybody's happy. Good. Good. Okay. Many people underestimate the work involved. What does it truly take behind the scenes to build a network worth paying for?

I. Yeah, I mean there's, this has been going on for a few years now, I think, or five years or so. Now. Look, it takes a lot, when you're starting a network, you're the one bringing people in. You gotta convince them why you should be part of your network, right? And I would be on LinkedIn, I would be on lunch club, I would go to meetings, and you gotta put the, like any business, you gotta put the time in to grow it and convince somebody why your network is better than the other, and for me, it was that whole mantra of getting paid. Hey, you ought to be in a network that pays for your referrals. Come over here, and that was my simple message on LinkedIn. Hi MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com. We have a networking group that pays you for your referrals. Was that of interest to you? Yes or no? And you send 50 of those messages out every day on LinkedIn or whatever it is.

You'll get three, four people every day responding. Yes. And you get those people. So it takes it. But the thing we did to build it again, the incentive. Every group, there's not incentive. The other incentive we put into place is okay, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, you join up. It's a hundred bucks a month to join. If you bring another member in, we'll give you a hundred dollars for bringing that member in.

So now every time you bring a member in, you're getting paid. So if you're paying a hundred bucks a month to be a member of group and you bring in a new member, you didn't pay dues that month. So now you're incentivized. Lemme see who else I can bring to the network. And then that exponential growth, that network effects just starts to happen, right?

We have 3,300 prospects right now for our 500 person group, 3,300 prospects. We have six times the amount of prospects trying to join our group. 'cause people are like, I want that. And the members are bringing those prospects in 'cause they want the incentive to get the money and then they're gonna get more people on that deals are gonna flow in and get more money.

So it's just. Again, the thing that was missing and I saw with B and i and LinkedIn and any, anything, any of the other networking things is where's the incentive for me? Where's the incentive for everybody and what's the greatest incentive? Money, right? Absolutely. Absolutely. Yeah. No I couldn't agree a hundred more than a hundred percent.

It's it's exactly what is needed. I've been networking my whole life. I made it into a business three years ago. And I have networking groups. I go to different events. I think I'm holding my own event. And I understand exactly where you're coming from. And this has been needed for quite some time, right?

People love the idea of passive income from a network. What parts can eventually run quietly, and what parts require attention. Yeah, so look, once it's set up in the system and people get to know and start to build relationships. That just starts to happen, so you don't have to push anymore. You start to build these relationship with group.

Now you and I are referral partners, so I'm just quietly giving you referrals because you've done a great job. I've introduced you to a couple clients. You're doing an awesome job for me, and I keep making money off of you. I'm just now quietly view and I are just sending a referrals, but I keep sending it to you and I keep putting it into the system, and the community owner keeps getting paid every time, so they're happy, the deal's going on, and then that passive income just kicks in, right?

We did in the last two weeks. Our community for the groups out there that run networking groups, chambers, whatever. Our community made $5,000 in the last two weeks in passive income, just deals that I don't even know about. That's where it starts to get interesting. I was on a call today with a group that has 2000 members of Chamber of Commerce out west.

They have 2000 members. We just generated five grand from 500 members. Let's exponentially grow that. That's $20,000 and that's in two weeks, so that's $40,000 a month. $500,000 that a chamber or other can make impassive income. So it just, once it starts going, there's in our, again, our group, I always use our group.

We have 4,300 deals going on right now, 4,300 deals and a 500 person group, right? Because the incentives there, these people want to people, it just, it's so simple and so easy and so effective. And that's why I try and tell people, look, why. Why are we at 550 members after three years and you're at 60 members after 10 years?

Not much different Networking's, not much different across things. Pull people together, let them talk to each other through referrals, but we're paying people. And it's the numbers don't lie in anything, right? Yep. Yep. That's the difference. That's the difference. Okay. How should connectors think about pricing their access introductions or community without feeling awkward or apologetic?

So listen, when you're starting a community and you have no proven track record, you're gonna have to go low, right? When I started our community, it was 500 bucks for the year, right? Which there's communities out there charging $6,000 for the year, right? We were 500, right? And then we got to a hundred people, okay?

Now we have a little bigger community. We're gonna start charging a hundred dollars a month. Nobody batted an eye, right? And now we haven't even raised it in a while 'cause we're still doing that. So you wanna price it? Where's the value? Am I gonna pay a hundred dollars a month for 20 people in a group?

No. You got a hundred people in a group. Maybe I'll pay a hundred dollars a month. Now you got 500, a thousand people in a group. Maybe you're gonna pay two 50 a month. So base it on the value you're providing, right? People want to pay for value, right? When I first started, I had a guy come to New York meeting, there's eight people there.

He's call me when you're bigger, which I get it right. It was okay, you don't wanna be here when we're starting. And honestly, a year later he tried to join. I'm like, you know what? You didn't wanna take the chance when we started. You're not in now. I told him, no. Listen, there was, I get it.

There was no value at the beginning. I don't wanna come here when there's eight people here. So I think you gotta price it according to how many people you have, how much value you're bringing right now. We've been around for a while. We could probably raise our prices if we wanted to, 'cause we could see all the value, see all the deals we're going.

And as far as the. Value you're putting on you to pay for these referrals. You have to decide what your margin is that you could afford to pay the other member of the group, Hey MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, you're a member of the group. I'll give you 10% of whatever comes in. I'm gonna pay 10% on that, or I'm gonna pay 7%, or I'm gonna pay 12%.

It's up to the members what they wanna pay. They put it in the system, tell you what to pay, and that's what the system will do. But don't, the problem we see a lot is someone will be like, I'm only gonna pay for the first deal. People aren't incentivized like that. If it's the, if it's the initiation fee is $500 and you're paying 10%, that's $50.

You're doing an on, ongoing deal with this company. 'cause you're the one that made a referral and all of a sudden you're out with your friend. Oh yeah, we're doing $10,000 a month with MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com. He is been doing a great job, 10 grand a month. That guy only paid me on the first 500.

So don't undervalue like your you're, your incentive for the other people to give you money. 'cause I'm not gonna go back to you if I find it out right. I made 50 bucks off that deal and I know you're making 10 grand a month. So you gotta make sure there's a value to the other member to bring you more business.

So incentivize them, give 'em a good, give 'em a good commission. Okay. Alright. What are the fastest ways people damage a community when they rush to make money from it? Ooh, that's a good one. I'll give you the story of what happened with me. When I started, I had a certain vision of what I wanted and I wanted a certain type of person in the group, right?

I wanted someone to more higher end business. We wanted B2B, we wanted people that really vetted out, right? We didn't wanna let, like a lot of groups. The problem is, and not to say any groups, but as long as you have a hundred dollars and a pulse, you're in. Because they wanna make money so I did the same thing, right?

I had a certain thing I wanted to do and, but all of a sudden it was growing. Somebody wanted to open up a chapter. I said, oh, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, you wanna open up a chapter in Atlanta? Go ahead. Yeah, that sounds cool. And someone else wanted to open one. All of a sudden, I had four chapters of this group that I was starting in the first six months to a year, and it was great.

We're gonna make a ton of money and we're now, we'll get more members in who were just letting everybody in. We started to just loosen up the range because again, someone comes to meetings, eight people. That looks bad. I want 20 people in those seats so I'll let you know, Susie in, even though she's not the best member, right?

But then you devalue your group because you have people in there that aren't good networkers, don't do a good job, make you look bad in front of the client, right? So I literally woke up one morning and I let about 60 members in my group 'cause I wanted to grow this quickly and I woke up one morning, I cut 30 people out.

I sent him a note that day, said, sorry, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, we're going a different direction and you're not part nicely. You're not part of that direction. We're just going different thing. And from there, we always stuck to our guns about who gets in the group, because if you're just trying to grow a group fast and get as many people in there, you're gonna have bad people in there.

And then the good people are gonna leave. So we don't, val, we don't put the value on the a hundred dollars a month. We don't care about your a hundred dollars. That's what we charge to be in our group. We don't, I don't want you in just to get a hundred dollars. If you're not, if you're not a good member of our group, we don't, we have a bad feeling about you.

Somebody raised their hand and says, I've done business that MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com before. I'm like, you're not in where other groups will be like, oh, he's, you got a hundred bucks. You're in. Yeah. So that's the bad part. You don't wanna just go after as many people as you can. It's just not gonna be long one No, and I understand that a hundred percent.

I, I've. I don't charge for my being in my group, but I know exactly what you're saying because I've had to cut people out. Now it's a free group, so for me to cut somebody out what are you doing? It's, this is free. I don't have to come to you. I know, but I would prefer if you didn't come to the meetings at all.

So without putting a price on it, I've had to do the o the very same thing only because I wanted to keep the integrity of the group. Exactly. And that's what you have to do. Okay. How does patients shape who succeeds in turning relationships into income versus those who burn out or fade away?

Look, patience is the biggest thing in sales. Like you, you can't expect somebody to buy when you want them to, right? I want to get my quota done this month, but the person's not ready to buy, right? It's like I, I tell everyone, if you're gonna be a salesman, get used to fishing, right?

Go out and fish, go out, get on a lake for the day. Throw your pole in there. It's gonna take you six hours to land a good bass, right? But as long as you're patient, a fish is gonna hit at some point. It's not gonna hit the first hour that you wanted to the second hour, but that last fish you get, and I got it.

I was up in Canada. Three years ago, we go fishing every year, and the last day after three days of fishing, I hadn't caught anything. Me and my buddy are sitting on a dock sharing some tequila and we just threw our pole in and I hit a bass like you wouldn't believe. And it was the last hour of any chance to go fishing.

I hit that bass. It's the same with sales, right? You gotta be patient. If you're not gonna be patient, you're gonna get frustrated. Burnout, oh, this isn't working. Let me try something else. You can't go get your plan in place. Have your MVP, what's your value proposition, right? That you wanna do and go after the right people.

Not all of 'em are gonna buy, and you can't force 'em to buy. Hey, MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, if you buy this month, like we'll give you a discount, all they're doing is trying to hit their quota. They don't really care if you come in as a client, they're just trying to get somebody in 'cause they know they want to get an X amount of clients this month.

It's frustrating and it's the most frustrating thing possible in sales is like, why I had a woman this morning said let's wait till the spring. We have other things going on. I'm like, oh. All right, listen, I gotta build a pipeline. So right now I'd love to close her, but in the spring, April comes around May, oh, I have 10 people that said to wait to the spring.

I was patient and I got five of those clients. Okay. But I had to be patient for 'em. Again, just it'll come. You just keep on to figure out a path, figure out your go to market strategy and just stay with it, right? I do the same thing all the time. Reach out to people all the time, every day. Do your pipeline.

Build your pipeline. It's tedious, but you have to be patient with it. It's so true. And consistency is always the way you go, if you stay consistent in your marketing and everything else. So it consistency is at being authentic, of course, but that consistency will always net you more results.

Exactly. I found. Yeah, totally. So let's bring this full circle. If someone wants to move from helpful connector to paid community builder, what mindset shift must happen first? Yeah, if you just want to be a helpful connector, that's great and all. But if you wanna really build a community you gotta go in with the fact that how are you gonna build your community?

How are you gonna bring people in, and how are you gonna monetize that community, right? What is the community you're gonna bring? What type of people you wanna bring in? And then you gotta go from that mindset of just being a helpful connect. I'll help you here and there. You gotta drive.

Business to those people, then especially those first 10 to 20 people you bring in and say, Hey MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com, come to be part of my network. You better be ready not to be just a helpful connector. Be like, I'm gonna drive a lot of business to you. 'cause if I do that, you're gonna tell your friends to join the group.

Right? And you have to go in thinking this is a full-time job. For the most part. Not, maybe you have another gig going on, but you gotta put the time in and get this thing going. So like when I started the group yeah, it took a lot of time to get that going. And it was every week of having meetings doing more.

And eventually you get to the part where you could start growing. But you gotta get, you gotta get the first couple people in there and make sure they're getting value outta the group. 'cause if you start getting people to leave in the first two, three months, it's not gonna be good. So yeah, if you're gonna start your own network go in with.

Plan in place how to do it and make sure you're gonna, be out there knocking on doors, getting people in and getting results for them pretty quickly. So it's first, those first people that buy into what you're doing are gonna be the ones that make or break you. Absolutely. I can't agree with you more.

With my networking group that I started only about three months ago that's exactly what I'm doing. And. I'm staying consistent. I'm staying, and it's just, I'm, I only have 15 or 20 members now. I, it grows every week, but it's, I put a whole lot of time into it. Yeah. Okay. That conversation cuts straight to the truth.

Building a network, people trust doesn't happen by accident. It hap it doesn't run itself. It takes consistency, care, and showing up long before money enters the picture. If this episode challenged you, how you think about relationships, community, or getting paid, the value you bring, share it with somebody who's been doing it quietly behind the scenes.

Thanks for listening to Network Unleashed, building Pro Profitable Connections on MichaelAForman.comAForman.comAForman.com Foreman. Keep building real relationships, keep showing up, keep creating something worth paying for. Until next time, but before we start, before we stop this podcast, Joe, I wanna ask you, listen, you have a book that you published, you have this great software.

What's the best way for people to get in touch with you? So if they want your services, how they can get you? So if they wanna read the book, just go to Amazon, put in connectors, get paid Kindle's 99 cents. It's a great, if you wanna start a network, it's a great book to do it. Otherwise go to Joe at noex N-O-L-O-D-E x.com.

That's my email. Shoot me a note and say I wanna learn more about it and we'll set up a time for discovery call. That's great, Joe. I have to tell you, it was a great podcast and I'm so thankful that you came on and I love hearing about New Jersey because. I'm from New York, so we went to the we, we hung out in the same places.

Exactly. Yeah. Alright, Joe, take care. Thank you.

 Well, hold on folks. Don't go anywhere. Let's hear from our sponsors. David Neal, co-founder Revved Up Kids. Revved Up Kids is on a mission to protect children and teens from sexual abuse, exploitation, and trafficking. They provide prevention, training programs for children, teens, and adults. To learn more, go to RevD up kids.org.

Henry Kaplan Century 21. When it comes to making the biggest financial decision of your life, leave it in the hands of a proven professional. Henry Kaplan Henry is a global real estate agent with Century 21, celebrating his 41st year in business. No matter where you're moving, Henry has the right connections for you.

You can contact Henry at 5 6 1 -4 2 7- 4 8 8 8.

 A huge thank you to our guests for sharing such incredible insights today, and of course, a big shout out to you, our amazing listeners, for tuning in and spending your time with us. If you're interested in my digital courses being coached or having me come and talk to your company, just go to MichaelAForman.com and fill out the request form.

Remember, networking isn't about being perfect. It's about being present. So take what you've learned today, get out there and make some meaningful connections. If you've enjoyed this episode, please don't forget to subscribe. Leave us a review. Share it with someone who could use a little networking inspiration.

Let's keep the conversation going. You can find me on Apple, Spotify, Pandora, YouTube, or my website michaelaforman.com/podcast.

Michael is a business networking expert specializing in enhancing professionals' networking and communication skills to drive profitability. As a leading authority in this field, he is highly sought after for his dynamic presentations and workshops. His extensive experience has consistently led to significant improvements in corporate profitability by empowering individuals and organizations to connect more effectively and efficiently.

https://www.michaelaforman.com/

https://www.linkedin.com/in/michaelforman/

https://www.instagram.com/flyboy_197/

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI6GkxoRFCk969A_rCfpHWQ

Digital Courses

https://michael-s-site-fc88.thinkific.com/

#BusinessNetworking #CorporateSuccess #Leadership #CommunicationSkills #ProfitGrowth #ExecutiveCoaching#Conference #EventSpeakers #ConferenceSpeaker #MarketingConference #NonprofitConference #BusinessEvent#Networking #Conferenses#Profit #Sales #Communication#Podcast #networkingevents #businessowners #businessideas #businessinnovation #growyourbusiness #professionaldevelopment #businessconnections #networkmarketing #EventProfs #PublicSpeaking #SpeakerTips #ConferenceSpeaker #EventMarketing #ProfessionalSpeaker #MemorableExperiences #EventStrategy #SpeakingEngagements #BeUnforgettable #SpeakerLife #EventSuccess#NetworkingUnleashed #BusinessCommunication #PublicSpeaker #ProfessionalDevelopment #StrategicNetworking #MichaelAForman #SpeakToConnect #AwardWinner #LeadershipThroughConnection