Pimp Your Friends: Street Lessons #2

How many times have you attended a networking event and heard, " I do this" , "I do that" "I know this", "I know that"... blah, blah-blah, blah-blah! It gets really annoying sometimes to hear a person talk about themselves in such a way that you would think they had a cure for the common cold. It's not that I haven't sounded this way before either, trust me, I know, I've listened to myself before! Which is why it dawned on me that maybe I should try something different.

I know, I know. That's what networking events are for, to hear people talk about themselves and their companies. Yes, this is true, but not too many networking individuals know how to properly sell themselves without sounding like narcissists. So, I've decided that the best way for someone to network at an event is to Pimp Your Friends. Yes, it means exactly what it says. You're selling your friends to other networkers and not talking about yourself at all. Like a Pimp and his, um, property (which I by NO means advocate at all!!!) you are selling your friends traits, personality and style to every one you meet and reap the rewards of your pimpin'. How does this work if you're selling Sally instead of yourself? Okay scene:

You're at a wine bar, noshing on a fabu ostrich slider while your friend grabs you a drink from the bar. Harry slides on up next to you, introduces himself and quickly begins asking "how are you", "what do you do", yada yada. YOU, tell him you're doing fantastically well, tell him you're an internet specialist but Do NOT go into further detail. Instead you ask him what he does. As he starts his conversation, you catch Sally's eyes, your pimpee, and "tell" her to come over. She is engaged in conversation with another woman, Jane, but gets your drift. About a minute into Harry's sales pitch, you say, "you know what, Harry, I came here tonight with a friend I'd like you to meet" and make your way to Sally. Sally sees you, says the same thing to, Jane, and makes her way to you at the same time. Harry and Sally exchange hellos, Jane and You, and Harry and Jane. At this time, you've created a natural break in the conversation by moving. So by this point, you already know that you will be explaining to Harry AND Jane what Sally does and Sally in turn will explain what you do. This ONLY works if you both know what the other one does!

The whole point of this networking exercise is that you meet two people at once. Sally has laid the groundwork for you and you for Sally. Hopefully, you each have found someone who can actually use your talents. If Sally has run into someone that you can't use, that's okay, she still has to explain to your partner what you do and hopefully he can use you, if not, that's okay, he's still a warm "lead" that can potentially blossom into a partnership or friendship later down the road. And vice versa for Sally.

Networking this way, instead of trying to meet each person on YOUR OWN, cuts your networking time down by half probably even more. So you're not stuck there till 10 o'clock at night taking shots with Jake from Things r us who just will never be an asset for you . Instead you want to be at the bar at 10pm with Linda from We NEED YOU NOW, INC. drinking whiskey shots until 3 am in the morning!!

Having a networking buddy who can sing your praises for you makes for better conversation because people are not hearing, "I, I, I", They're hearing "she can do this, ... her company does that,... they've worked with so and so" and it adds to your credibility because someone else is saying it about you.

These type of networking exercises work really well, if you've made great friends with a client who truly believes that you're the best because it sounds even more geniune coming from them. They're doing the same thing you are, trying to make money, and if they know that you're there trying your hardest to sell them, they're selling you even harder then they were before because you're going the extra mile to help them out at these networking functions.

The morale of the story is grab a friend, rehearse your sales pitches, gain some knowledge on you chosen friend and start pimping him/her at the mixers, business events and galas!


So that's how you Pimp Your Friends. Or at least, how I like to Pimp My Friends.

Stay Funky! And watch out for the next topic, "Know Your Territory"