1°) Universal Networking Hacks

Networking hack 1: never get into fights, keep your composure

When you network, especially online, you can easily get triggered by negative people. Always keep your composure and remember yourself that all of this is just a game.

If you take yourself too seriously while networking, it will deteriorate your results.

Networking hack 2: always be constructive if you criticize something/someone

Whether or not it's online networking or physical networking, always be constructive when you're trying to build your network.

Don't leave random comments like "it depends" on LinkedIn for example, develop your thoughts and build yourself a reputation that will expand your network over time like you crazy.

2°) Networking Hacks when networking online

Networking online is something special, here are a few networking techniques to follow.

Online Network Hacks: code of conduite

Networking hack 3: be active every day

Expansion of your network over time by being visible every day online

Like they say "show up every day". The most active people are the ones who build the most B2B connections online. To network with people online, you need to make yourself visible online seven days a week.

This daily online presence will also helps the social media algorithms to push your content more which ultimately will grow your network. I've personally went from 0 to 8,000 followers on Twitter in less than 5 months just by showing up every day. Thanks to this I met hundreds of people virtually that helped me business wise.

The downside of online networking is also that you need to be active every day so if you slow down too much, people will notice it and the strength of your network will decrease over time.

Networking Hacks for LinkedIn

LinkedIn is arguably the best place for B2B online networking with over 875 million members in more than 200 countries. Here some LinkedIn networking hacks.

Networking hack 4: use LinkedIn networking tools to network faster

Networking on LinkedIn can be slow if you don't have the good methods. Using some softwares to network faster on LinkedIn is a growth hack you can't miss.

LinkedIn Sales Navigator is obviously a famous tool to find and contact people on the platform but my secret weapon tool is Breakcold to build B2B relationships faster.

Basically, you can engage and contacts LinkedIn users from one place so you can be super productive to network on the platform. Definitely a nice growth hack.

Example of a networking tool for LinkedIn

Networking hack 5: engage with LinkedIn connections before reaching out

When you want to network with someone on LinkedIn, you usually need to get your LinkedIn connection request accepted. That way, you'll be 1st degree connections and you'll be able to send a LinkedIn message to that person.

To maximize your chances to get your LinkedIn invite accepted, you should engage with the LinkedIn profiles you want to network with prior to sending the invite. Engage means liking and commenting their LinkedIn posts here.

Once you've done that you have two choices:

• sending a LinkedIn invite message

• not sending a LinkedIn connection message

If you're not able to come up with a message that is either personalized or relevant then don't send any invite note message at all.

Example of a way to engage people on LinkedIn before reaching out

Networking hack 6: tag peers to reinforce your network

Having a network is great but having an engaged network that has your back is better.

When you scroll your LinkedIn feed, try to plug your LinkedIn best mates and closest B2B relations. That way, you'll bring value to the author of the LinkedIn post by bringing other people to the table but will also do a favor to your tagged peers who'll be able to plug their product or service.

In the long run, this networking hack will help you build a stronger network while also expanding it.

Example of a peer who tagged me in a LinkedIn comment

Networking hack 7: create LinkedIn magnet posts

A LinkedIn magnet post is basically a way to incentivize people to share, like and comment your post so you can distribute in return a high value piece of content.

The piece of content is usually a loom video, a PDF or another type of file with valuable informations that could be easily sold.

This kind of post has network effects because the more people will engage with it, the more the post will be pushed to their own audience and these ones will also be incentivize to like and comment it as well. That way you'll end up sending LinkedIn messages to tons of people which will be a key moment to start conversations and expand your network.

Probably one of my favorite networking hack form this list

This is an example of a LinkedIn magnet post I made recently:

Example of a LinkedIn post magnet

PS: if you want to know about on how to network on LinkedIn, you can read this article

Networking Hacks for Twitter

Twitter is behind LinkedIn in my eyes as the 2nd biggest platform on the internet to network with people in a B2B environment or not.

Many people think that Twitter is just about sharing your life but real business is happening there, people call it "Twitter Money".

Networking hack 8: use Twitter lists to engage faster

Using Twitter lists a great Twitter hack to expand both your audience and network.

Basically, you add people to specific lists and you'll be able to only see their tweets in a dedicated and curated feed. That way, you can be super productive about the people you want to network with.

I don't use the twitter lists because I have my own Twitter engagement tool but I used it heavily in the past.

I also recommend you to check out TweetDeck to spy on competitors and track certain keywords on the platform if you want to network with only people who talk about a certain topic.

Example of my Twitter lists

Networking hack 9: scrape the likes and comments of viral posts

Imagine you want to network with people only interested about CRMs, what you can do is to find viral tweets about it with a minimum of 200 likes and 20 comments. Then you'll use a Twitter scraper software like Scrapybird to get all the followers of that specific tweet.

Then you'll just have to put these people in a social selling software to start networking with them.

Networking hack 10: use some specific keywords in your tweets to attract more people

An obvious way to network with more people without having to contact people yourself is to have a broader reach on your tweets.

The most secret way to have a broader reach one your tweets is to use specific keywords in your tweets that are associated with a trending topic.

For example in the topic startup, these keywords will be relevant to push your tweet in the topic section:

• startup

• SaaS

• startup founder

Using these keywords will boost your reach up to +50%, once you go beyond a specific threshold of likes, usually 15 your tweet will be in the related topic.

Example of a viral tweet I purposely used the word startup to go in the topic section

The end result for you is more comments so more people to network with. It's a less painful way to network online with Twitter in my opinion.

Networking hack 11: try to get followed before sending a Twitter message

You can send a Twitter message to anyone on Twitter that has his direct messages (DMs) open but you'll end up in their message requests if they don't follow you.

Some busy people will be hard to reach and networking with, so try to interact with their tweets first so they follow you . Then it will be easier to start a conversation.

Networking hack 12: tweet 3 times a day to meet more people

Like I said above, you need to show up every day to people need to see you tweeting at least 3 times a day.

The more you tweet, the faster you'll expand your network on the platform.

Message requests are separated from your Twitter inbox

3°) Networking Hacks via Emailing

Even when emailing people I have networking hacks for you :)

However, I'd like to make a clear difference between cold emailing and warm emailing.

Networking Hacks via cold emailing

Cold emailing is the process of sending emails to strangers (ie people you don't know).

Networking hack 13: send 300 networking cold emails a day to fill your calendar

If you want to fill your calendar with endless networking calls, you'll have to be agressive.

If you send about 300 cold emails a day, it means your email won't be personalize a lot so you can expect about a 70% open rate assuming your have a good deliverability and about 12% in reply rate. Out of this 12% reply rate, let's say 1/3 of the replies are positive ones for a networking call.

Every day, you'll get about 8 networking calls per day which is massive! Your calendar will end up like this image:

Example of a calendar filled of networking calls

Networking hack 14: warm up your cold email domains

I mentioned above "assuming you have a good deliverability". What I meant by that is that I expected your cold emails to not hit the spam folder.

To avoid going into spams, make sure your cold email domains are properly warmed up using an email warm up tool.

Example of an email being warmed up

Networking hack 15: ask questions to start a conversation

Asking questions in your cold emails help starting a conversation. I'd say that for networking in general, listening and asking questions is a key point for success.

Networking Hacks via warm emailing

Warm emailing is the process of sending emails to people who know you.

Networking hack 16: use the news of your recipient on social media to bond faster

Even if the people you're continously networking with know you, it doesn't mean that your email converstations should be like emotioneless robots talking to each other. Use their news on social media to create a deeper B2B relationship that will value your existing network even more.

Networking hack 17: use personalized email opening lines

Email opening lines are personalized sentences aimed at breaking the ice every time you connect with someone you haven't talked in a long time for example.

Compare to the PS line below, keep this sentence business related.

Networking hack 18: use email ps lines

A PS line will help add some casual information at the end of your email. It's a perfect way to network by being both serious and casual at the same time.

Example of a PS line

4°) Networking Hacks when networking IRL (In Real Life)

IRL Network Hacks: code of conduite

Some basic social life rules need to be remembered, it's crazy to think that this advices are now hacks because of how little people do it in their physical networking.

Networking hack 19: wash your teeth

So many people have bad breath, it's crazy. People won't appreciate to network with you if you have a bad breath. Same goes if you have something stuck in your teeth, people will rarely tell you about it.

Apparences are important so take care of this.

Bad breath meme

Networking hack 20: shower and put some deodorant

One of the most talented professionals I met in my career had the worst smell you can imagine. He had exceptional technical skills but extremely bad smell and self hygiene.

He ended up not having the best jobs, not making the best connections, didn't built the best network only because of his smell. The whole industry in his city knew about it.

I warned you, now you know what you need to do.

Networking hack 21: smile, smile and smile

People don't smile a lot these days, being able to smile instantly triggers sympathy on the other side. Being able to have this skill in networking is one of the best hack you can have.

Networking Hacks during live events

Networking hack 22: wear a funny and recognizable cap or t-shirt

It's one of the oldest networking hack to do during live events but it's still work.

You can use your brand name to your advantage by tweaking its meaning. I don't know if you're familiar with the software called "Deel". One of their prospecting techniques for sales is to play with the brand name deel to create this sending domain "@letsdeel.com".

What they could do for example for B2B event is to create Letsdeel cap and T-shirt that literally invite you to "deal" with them.

Example of a fun networking T-shirt for startup events

Networking hack 23: create QR code pointing toward your LinkedIn profile or a Calendly link

This QR code technique allowed me to fill the bridge between offline networking and online networking.

Basically, during B2B events I had a custom duplicate of my event pass with a QR code pointing to my LinkedIn profile. That way, every time I met someone they'll scan my QR code to add me on LinkedIn. Learn how to generate a QR code in seconds.

I was also doing the same with a Calendly link so they can book a networking call with me some days after the event.

Example of a custom made event pass with a QR code on it

Networking Hacks during an after work

Networking hack 24: stay until the end

In the beginning of an after work, people are not fun a lot.

After some drinks, people usually start to enjoy and they open up a little bit. The ones who network the most during an after work are always the ones who stay until the very end because you'll naturally meet the most motivated to meet new people.

Networking hack 25: don't stay with a group, go talk to everyone

The biggest mistake when you go to an after work, especially with 1 or 2 friends is to stay together, try to talk as many people as people. You're here for a purpose: networking so try to maximize your time.

5°) Business Networking Hacks

My biggest advice when it comes to business networking is to adopt the culture and mimics of the person you talk to.

Business Networking Hack if you talk to North Americans

People from the US don't like that much when you go straight to the point, you need to do some "small talk" to talk about other things that are not business related.

So make sure to keep this in mind.

Business Networking Hack if you talk to British & French people

British & French people have a less agressive mindset when it comes to do business, they don't buy fast but they don't stop using your solution fast.

You'll need to create more trust with them than Americans for example so make sure to be patient.

Business Networking Hack if you talk to people in Asia (China, India, Bangladesh)

Asian people in general are going straight to the point and might sound rude sometimes but they just need clear and fast answers, no small talk here.

6°) Networking Hack tools

Breakcold: the networking tool to build B2B relationships faster

Breakcold is mix between a Social Selling CRM that helps you build B2B relationships faster by aggregating many social media activities of your prospects into one place.

You can network faster via Email, LinkedIn and Twitter, all in one place.

Shapr: the mobile to network faster to grow your startup

Shapr is a networking app that connects you with people who can fuel your startup growth (Venture capital firms, job applicants, etc).

Using Shapr is one the fastest way to network with people in the startup industry all around the world.

Meetup: the networking app to meet anyone, anywhere, anytime

Meetup is a mobile and desktop app that helps you find networking events. You just have to sign-up and from there can join any Meetup event. It's a good way to network with people when you arrive in a new town or stay for just a few days somewhere.