net worth

How to network for PR success

How to network for PR success

Recently I wrote about what attending Tiwa King’s first in person event since the "panoramic" taught me about how to do purpose-driven PR

You can read that here if you missed it, sis

Here's the thing, though, when I first started going to networking events by myself, it used to make me so nervous and fill me with so much anxiety- mostly because I had no idea how to break the ice so that I could form connections with the other attendees.

Can you relate?

Well, although going to networking events on your own can be daunting, your network really is your net worth.

In other words, to have a profitable business you must learn how to build and leverage profitable business relationships.

Here are 5 tips to help you do this through live events:

5 unexpected reasons to get started with PR today

5 unexpected reasons to get started with PR today

I have many nick-names spanning from the expected (Neen, Neenz, Nini), sentimental (baby, baby girl, sweet girl) to slightly random without a back story. One of the more random nick-names came from my girl, Kishma, who went through a stage of calling me "Pretty Pants".

Here’s the back story to where that came from:

If you've been following me on social media for a while, or know me in real life, then you'll know that this British-born Nigerian girl loves patterned clothes. In case you haven't or don't, the pic above should prove my point. (Aside from African prints, I'm also partial to florals, animal prints and bright colours).

About 6 years ago, before my hair was locked, I was walking around Wood Green (a cosmopolitan shopping part of London) wearing trousers that had a black background and were embellished with bright, colourful flowers.

Long story short...

As I shuffled through the crowd and walked pass a bus stop a guy (who I had noticed watching me and hoped would leave me alone) cat called me with the phrase "Hey, Pretty Pants!" (referring to my trousers in his Jamaican accent and vernacular). I, of course, kept walking but I couldn't help but be amused by his "original" pick up line. So amused, that I laughed out loud as I walked away from him and told Kish about it the next time we met up, hence the nick-name "Pretty Pants".

Remember me saying that this happened before I locked my hair? Here's why that's an important detail...

Me and Kish actually went on to lock our hair shortly after that *clears throat* incident. Whenever people who are thinking about dreadlocks ask us questions about whether they should do it too, we often talk about the expected benefits of locking- like the low maintenance; improved health and strength of our hair- and laugh about the unexpected things- like the fact that men speak to you differently and, rather than calling you "pretty pants," "my size" and so on, use more respectful terms such as "Empress". Who knew, right?!

It's like that with PR too, sis. For example, you might be expecting PR to cause an increase to your visibility, credibility, email list and money- and rightly so! But some things that you may not be factoring in as a perk of PR (because I certainly didn't!) is:

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on the first step to self-advocacy

Lessons from Mahlah and her sisters on the first step to self-advocacy

In August 2017 I wrote an article called “Lessons from 5 Rebel Girls of the Bible”

Which you can access here, sis

Among those that got an honourable mention were Mahlah and her 4 sisters- Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah

To summarise Numbers 27:1-11, they were the daughters of Zelophehad and when he died they advocated for themselves regarding their inheritance

by standing

“before Moses, before Eleazar the priest, and before the leaders and all the congregation, by the doorway of the tabernacle of meeting, saying: 'Our father died in the wilderness...and he had no sons. Why should the name of our father be removed from among his family because he had no son? Give us a possession among our father’s brothers'"

Causing God to instruct Moses to give it to them

Like it literally says that, when Moses brought their case before the Lord, He spoke to him saying:

“The daughters of Zelophehad speak what is right; you shall surely give them a possession of inheritance among their father’s brothers, and cause the inheritance of their father to pass to them."

Which shows that God is an advocate of women's rights, equality and leadership- despite what we may have traditionally been taught

Lessons from Esther on how to get on the radar of influencers in your industry/niche

Lessons from Esther on how to get on the radar of influencers in your industry/niche

There are some seats at the table that you have to be invited to rather than create yourself

This is known as vertical networking. For example, Esther would not have been able to get her audience with the king and save her people if she hadn’t first gotten on his radar as described in Esther 5:1-2:

“Now it happened on the third day [of her fast] that Esther put on her royal robes and stood in the inner court of the king’s palace, across from the king’s house, while the king sat on his royal throne... So it was, when the king saw Queen Esther standing in the court, that she found favour in his sight, and… Esther went near [to speak to him]”

But how do we get close enough to the influencers within our industries to get on their radars in this new digital age?

How do we get to their inner courts, so to speak?

By being an asset to them and/or they’re community through:

Lessons from Esther on the difference between influence and manipulation

Lessons from Esther on the difference between influence and manipulation

Last week we talked about the importance of giving before you get when it comes to leveraging our relationships through networking

This was something that Esther did with the King by throwing him 2 wine banquets before she so much as broached the subject of saving her people. Click here if you missed that, sis

Which is known as harnessing the law of reciprocity

Here’s the thing, though…

There is a thin line between harnessing the law of reciprocity and being manipulative

Which is yet another reason that networking gets the reputation of being icky and gross

Here are some key differences between the 2:

Lessons from Esther on what NOT to do if you want to network successfully

Lessons from Esther on what NOT to do if you want to network successfully

Networking is one of the best ways to increase your authority, your bank account and- most importantly- your impact.

You know,

  • That message that you want to share with the world

  • That legacy that you want to leave

  • The reason you believe God put you on the earth

That’s your impact or your “why”

However, networking is an art that not everybody gets right

Hence the reason that it gets the bad rep of being really icky and gross

Here are 3 things to avoid to ensure that you do, as demonstrated by Esther

Lessons from esther on how to increase your visibility by transforming your mindset

Lessons from esther on how to increase your visibility by transforming your mindset

In my previous post, I talked about Hegai (the King’s eunch’s) role in helping Esther secure the crown

Click here if you missed that, sis

But that wasn’t the main thing that made the King choose her

“So, what was?!” I hear you ask

According to Esther 2:15 and 17, it was favour
So let’s break that down

When I hear the word “favour” it immediately puts me in mind of the concept of grace

Why?

Because grace is by definition “the unmerited favour of God”

In other words…

Without the belief that:

  1. You have God’s favour

  2. He will cause people to favour you also

  3. He made you “for such a time as this”

You won’t go towards your goals or the desires that He gave you

Because we go in the direction of of our beliefs

We see that play out in Esther 4:10-11 when Esther expressed fear of going to see the king about calling off the proposed genocide of her people

And…

We see it in modern day stats that show that women feel less at ease going for their goals by promoting themselves than men- which in turn means that they're less likely to do it.

Can you relate, sis?

What needs to be understood is that walking in God’s favour is a lifestyle that is born out of your mindset. Here are 4 tools that I use to develop it.

lessons from esther on why you shouldn’t feel bad about promoting yourself

lessons from esther on why you shouldn’t feel bad about promoting yourself

Within my Facebook group, Women of Influence, we have weekly expert interviews

We also discuss all things netowrking and PR here.

One of my favourite ways to end the interviews is by asking guests who their favourite woman of the Bible is and why

And whilst I’ve had a variety of facinating answers and testimonies…

Esther, without a doubt, takes the crown for the one that gets named the most

The scripute that’s most synonymous with her? “Yet who knows whether you have come to the kingdom for such a time as this?”

Found in Esther 4:14

A rallying cry that came from her uncle, Mordecai, to encourage Esther to use her power, privelage and position in service of her people

A word that not only confronted Esther with her significance and purpose but confronts us with our own because…

It also let’s us know that: