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Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.

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Speaker 1: Good Morning, This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: Today's tip is about how to make virtual networking work.

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Speaker 1: No matter your job, but particularly if you are running

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Speaker 1: a business where you need new clients and collaborators, you

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Speaker 1: need to meet new people. It is really hard to

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Speaker 1: establish relationships virtually, but it is not impossible if you

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Speaker 1: think this through. Many of us have been doing a

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Speaker 1: lot of our work virtually over the last eighteen months.

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Speaker 1: It has been fascinating to see how much day to

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Speaker 1: day work can be done virtually, even in industries that

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Speaker 1: had been slow to adopt remote work. It is harder

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Speaker 1: to meet new people virtually, though Fortunately modern technology makes

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Speaker 1: some connecting far easier than it was in the past,

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Speaker 1: and once you connect in some way, you can move

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Speaker 1: people up the ladder of connection. Some of my best

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Speaker 1: friends have begun their relationship with me as virtual connections.

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Speaker 1: What tended to happen is that I would read their

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Speaker 1: blogs and began leaving comments, or they read my blog

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Speaker 1: and began leaving comments. When I see the same names

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Speaker 1: over and over, I get to know the people leaving

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Speaker 1: those comments. Sometimes we start exchanging emails and so forth. Now,

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Speaker 1: not as many people may be blogging these days, but

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Speaker 1: lots of people are on social media, So if you

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Speaker 1: would like to get to know someone, start following them.

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Speaker 1: Leave thoughtful comments when it seems authentic. Over time, this

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Speaker 1: can start to grow a relationship. Not immediately. Don't dive

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Speaker 1: into a big ask after leaving one comment, but it

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Speaker 1: can be a start. You can also develop a reason

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Speaker 1: that people will want to get to know you. Lots

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Speaker 1: of people are starting podcasts these days, and if you

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Speaker 1: have a podcast, you will have a legitimate reason to

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Speaker 1: reach out to almost anyone to ask them to be

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Speaker 1: a guest. Practice with a few friends first for your

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Speaker 1: first few episodes, but once you have some done you'll

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Speaker 1: be good, and if you get a good audience, lots

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Speaker 1: of people will want to have a conversation with you.

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Speaker 1: Do the conversation with video on, so you get to

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Speaker 1: talk to people face to face, even if you're only

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Speaker 1: recording the audio. You can also start virtual groups that

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Speaker 1: people will want to seek out. A private industry discussion

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Speaker 1: group can be a real benefit to people. Think about

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Speaker 1: what angle might be best, but if you create a

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Speaker 1: safe and trusting space, you will build relationships with people,

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Speaker 1: and people will refer their friends as well. You can

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Speaker 1: also just generally offer to be helpful. If you have

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Speaker 1: established particular expertise on a topic, you could make yourself

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Speaker 1: available for people to book twenty minute calls with you,

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Speaker 1: maybe just every other Friday or so. Do these by

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Speaker 1: video calls so you get to know people's faces. You

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Speaker 1: don't have to do a ton, but maybe two to

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Speaker 1: three of Fortnite will build you a lot of goodwill

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Speaker 1: over time. Everyone knows someone else. It all comes together

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Speaker 1: eventually when you start to get to know people virtually.

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Speaker 1: Suggest video chats and then look for circumstances when you

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Speaker 1: might be in the same virtual spaces or even in

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Speaker 1: the same physical spaces. As the world opens up. If

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Speaker 1: you do your homework now, the first in person conference

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Speaker 1: you go to, it's just going to be a banjanza.

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Speaker 1: As you meet all your virtual connection in person, it

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Speaker 1: is going to be great. So why not get started now.

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Speaker 1: In the meantime, this is Laura, Thanks for listening, and

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Speaker 1: here's to making the most of our time. Hey, everybody,

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Speaker 1: I'd love to hear from you. You can send me

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Speaker 1: your tips, your questions, or anything else. Just connect with

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Speaker 1: me on Twitter. Facebook and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod

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Speaker 1: that's B the number four, then Breakfast p o D.

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Speaker 1: You can also shoot me an email at Before Breakfast podcast.

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Speaker 1: At i heeart media dot com that before Breakfast is

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Speaker 1: spelled out with all the letters. Thanks so much, I

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Speaker 1: look forward to staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a

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Speaker 1: production of I heart Radio. For more podcasts from I

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Speaker 1: heart Radio, visit the i heart Radio app, Apple Podcasts,

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Speaker 1: or wherever you listen to your favorite shows. H