TFF #005 - Unlock the Power of Serendipity: How I Turned a LinkedIn Search into a Game-Changing Alliance
This week, The Friday Fandango explores how good research habits, understanding mutual interests, and utilizing an effective promotional strategy, can lead to successful alliances.
Welcome back to The Friday Fandango. I’m Janet and this is your weekly dose of communication inspiration for the week ahead.
Today we tackle the how smart research can unlock serendipity.
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Someone I did not know - at all - just became a powerful ally
It all happened remotely, too. It was a really nice surprise. The only effort I made was by checking a few things online, since online research happens to be a habit of mine. Here is how the story of this powerful alliance unfolded.
Obviously, when you are working in a specific sector you want to keep up with the latest news as well as the most interesting people. That is how this useful connection came about.
I was reviewing the agenda of an upcoming conference, trying to understand what sessions would take place on a specific topic, and it was there that I spotted a name (several names in fact) but one in particular caught my attention because it rang a bell.
So I looked this person up on LinkedIn. I had heard of him, he was really respected in the industry, worked in a similar sector to me and we had 227 common connections! Yet, we had never met or connected!
And that’s when the serendipity kicked in
When I visited this company’s website, I discovered that a previous work colleague was on the team, someone who I had not been in contact with for many years!
So, together with my interest in their event, plus the previous relationship, and my motivation (need) to find out more, the (quick) research helped me form a genuine narrative and relevant reason to reach out. And that’s what I did.
Things moved very quickly after that.
I made the connection with my former colleague, who introduced me to the the guy I had not yet connected with, and an explosion of friendly communication kicked in. Not only did we form a powerful alliance to support each other, but two separate teams (his and mine) came together to promote our mutual interest in what later became a jointly-produced event.
Leveraging the power of collaboration
One of the reasons why the collaboration came together so powerfully was that there was a very defined mutual interest. We then involved every single member of both teams in a clear cut plan to promote it on LinkedIn.
One person took the lead in defining the plan. For example, in week one, we published a preview (teaser) announcement to say that the event was coming up.
In week two, some further information about the program, and in week three, an additional post about the speakers. (Segmenting the release of information this way provided plenty of ammunition for things to post.)
And then, through the power of team work, we all agreed to do a few specific things: each post “tagged” all the other members of the team, as well as all the speakers and companies (accomplished by adding the “@” sign in front of a person’s name when writing a LinkedIn post).
By doing this, every person who got tagged received a notification that gave them the opportunity re-share that post, or create their own new post with their own thoughts and comments.
We also used #hashtags with each post that pertained to the event name, the topic, etc, so that anyone looking for information on those keywords, would also find out about our event. This team network effect resulted in thousands of views of the posts and tremendous engagement.
Across our specific sector, we were able to ensure that everyone we (all) knew saw our posts multiple times in the weeks leading up to the event, leaving no doubt as to what was happening, where it was happening and how to take part.
What are the key take-aways from this story?
Anyone can make magic happen
Of course, all this seems lucky. But it's just about a process. Serendipity can be provoked by good research habits and also of course, by being a bit opportunistic.
Luck was not necessary in this case, because I already had the nugget of information I needed from my research: 227 common connections!
When you have a mission, the best fuel is research. Quick desk research is about the most useful tool you can deploy. Before you can figure out what to do, you need to be armed with information so you can formulate a plan.
Make it a habit to find out who you are dealing with!
A quick LinkedIn search and a look at the website, including the about and/or team page is usually enough. Doing a Google search on the name or company will also be very revealing. Your mental notes will provide a source of ideas for what to say. Identify a mutual interest? You turned sand into gold dust.
Keep growing your network to get an edge
Don’t be shy about growing your network. If you see an article on a topic related to your work, written by someone you respect but not known to you, reach out to that person with a genuine reason (based on your research).
It does not matter whether that person is very high-profile or not. Just try. Make that new connection via LinkedIn using “Connect” | “With Personal Note” (always!).
Craft a 300-character text to communicate your genuine relevant reason for contacting them. Not everyone will answer or connect with you, but you can grow your network and enrich your LinkedIn feed this way. It goes without saying that everyone you meet in person, too, should be on your list of people to connect with.
Apply this methodology to any topic
Whether it's an internal colleague or an completely unknown person, the trick, if there is one, is to identify the mutual interest.
This approach can be most usefully deployed across organizations with a shared mission or goal. Think laterally about interesting “angles” on how to push your projects and interests forward. Think about the story you want to tell.
Then: how can you be useful to the other person? What value do they potentially bring to you? How can the entire team work together to build an interesting narrative over time? Once that nut has been cracked, when you are ready to go public, the rest is just the mechanics of making a plan. What is the story? How you can break it down into a series of interesting posts (or chapters)? Define a mutual agreement and schedule for how to promote it using “@”tags and “#”hashtags and then put the plan into action.
The six key elements to unlock serendipity
To recap, the key strategies employed for this successful collaboration include:
Growing Your Network Strategically based on Research: Reach out to individuals you respect or are interested in. Crafting personalized notes and focusing on mutual interests can be very effective. For example, if an article captures your attention and is germane to your field, and is authored by someone you hold in esteem but haven’t yet met, seize the opportunity to connect with them. Ensure that your outreach is genuine and informed by your research.
Being Opportunistic: Being opportunistic and recognizing potential in certain information or connections is also critical.
Define Mutual Interests: The collaboration was grounded in a clear mutual interest which made the joint efforts more purposeful.
Creating a Narrative Around Mutual Interests: Whether dealing with colleagues or unknown individuals, identifying mutual interests coupled with thinking creatively about your objectives, can help you craft an interesting narrative.
Strategic, Collaborative Promotion: A plan to promote the event on social media by publishing information in segments proved plenty of content to post. By tagging team members and using relevant hashtags, the network effect resulted in thousands of views and engagement.
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