017 | What I learned from Connecting 99 People Online

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📓 017 | What I learned from Connecting 99 People Online

The idea arrived from a phrase: "I love connecting people!”

This simple phrase is one that I have said quite often to others, after 2 people usually exchange great energy and thank me for the connection.

So when I listened to business podcasts discussing building something you are good at, I thought, why not this? Build a place and time for connections to take place, but where the effort in making the connection comes more from the individuals themselves rather than from me (although much effort came from my own actions and those are shared below).

The goal: hold space where likeminded people can have 1-on-1s in short sprints.

After several iterations, this took the form of the following agenda:

10 events, 9 different time zones, and 99 connections later, the events became a product and a service at the same time. The product being the 9+ new LinkedIn connections you would receive, the service being the space to have conversations with others.

Whether you're creating an online product or service involving relationships, here's what you should know:

Lesson 1: Friends, First

Build for your friends. Demo with your friends.

Friends here is a loose term. I mean those who are closest to your ideal customer but who you would also invite to your birthday party. For myself, this meant business professionals—connections on LinkedIn. I did not invite any of my connections on a platform like Instagram, until later.

So the first two iterations of the Connection Power-Hours were invitations from my close connections. These people were able to give me the feedback I needed to polish the product.

Lesson 2: After Close Connections, Curation Begins

The magic happens after you've iterated on the first couple of demonstrations.

After the first 2 events, I realized if I were to continue this 8 more times, I needed to sell people on the outcome. Business people don't want to network based on an arbitrary connection, they care about specifics. I designated these specifics to be: role, industry, and interest.

I used LinkedIn to search people in those areas and curate the connections based on metrics in their profile.

Lesson 3: People Mesh Differently

People respond to structure and guidance differently. That's awesome (usually).

Not everyone networks the same. Although I aimed to provide clear direction through the prompts in each session: some people ignored them and some followed them too rigorously (basically, it was awkward).

The beauty of the prompts is you can take ‘em or leave ‘em.

This experience taught me that it’s not about forcing everyone to conform to a single method—it’s about creating a space where all approaches can coexist and complement each other.

In this way, I learned an incredible amount about ways people want to connect with others professionally—ways that I'm bringing to future events in 2025!

P.s. the ‘usually’ reference is due to one session where an individual went rogue in hijacking the conversation

Lesson 4: The Power of Vulnerability

Those who followed the prompts received a self-created surprise—new knowledge.

Imagine having an intro call with someone and being asked: “Who has inspired your journey?” or “What's a project roadblock you're experiencing?” or “What's a skill you're developing?”

The answers open up a deeper level of conversation which resulted in new connections not only between you and the opposite individual—but also inside your mind.

People told me “this is unlike any networking event I've attended,” one person calling it a ‘networking gym’ because of the opportunity to be vulnerable in this setting.

Lesson 5: People Want to be Nudged

Message everyone 1 to 12 hours before the event.

This shows the individual: they matter. You remember them. People rely on people to attend any sort of event which involves the mingling of others. Especially the introverts. A calendar event blocked off in their calendar and an automated reminder email does not mean they will attend. People want to feel wanted. As an event host or service provider or product evangelist, it's your job to push the event's importance out. After all, none of this would be possible without the people involved. Make them feel important, seen, and heard.

Top tip: Message people where the deepest connection lies. For most, I messaged on LinkedIn. For others, by WhatsApp, Instagram DM's, or text message. This also adds another layered touchpoint for them to remember you.

Final Thoughts

There is no one size-fit-all approach to building relationships. Everyone has different power, authority, personality, perspective, opinions, background, upbringing, education, trauma, emotions, and values. All we can do is reference stories and lessons like I'm providing in this newsletter to help push you forward towards cultivating those relationships that matter.

Did this resonate? I'd love to know. Reply to this email with what stuck out to you!

Sincerely,

LG

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