If you want to know how to network with billionaires, you need to know my five golden rules!
Anyone who’s listened to me on my podcast or read any of my blogs knows how much importance I place on networking for my success. It’s simply the best way to make the connections you need to get what you want and turbocharge your business & life.
Making the right connections can often take only a few moments, but the effects – and benefits – can last a lifetime. And that’s why it is absolutely essential to invest your time and effort into ensuring your networking is done properly.
Now, I move in some pretty exclusive circles these days and I rub shoulders with some seriously high net-worth individuals. So, people are always asking me how they can make an impact and build their network to include the right people. In particular, they ask ‘Matt! How can I network with billionaires?’
I recently chatted with Steve Sims on my podcast, The Matt Haycox Show – and he was a man with some great answers to that question!
For over two decades, Steve Sims has been the go-to contact for some of the wealthiest people on the planet. He founded one of the world’s leading experiential concierge firms and used his talent for connecting with people’s passions and making things happen to develop a phenomenal client list. He’s also been a keynote speaker for Harvard, the Pentagon, Mastermind Talks, and the Entrepreneur Society of San Francisco.
Our conversation was free-ranging and full of advice on a load of topics – you can hear the whole thing here.
Steve went from working as a brickie to working with billionaires, becoming Mr Fix-it for the world’s super rich – and a world-class networker. I grabbed this golden opportunity to ask him about meeting the right people, making those vital connections and turning meetings into unique, highly valuable business opportunities. Between us we covered some really interesting points about networking in the world of the super-rich – so I thought I’d summarise it for you here – introducing our Five Golden Rules for Networking with Billionaires.
How to Network with Billionaires: 5 rules
1 Surround yourself with opportunity
Recently, someone I know was thinking about moving to Dubai but felt they’d be too much of a small fish in a really big pond. I told him, to be honest, the opposite is true. You may feel you are going to be the poorest person around, but if you surround yourself with people who can offer opportunity, and if you have the right hunger, the right passion and the right techniques, you’ll find a way. You’ll quickly be making all the connections you need to make progress. I cannot overstate to people the importance of putting yourself in the proximity of people with money and influence – people you want to be like. But of course, if you are happy to be that big fish in a small pond, that’s all you will ever be.
Steve told me that, at one time, he rode a pretty crappy motorbike, and tended to hang out in a dive biker bar. Then one night he looked around him and realised that everyone there had settled – for less. ‘I realised right then – I am not in the right room. And you have to be in the right room! That’s when I knew I had to get away from where I was and surround myself with the people I wanted to be like – who would get me to where I wanted to be.’
2 You don’t make anything without making mistakes
Steve was pretty upfront about his life – it’s not been plain sailing all the way. And making a few mistakes has actually been the making of him. He said, ‘I learned how to have good communication with affluent people, by having bad communication with affluent people’. If you go for great things, you start attracting the right people to you. Even if you make mistakes along the way – keep going! For you to make the kind of progress you need to boost your fortunes, you need to be somewhere where you are challenged, and maybe get outside your comfort zone. But there are big rewards. Steve recalls a chance meeting and an informal chat with someone who turned out to be Jay Abrahms (!) which in turn created some truly influential connections.
I agree. Some people go to networking events to get as many business cards as possible. But you need to work at it and refine your talent. And it is all trial and error, so you need to practise and do it over and over again. Start small and build – it’s a marathon, not a sprint! Don’t forget, you must learn from everything you do in business.
You know, I think about my podcasts and videos – the first ones seem terrible now – I can hardly listen to them! But by doing it wrong and sticking at it, I have learned how to improve, how to refine and what to do to get what I want out of them. And the same is true for networking. It is really hard work until it becomes a competence. Then it becomes enjoyable, your confidence grows, and people will come to you!
3 Don’t worry if you are not naturally outgoing – that can play to your advantage!
People assume that networking is only for extroverts. The kinds of people who can hold court with confidence, people who are larger than life and maybe a little bit full of themselves. Not according to Steve. In fact, he admits to being something of a loner himself – he loves motorbikes because he can get out on the road on his own. No one to please but himself. That doesn’t mean he cannot network.
Far from it. Steve reckons that when you are introverted, you are at an advantage. Because when you are an introvert in a room full of people, you have to have a strategy, a purpose. Introverts are not there for the fun or to be the centre of attention. They are not there to tell a joke and entertain. They are there to ‘move the needle’, make a difference and make progress. If you are in a conversation that’s not going anywhere, you are in the wrong conversation. You must always be looking for something – know what your goal is and move with purpose. If you need help developing skills like networking, and conversational skills, take a look at my business consultancy services page for more information about how you can hire me to work with you.
4 Don’t put obstacles in your own way
Steve has a phrase (and a book by the way) ‘Go for Stupid’. At first, you think, why would you want to go for ‘stupid’, surely you need to be sensible and keep things practical and proportionate. But, Steve argues, this often opens you up to putting obstacles in your own way.
He asks the question, why not ‘go for stupid’ – don’t talk yourself out of your crazy goals. Stupidity, according to Steve, opens us up to the dream, to play, to be at our most creative. He says it wakes up the five-year-old inside us. And that passion, that excitement, that enthusiasm is contagious. People get excited too, and they want to work with you because you have the energy, the vision and the clarity. When you ‘go for stupid’, people can clearly see the creativity that you can generate.
It’s so important to know what you want before you go to a networking event. Ask yourself how can you get what you want if you are not sure what you are looking for. And sometimes the bigger this idea, perhaps the more outlandish or ‘out there’ your idea seems – the more memorable, the more distinctive, you will become.
5 Show up with value
Steve works with some of the highest net-worth clients in the world. In the past, he has arranged for them to tour SpaceX with Elon Musk, taken them to see the Titanic on the seabed, and thrown gourmet dinner parties at the foot of Michelangelo’s David while being serenaded by Andrea Bocelli. He has achieved this because he knows how to get what he wants from the people that matter. And it is not about offering money – it is all about delivering value.
At networking events, most people ask questions that benefit them. But that’s a rookie error. You need to ask questions that benefit other people. Ask what you can bring to the party, and how you can add value to their projects. If you can do that, people will instinctively find a way of giving you something in return.
Steve tells a story about standing next to Sir Elton John at a party in LA when a big donor walks up and asks Elton how much it would cost for him to perform at an event he was organising. Elton simply said, ‘I’m busy’ and walked away. He was not going to be bought. Once people have money – the super-rich, the billionaires – it’s never about the money – to get them to work with you, you need to turn up with value. You need to do your research, find out about them, think of something extraordinary you could do for them, and lead with that.
Steve Sims is a fascinating guy and I really enjoyed chatting with him on my podcast, and we covered so much more than this little summary – so do take a listen, there’s some really good stuff on there!
When it comes down to it, networking with billionaires is essentially no different from any other networking. You need to:
- make sure you are in the right room
- know what you want
- offer real value
- work hard at it and be patient
- be prepared to make mistakes
Now get out there and start networking!
If you’d like to expand your network and want access to some of the most influential HNW’s around then join me at one of my exclusive networking events!
