Let’s talk about the news. I rarely watch the news anymore – certainly not the local news anyway. Part of that is because of technology and being able to get the latest on my phone, from social media. And a big part of it is that the news has become a place that scares you into tuning in. Less purely information driven, more business oriented.
But for today’s purposes, we’re not going to get into any specific news story. We’re going to take a brief look at the way news organizations are laid out as an analogous structure for *our* networking.
I’m sure all of you know that the big channels such as ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN – and the list goes on – are referred to as networks. And it’s likely that most if not all know why. It’s because they have a multitude of affiliates across the country, linked together to form a net of coverage. And that net spans the country, and even the world.
When something newsworthy occurs, some journalists and correspondents do fly to the site of the action. But way more often – unless it’s a major story – a local affiliate is dispatched to the scene. They do the reporting on site and then “throw it back,” to the studio, or record it and send it to be shared on the later broadcast. This creates a tremendous amount of leverage to cover a vast territory.
Now let’s take this over to the realm of our businesses. Ryan Smith simply cannot be everywhere that there’s a need for quality self care and acupuncture. In fact he’s not even going to be aware of 99% of it. But consider that we are his affiliates. We’re out in the world keeping present and aware of what comes across our paths.
And anytime we encounter something “newsworthy,” – or perhaps Ryan-worthy – we can do a bit of investigating. And then we get to “throw it back to the studio,” and send him the story, or more practically, the business.
And of course, we are all each other’s affiliates. Think about it. With that kind of teamwork, we can create tremendous leverage and capture a ton of news.
In fact, it’s looking like we’re on pace to break the $10M mark.
So as you travel through your day, through your conversations, and through the world, think of yourself as an affiliate reporter. Scope out the stories and toss them to the various studios.
It will lead to more coherent connection, more engagement, and certainly more closed business.
And that my friends, is some great news.
