By Mary Runkel, Arvada Chamber of Commerce
“Would you like a little pick-me-up?” I asked a scared freshman as I handed him a Red Bull in the Parks Library at Iowa State University.
I’ve had a lot of cool jobs in my life, including a Red Bull promoter. When I was a sophomore, I met two Red Bull reps – complete with their ½ can “jetpack” backpacks – walking around campus and thought to myself, “I think I’d like to be that person.”
I applied and my boss said I almost didn’t get the job until I started talking about white water rafting – my previous summer job – and my eyes lit up. If I could be passionate about rafting, my boss thought, then maybe she could be passionate about advertising Red Bull, too.
I still have a deep appreciation for the brand and the role. That job gave me confidence, taught me how to plan and lead, and put me in many situations to meet some forward-thinking people. I also learned a lot about how to network in almost any situation. I still use many of those tactics today. So I thought I’d share 9 networking tips that I learned with Red Bull.
1. Go In With A Homemade Icebreaker
This one is definitely easier when you work for a company and have a literal 8 ounce object to start a conversation with. But now I use the Red Bull can as a metaphor: have a hook. Pay attention to your surroundings. Think of something interesting to break the ice. For instance, on your way into the building, look around. Was there interesting art on the wall? What made it interesting? If food is served, is it delicious? Order something interesting on the menu – like a spicy chai- and talk about it.
2. Take Your Sunglasses Off
This is the most simple one – short and sweet. No one can see your eyes if you’re wearing sunglasses. And people learn to trust and connect with you when they can make eye contact with you. So take your sunglasses off when you meet people, especially for the first time. And if it’s super bright or you have really sensitive eyes, at least take them off for a portion of the conversation.
3. Don’t Yawn in a Red Bull Car (AKA, Don’t let People Know if you Aren’t Entertained in Their Presence).
I legitimately learned how to suppress yawns, because when you work for an energy drink company, you can’t go around town yawning in front of customers. But this is really about body language – when meeting someone new, what message would a yawn send to your acquaintance? What does it mean if you’re looking at the TV behind them while they explain how they chose their dog’s name? If you give people your attention – your full attention – if you ask questions and listen to what they say, a few things might happen: 1) You might be surprised at how interesting people are and start to like networking a *tiny* bit more. 2) They WILL remember how you made them feel. We so seldom get someone’s undivided attention.
4. Ask Questions on Questions. Seems Simple but it Really Works.
So let’s say you’re talking with your new acquaintance for 3 minutes and all the niceties, like where you’re from and what you do for work, are now out of the way. Ask another, bigger question. Then when they answer, ask them ANOTHER question based on their answer. Here’s an example conversation:
Mary: Nice meeting you, Joan. Have you gotten into any surprising hobbies or interests in the last two years? [Ask an open-ended question]
Joan: Odd, but I have recently gotten into roasting marshmallows.
Mary: What kind of marshmallows do you use? Do you think the name brand offers any significant benefits over the generic brand?
Joan: You know, I haven’t quite noticed any difference between brands, except for the size of the actual marshmallow. The generic ones are a little bit smaller, but taste the same.
Mary: Do you find you like the size of the generic marshmallows any better? I guess I assumed you’re making s’mores.
Joan: While I love a good marshmallow dip, yes, generally when I’m roasting it’s for smores when we’re camping. And surprisingly, I have actually discovered that the smaller, store-brand marshmallows are the optimal size for making smores. Especially for my kids because they get marshmallow stickiness everywhere and it’s hard to wash their hands with the limited camping water supply.
Mary: Well, that’s great to know! I’m going camping this weekend…
5. Give Things Away.
This tactic has actually served me when I served as a Volunteer Coordinator, too. And it sounds so… silly. But in general, people respond if you incentivize them, with even simple things. A coffee. A pastry. A glass of wine. People felt like I actually considered their needs when planning my shift and I used this as I got older too. When planning events, for instance, think about if a person might be missing a meal and provide snacks. If it’s an outdoor-based event in the sun, consider a cool drink. This is probably the easiest way to make new friends and keep people coming back.
6. Meet People Where They are.
We scheduled our shifts by figuring out and then planning the places we might meet our target audience (which at the time was something like 18-22 year olds, generally in college). We were tasked with figuring out what mattered to people and showing up to be a part of these moments. By handing people a cold can of Red Bull as they were working or studying, I do believe that people felt seen. For one second, they got eye contact and individual attention.
7. Lighten up.
I was basically paid to have fun. And to help people have fun, or take a little break, while drinking the product. Again, brilliant marketing. But at the end of the day, I learned that most people are decent and kind.
8. Know that The More You Network, The Easier it Gets
If I went a week or two without a shift, I noticed I got a little rusty or nervous before going into a new situation. But if I had regularly scheduled shifts, I was able to walk into almost any situation and make some kind of conversation. It wasn’t until I left this job that I realized this point: practice, even in networking, does make perfect. You have to try things and get awkwardness out of the way. You have to find out what works for YOU.
9. Involve Your Friends
Red Bull as a company had high standards for how they wanted their product portrayed, but even so, we were allowed to plan our schedules based on our lives. I often tried to connect with people I knew in the town we were giving out product. We were allowed to give people cases of product in certain situations, like if they were having an event or throwing a party. By introducing my friends to the product, it expanded my circle and made the networking process easier.
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