The networking strategy I share today will help you at any level, no matter what niche you’re in. There’s another bonus—this tactic also makes the world a better place. So what is it?
It’s you and me for this quick and powerful Friday session as we explore the benefits of forming relationships with up-and-comers in your space. I’ve been doing this with Deep Pocket Monster, my Pokémon YouTube channel, and the results have already been amazing!
Some of the smaller creators I’ve helped get a leg up are now on an incredible trajectory. While it might seem like this creates more competition for me, the truth is that these are now supportive friendships that lead to more growth for everybody.
The key word here is abundance. Creating a brand is not a zero-sum game where someone else’s success comes at your expense.
So, who are the up-and-comers in your niche? How do you share your platform with smaller creators to help them grow? What are the best ways to reach out and start creating these mutually beneficial relationships?
Listen in on today’s episode to find out. For more on this topic, check out episode 706 as well. Enjoy!
SPI 718: The Up-and-Comers
Announcer: You’re listening to the Smart Passive Income Podcast, a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network, a show that’s all about working hard now, so you can sit back and reap the benefits later. And now your host, if there was one thing he could banish in the world to make it a better place, it would be complaints. Pat Flynn.
Pat Flynn: Hey, I got a strategy that’s going to help you no matter what niche you’re in, no matter what level you’re at, and something that is super fun to do. What’s the strategy? Well, you saw the title, it’s called the up-and-comers. That’s the strategy. Connect with the up-and-comers in your space. Now, there’s just a couple things.
I’m just gonna dive right into it and then I’m gonna teach you a clear example of how I did this. This does two things. Number one, it forces you to be involved in the space that you’re in enough. who the up-and-comers are. A lot of times, especially if you’ve been doing business for a little bit, talking even just a year, you might be so into where you’re at and what you’re doing and building and scaling and all the things that you need to do that you already start to feel removed from the space that you’re in.
You might feel like you are not as in tune with the niche that you started in because you’re building a business now. You’re not involved, you, you are unvolved. Wait, that doesn’t really make sense, but hopefully it makes sense because, or hopefully what I’m trying to say makes sense, because this happened with the lead exam stuff.
I was so involved in that space, I knew anything and everything about the lead exam, and just a year and a half in after I started my business, it was much, much harder to stay involved and stay up to date with all the things that were going on. And thankfully the industry didn’t change super quickly. It eventually changed to the point where I couldn’t keep up.
And then I just shifted from selling my own product to then affiliate marketing because then I could just push toward those people who were still in that space and up to date. But I’ve seen this with my students as well. Start out as a graphic designer. You’re doing all the graphic design things, and all of a sudden you’re not doing any more graphic design work.
You don’t even know who’s involved in it anymore. You’re just trying to run your agency. And you kind of lose track of all that. So by really thinking about, well, who are the up-and-comers? You get involved in the news. You start watching and consuming content, even from those who you haven’t heard of before.
You start kind of talking to people and communicating with the space. And the other part of this is when you understand who the up-and-comers are, when you help them, it is huge. Not just for them, but for you as well. I think the world would be a better place if those of us, all of us who were ahead in our space, helped those who were behind us.
Right? And you may have heard me share this strategy, or not this strategy, but this metaphor before, where I want to be… The person I think you should be the person with the machete sort of at the front of the industry chopping down the dangerous bush and thorns and kind of keeping people behind you safe from all the saber toothed tigers that are out there and kind of keeping a lookout and then looking back and going alright guys come on let’s go and you could take everybody along with you you will be risen up as a result of that and this is happening to me you right now.
It has happened in the Pokemon space. It’s why I’ve been able to grow so quickly in the Pokemon space because I wasn’t just trying to make connections and try to be friends with all the top people in the space. In fact, I made it a mission to try to get to know all the others. The people who don’t often hear from those who are with several subscribers or a big email list or who have a lot of reach, right?
And the cool thing is I’ve seen it firsthand and I just saw this past weekend, I was at an event called Collect A Con in Long Beach, California. And I mean, there were a few of the bigger creators there, but most of the time I was hanging out with the sort of medium to starter creators who. We’re just so generous, so giving, so thankful.
A couple people came up to me and said, Pat, you changed my life with how you welcomed me into the community. And all I did was pay a little attention, make them feel included. And I promise you, you will stand out. And what’s really amazing is some of these people who started out pretty recently are now on an amazing trajectory, and it’s cool because they credit me with a lot of their success, and although on the surface and from the outside they might seem like a competitor, we’re friends.
We’re helping and supporting each other out. And my gosh, if the world worked more like that, the world would be such a better place. And guess what? You have the opportunity to step up and do your part in your own little world to do that. And I challenge you to do that. Do you even know who the up-and-comers are in your space?
Chances are, probably not, because you are so focused on the things that, yeah, you need to be focused on, and it’s hard. If you spend a little bit of time, just maybe a half a day on Friday, to get involved in the general community, to talk to people about who… is up and coming, and to talk to the up-and-comers, and to spend time with them.
They’re gonna feel so grateful to spend time with you, and it is a mutually beneficial relationship, right? I know you might think you might not need them, but you kinda do. You kinda do. And bonus, if any of them speed up and accelerate, I mean, they’re not going to leave you behind. They’re going to take you with them.
And again, everybody can win. I mean, I just got back from this event. It was great, but hanging out with, you know, the guys and gals there, it just was so fulfilling and it was so cool to see a lot of them recently find success too, and, and even just say that I was a part of that. Unprompted. If only the world were more like that.
And, and I want to encourage you to do your part and do that. Find the up-and-comers. That’s your job right now. Who are the up-and-comers in your space? Get to know them. Get them on a call. Just build a relationship with them. Right? Now I will say that it can be intimidating. Don’t forget that. You can be intimidating because you’ve been in this space for a while.
But once you have those conversations and make people feel welcome and make them feel comfortable, I mean, just, it just makes the world such a better place. I wish I had a better way to express all this, but I hope I did the job here today. Because, I mean, even if you feel like you are the up and comer, there’s still going to be people who are up-and-comers to you.
And you should connect with them and those who are just starting out and even helping people who are trying to get in it, too. Abundance. That’s the key word. There is enough for everybody. And if everybody worked together, y’all would be able to gather more things together, right? We are not at a poker table, where if you win, I lose, and if I win, that means you lose.
We can all win together. Right? So go do that. Up-and-comers, who are they? Go find them. I appreciate y’all. Love y’all. Take care. And I look forward to serving you in the next episode. Cheers.
Thank you so much for listening to the Smart Passive Income podcast at SmartPassiveIncome.com. I’m your host, Pat Flynn. Sound editing by Duncan Brown. Our senior producer is David Grabowski, and our executive producer is Matt Gartland. The Smart Passive Income Podcast is a production of SPI Media, and a proud member of the Entrepreneur Podcast Network. Catch you next week!
