I got a call from Earl yesterday.
He called with pure excitement in his voice.
'Trilli, guess what!!'
What?
'I got the job! I'm moving to Virginia next week.'
Whoa, Congrats bro! Guess the application finally went thru, huh?
'Nope... Doubt they even reviewed my application.'
Wait what? Then how did you get the job?
'Let's just say I knew someone who knew someone.'
What's funny is that this is a true story.
Earl is one of my acquaintances who recently graduated & has been frantically searching for a job.
And luckily he got one yesterday!
But it wasn't the traditional way thru a resume, cover letter, and praying for a phone interview.
Rather, it was from a different method.
It was thru his network.
What is a network?
In the technical world, it is an interconnection of nodes that are able to communicate with one another.
Picture the internet.
My computer is a node.
Your computer is a node.
And thru the link, I am able to relay this email from my node to yours.
Same concept in the real world.
Jimmy is a node.
Tommy is a node.
When Jimmy says hello to Tommy, he sparks a possible link.
But want to know something even a cooler?
When Jimmy says hello to Tommy, he has the potential to be connected with many of the nodes that Tommy knows as well!
That is the power of a network.
In my friend Earl's case, he didn't particularly know anyone in the company that hired him.
But his cousin Rohit sure did.
And once Rohit found out that Harry needed a job, he made a few calls to his buddy Mike.
Mike loves Rohit & new that his referral meant something.
And just like that, Mike short circuited Harry thru the resume & cover letter process & got him an interview.
The title of this blog post is 'How to Power Up your Social Circle.'
And the answer to that is to have more acquaintances.
'Are friends & acquaintances the same?'
Nope.
You have a deeper connection with a friend. Mostly informal.
You have a more intermediate level connection with an acquaintance. In many cases, formal.
Why not just have a bunch of friends?'
Because you can have deep connections with just so many people.
After a while, you get burnt out & fail to be a top notch friend.
Rather, have a small friend circle, nurture deep bonds, and then have a large acquaintance circle & nurture the bonds so it remains relevant.
Acquaintances in many cases are more powerful for your long term goals than friends.
Chances are you know a lot of your friends, friends.
But for your acquaintances, the have a WHOLE new network than you.
And with acquaintances, they don't really care if you are calling them every day.
Just a call once or a few times a month should do the trick.
So what does this all mean for you?
This means that you need to get comfortable saying hello from here on out.
Be the first person to say Hello so you can use your node to enter a brand new network.
Try to find out if they have any problems & see if you can provide a solution.
Exchange contact information.
Follow up let them know it was a pleasure meeting them.
Message every now and then to provide solutions & give value (don't just hit them up to ask for favors!)
And keep the bond going.
Once you have given value, then you should feel more than comfortable to ask for value back.
An acquaintance is a social asset if you know how to make connections with the right people.
And if you want to power up your social circle, then you are going to need them.
Diversify them so they are not all the same profession, age, culture etc.
Expand grasshopper.
Be the internet of connections & the doors will open.
Powering Up is mandatory round here,
Tony Trillions 💲 💲 💲.