Form Your Tribe of Supporters

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This blog was written by Joe Koufman, CEO and Founder of Setup.

Armed with 20+ years of marketing, business development, and management experience, Joe Koufman founded Setup to ignite relationships between marketing agencies and client-side marketers. His unique agency perspective – having worked at a small digital firm, an independent full-service marketing agency, and a massive holding company – is what inspired Joe to help marketers find agencies that are the perfect fit.

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When asked for advice, I often tell new college graduates that they should accumulate skills and relationships over the course of their careers. 

The skills are pretty linear - learn new things, get smarter, obtain experience, move up the career ladder. 

The relationships are more challenging to measure. Which are the highest potential? How would one measure their strength? Don’t they change over time? 

The reality is that we build relationships throughout our entire lives. There is no guide to determine which will be fruitful in future business endeavors. It does pay dividends to create meaningful interpersonal connections that nurture one’s soul. The real trick is to treat every person with kindness, respect, and dignity. 

When in doubt, check in with people you have not been in touch with for a while to let them know you are thinking about them. Build a strong tribe who are willing to support you when you need it.

I am very fortunate to have built some fantastic relationships throughout my career. I maintain friendships that date back from childhood through my time founding and running Setup in 2014 to the present. While some relationships come and go through our lives, some persist regardless of changes of address.

People often ask me how to build relationships with new people to expand one’s tribe. The short answer is to connect other people to each other. When you connect others, then they are much more likely to connect you with interesting people. Here are the tips that I share in a Business Matchmaking presentation:

1. Be Curious

2. Ask Smart Questions

3. Listen for Key Facts

4. File Away Tidbits

5. Look for Connections

6. Check with Both Parties Before Connecting

7. Make Mutually Beneficial Introductions

Once you have made connections for others and have built some relationships for yourself, it is important to nurture them. One way I do it is to highlight the people that are meaningful to me. Late last year, I began a series of posts on LinkedIn called #ThankfulThursday, where I spotlight people who have impacted me. Sometimes I focus on a friend, a mentor, a colleague, or an otherwise meaningful person who has provided me with a lesson that I carry with me in business and life.

Here are the key lessons from the first 30 #ThankfulThursday honorees:

It is not too late to grow your network. You can start building a strong foundation by applying for our Marketer Matchups program where we pair marketers with similar interests together!