Networking and Introductions
Introversion has no place in building a personal brand. Networking is gathering information, finding connection, and laying the foundation for a relationship.
What Networking and Introductions Is
The Manifesto's method is four questions that build awareness of the other person, under the acronym FORM. The answers help with rapport, with thoughtful gifts, and with knowing how you can serve them. Networking is fellowship, never a time to criticize or object.
It is easier, and better, to be introduced than to introduce yourself. Ask for an introduction only with a clear purpose, and remember that the person who introduced you is now attached to how you behave.
Introductions are how you figuratively skip the line and go straight into the realm of another.
Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition, 7.3
The FORM Questions
- FamilyWhat matters most to them, and what shaped them.
- OccupationWhat they do, and why they started.
- RecreationWhat they do for fun, where shared interests usually appear.
- MotivationWhat is pushing them forward. The closest you get to who they really are.
Where It Comes From
- Source
- Personal Branding: A Manifesto on Fame and Influence, Second Edition (Mashman Publishing, 2025)
- Chapter
- 7. Personal Skills
- Subchapter
- 7.3 Networking and Introductions, page 278
- Pillar It Serves
- Marketability
The Full Method Is in the Book
This page is a summary. The subchapter itself goes further, with the reasoning, the stories behind it, and the exercise that closes it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What does FORM stand for in networking?
Family, Occupation, Recreation, and Motivation: the four areas the Manifesto asks you to learn about when you meet someone.
How should I ask for an introduction?
Only with a clear purpose, from someone you already have a relationship with, and with the intent to live up to their good faith and return the favor.
Related
Consultants and Advisors
Clients buy a consultant before they buy the service. A personal brand with evidence behind it is what lets you charge for your judgment.
Sales and Business Development Leaders
People buy from people they know, like, and trust. A seller with a personal brand is known before the first call, and that changes every conversation after it.
The Power of 3
Introduce yourself to three strangers every day. Developed around 2019 for clients who needed a simple way to grow their network, and channel agnostic by design.
Building Your Contact List
A quality contact list lets you solve other people's problems with a simple introduction, and makes you the person whose name comes up first.
Communicating Intent
Be transparent about what you want and why. Letting your intent be known creates advocates out of the people around you.
Your name is already being interpreted. The question is who are they, and what are they thinking?
Engagements are accepted by application and seats are limited each quarter. Tell us who you are, what you are building, and the position you intend to hold.