It’s All About Who You Know

This post is a mind explosion of my thoughts that I have been processing since I have returned from Pressnomics. They may or may not flow in the general output of them. 🙂

Relationships are incredibly important in today’s business environment. If the popularity of LinkedIn hasn’t told you anything about networking and relationships, I’ll tell it to you again: it’s all about who you know.

I don’t know if I can emphasize this enough. I believe that skills, while important, take a lesser role than relationships when conducting and fostering business. I am where I am today first and foremost by the grace and mercy of Jesus, and that is clearly shown by the people that I’ve been blessed to meet and built mutual relationships with.

As I have returned from Pressnomics 2, “it’s all about who you know” is the thought on the forefront of my mind. I made it a point to try and connect with as many people as possible because you never know when that connection can spark a prosperous and fruitful relationship for both parties, even if that relationship isn’t necessarily centered around business. It is easy to forget that people are the basis of business. Without people, business doesn’t happen, so creating and fostering those relationships should be your primary goal at any event like Pressnomics.

I don’t think I really understood that the first time I went to Pressnomics. I was more interested in “learning” than building relationships. I used “learning” as a cop out for not getting my hands dirty and putting myself out there to meet people. I was amongst some of the brightest minds in the WordPress community and yet spent a lot of my time “working”. How selfish of me, thinking that I was more important than meeting and cultivating relationships with people who had walked the road I was on and had wisdom and insight to share.

Sure, you can learn from speakers and apply that while at the conference, but at the end of the day, the conversations and fellowship outside of the conference room is where the real business and learning begins.

I was not about to miss out on that this year. I did my best to make intentional conversations with people I had not met. I also did my best to reconnect with people that I already knew. I wanted to continue to develop relationships with people where I could learn, be humbled and grow. I also wanted to build relationships with people who were in my shoes just one short year ago. You never know where wisdom and insight will come from, so it’s incredibly important to never pass up on building relationships with people who may not be as “successful” as you.

Don’t ever forget where you came from. I need to tell this to myself more than anyone else – of that I am positive. In the grand scheme of things, I’m still a nobody, and I was even more of a nobody the first time around. Measure your success around the people you meet and lives you change, not by the number of zeros at the end of your paycheck. Cultivate those relationships and care about people.

I loved the “live graciously” motto at Pressnomics this year. Gracious living puts others before yourself, and that goes a long way in business and life in general. The more people you put before yourself, the more chances you have to meet and reconnect with some really awesome folks.

To wrap up, Pressnomics this year was even better than last year because I determined to focus on people. People made the conference awesome, so to Jared, Bill, Brad, Carl, Pippin, Shaun, Shane, Lema, Matt, Jessica, Brady, J.R., Kim, David, Rebecca, Ryan, Cory, Tony, Grant, Brian, Clay, Josh, Sally, Ben, Jason, Troy, Phil, John, Mason, Helen, Naomi, Fred, Tim, Susan, Alex, Andy and all the other incredible people I got to hang out with this year (I’ve got your name written down!), I look forward to growing alongside you in this thing called business inside the WordPress ecosystem.

It really is all about who you know.