Marketing Toolbox

Be a Power Couple & Network Your Way to Success

By Melissa Rein, The Brand Consortium

From Beyonce and Jay-Z to Barry Diller and Diane Von Furstenberg, it’s no secret that there’s a fine line between business and pleasure for the world’s biggest Power Couples. Certainly, these couples have power and influence to do big things in our world, but you don’t have to be a big name or have a lot of fame to be a power couple. Everyday people can become power couples by learning how to maximize their social relationships and business contacts through networking, even if their occupations are completely unalike.

(Net)Work It
Sometimes it’s not what you know, but who you know. Networking is the art of developing your personal contacts so you have a network of friends and acquaintances that can help when you’re in need (and vice versa). It can be as simple as getting a referral for the best and cheapest service, or as sensitive as helping someone land on their feet after losing a job.

Networking is not about just exchanging business cards and making empty promises to connect again someday. It’s a method to develop your referrals to people outside your immediate social circle.

And networking as a couple is one of the fastest and easiest ways to gain personal and professional contacts. By attending events together, you always have a partner in crime that can act as your personal publicist, giving you an instant professional reference you wouldn’t have on your own. After all, if there’s anyone who knows as much about you and your job as you do, it’s your significant other. 

Get in the Mindset
Some people prefer to keep their work life and home life completely separate, and that might work for them. But other couples get a great sense of fulfillment out of furthering each other’s businesses, which ultimately benefits their household overall.

Before setting out to network together, take some time to have a conversation with your spouse about 1) what each of you are looking for in a support system and 2) how specifically you can help each other. Ask each other questions. Know each other’s business. Find the synchronicities. Get each other motivated. Push each other to succeed. Engage in healthy competition.

By making a conscious effort to challenge each other and work together as a team, you’ll go out into the networking world with a powerful bond, not just as a couple, but also as business partners.

Get a Little Black Book
Not the kind of little black book you’re thinking of, this little book will serve as your method of tracking the people you meet in social and professional situations. Before you get into the networking game, devise a system to organize the contacts you meet in an effective way.

Simply storing someone’s name, phone number and email address in your smartphone is not enough. As a public relations professional, my contact database is the lifeblood of my business. And as antiquated as it sounds, I use a Rolodex to keep track of the business cards of people I come into contact with.

When I host or attend events, I sometimes come home with 10 or 15 business cards. I have found that it works for me to write any important information about a person I met on the back of the business card before filing it in the Rolodex. That way, I force myself not only to organize my contacts using a method that won’t crash, break or get lost, but I mentally process the information about key contacts. This trains me to remember important details about people when I follow up or run into them.

See and Be Seen
When most people think of networking, they think of awkward settings, nametag stickers and bad appetizers. Fortunately, smart power couples don’t always have to attend professionally organized networking events to expand their Rolodex. Instead, they take advantage of their existing social calendars and always show up prepared to network. 
It’s not just who your spouse knows, but who the two of you know. It could be a friend’s cocktail party, your children’s soccer game, the beach in Maui, or your favorite restaurant in Scottsdale—there are always opportunities to make connections and market yourself. Even if your interactions don’t create an immediate opportunity for you or your spouse, you will develop a larger circle of friends and acquaintances that will enrich your life and theirs just by knowing one another.

It sounds cliché, but don’t ever be caught without a business card. Because I tend to carry a small evening bag at night that only holds my iPhone, ID and maybe a lip gloss, my husband has gotten in the habit of carrying my business cards in his wallet. What seems like a small action is actually an important gesture on how much he supports my business ambitions and me.

I am also ready for any impromptu networking by carrying his business cards in both my wallet and briefcase. We know of other tech-savvy couples that prepare themselves by storing a digital version of their business card in their phone that can be texted or emailed to a new contact immediately. 

Be a Linker
Picture this: You and your spouse walk into a room full of people you’ve never met. You start talking to two people standing together. Suddenly you’re engaged in a conversation with one of them, and your spouse is talking to the other person. It’s not only a natural segue, but it’s proper manners to introduce the person you came with.

Use every opportunity when introducing your husband or wife to do so properly, explaining who your spouse is and what they do. It’s crucial to be specific. “This is Steven, my husband ... he works in marketing” is not an effective call to action that will lead to a productive business conversation.

Instead, try this: “Mark, have you met my husband, Steven? He is the marketing director at XYZ Company. It sounds like you guys could partner together on your next company event. Why don’t you exchange information so you can touch base tomorrow?”

Be polite, assertive and sincere in your suggestion. And make a pact with your spouse to always follow up after exchanging information or referrals with people you meet, especially after talking business in an otherwise social situation.

For example, as soon as we leave an event, my husband makes a point to send our new contacts a quick email or text to say how much we enjoyed the introduction. The key is that he is specific to mention the next step in building the relationship, whether it’s setting a date for a business lunch, inviting them out somewhere, or sending over information about a topic discussed. 

Get Social
In today’s fast-paced and increasingly digital world, old-school networking tactics such as sending holiday cards, thank-you notes and quarterly or annual updates about your family have gone by the wayside.

Bring back those classic sensibilities and show the people in your network that you sincerely care about them and want to stay connected.

Of course, you should “friend” new contacts on Facebook, engage in casual banter on Twitter and add them on LinkedIn, but don’t let that be your only method of communication. There’s something to be said about receiving a thoughtful card or letter from a friend or contact that shows you haven’t forgotten about them and value the relationship.

Ultimately, networking as a couple is about teamwork. Co-networking will enhance communication between yourself and your spouse, and give you contacts you might not otherwise have known.

Networking isn’t a short-term activity. You never know when a contact might be in a position to help your “team” or when you might be in a position to help them. Think of networking with your spouse as a long-term commitment that helps your team win at life and benefit the world around you. 

Melissa Rein is a Scottsdale Airpark-based public relations professional and owner of public relations, marketing communications and event design consultancy called The Brand Consortium Public Relations. Melissa is married to commercial real estate broker Jared Lively of Rein & Grossoehme Commercial Real Estate of Scottsdale. For more tips on how to better market yourself, find Melissa online at www.thebrandconsortium.com or tweet her @MelissaRein.