Be Remarkable: a Networking and Personal Branding Lesson from my Birthday
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It was Sunday morning. It was my birthday! I was at a beautiful downtown hotel with my husband, who has whisked me away for a weekend getaway to celebrate. We were getting ready to go to brunch at an amazing restaurant when my mobile phone rang.
(I’d already gotten the congratulatory call from my Mom earlier that morning, so… who could it be?)
I picked up the phone to see if I guessed it correctly… Yep! Sure enough, it was Jeremy Epstein calling.
Other than my Mom and brothers, the only person I can count on to call me on my birthday, year in and year out since the day we met at a networking event, is my professional colleague Jeremy Epstein.
Now, we’re not BFFs or anything, Jeremy and I. We’re just ‘networking buddies’ with a professional, collegial friendship. So why did I guess it was Jeremy calling?
Because one of Jeremy’s brilliant practices, which makes him infamous and stand out in a class by himself, is to call every person he knows on their birthday. Every. Year.
He’s a great networker, an expert marketer, and a prolific blogger. So Jeremy meets a LOT of people every year. And Jeremy has a habit of obtaining cell phone numbers and birthdates for each new connection he makes.
Then, every single day, Jeremy makes as many phone calls as there are people in his network who have birthdays that day. Which means that every person who has ever connected with Jeremy has at least one quick phone chat with Jeremy every year.
Jeremy keeps the conversation really upbeat, really quick, and it’s usually over in less than 2 minutes. And it’s always focused on the birthday girl/boy’s plans, news, and life. If you even try to ask him about himself, he’ll quickly inform you that this is *your* day and that you are the topic of conversation, not he.
How many of us can say that we talk to everyone in our network at least once each year on the phone? {Click to tweet it!}
Not me. I bet it’s not common practice for you, either.
How hard is this to accomplish? If the conversation is only about two minutes long, then it’s not that hard and doesn’t take much time. But it makes Jeremy remarkable (something he knows a lot about) and memorable. And it makes people feel connected and grateful to him. Plus, his day always has a built-in pick-me-up conversation or two that he can count on to be happy, upbeat, and have a feel-good effect for both parties. What’s not to like?
So I’m inspired by Jeremy, and wanted to share his technique in case it inspires you too. You don’t have to do it the same way – you can create your own remarkable technique for connecting and making yourself memorable at the same time.
Do you already have a similar practice? Or, have you become inspired to try something similar? What is it? Share it in the comments and share this post with others, to spread the inspiration farther and wider!
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