Jade Craven

I've been so busy with the move this past week but have still had the time to find these awesome people. If there is anyone you think I should be keeping an eye on, let me know if the comments. I didn't have as much time as I'd like to rave about these awesome people so if you have further stories about why they rock, please share them.

Everett Bogue

Glen Allsopp kept on saying that Everett was going to be the next big thing but I had trouble resonating with his content. Then I became overwhelmed with my business and started devouring his posts in the hope of simplifying my life.

I love his approach to work, art and business. He is demonstrating that you can earn a full time income while taking a minimalist approach. I have read his two books, Minimalist Business and The Art Of Being Minimalist, and whole-heartedly endorse his work.

Corbett Barr

I actually started chatting to Corbett when he wanted to arrange an interview with Dave. Despite the minimal communication, I was really impressed with his professionalism.

He blogs at Think Traffic. I am very impressed with the standard of his articles and believe this blog will become and authority. I hope to see him add more resources and interviews in the coming months.

Fabeku

I discovered Fabeku through Catherine Caines fear wrangling course. Despite the awesomeness of his site, I was kinda turned off by the woo-woo aspect of his sound healing.

I heard the interview and instantly loved him. He is awesome. We chatted on Skype shortly after and both of us were plotting world domination with our stuffed business mascots.

He is so much fun to get to know. And, for the business inclined, you can learn a lot about positioning and conversation marketing from his site.

Amy Harrison

Larry Keltto recommended Amy to me recently. Her name sounded familiar so I dived into my email archives. There was this lovely email from her offering to help.

Amy is everything I love about blogging. She is engaging, hard working and genuinely loves the community. I definitely recommend you check out her copywriting services.

Joi Murugavell

I met Joi at the Connect Now conference and may have snobbed her. We soon bonded over being introverted misfits and she has corrupted me in more ways then getting me addicted to the duck song.

She is a fantastic designer. She also does these addictive sketches called Oodlies.

I highly recommend her to delightful weirdos and those who like brilliant design.

Danielle Laporte

I found Danielle via Dave's interview with her. I figured that considering I worked for him, I may as well check out the people he interviewed. I'm so thankful I did that.

I bought her Fire Starter Sessions and fell in love with her work. She is a brilliant writer and a genius at empowering her community. She is in a league of her own.

I'll be diving in her archives in the coming weeks and will report what I've learned about community management and compelling writing. You can find her at White Hot Truth.

I admit I have a teeny tiny blog crush on Catherine Caine. She is kinda awesome. Her enthusiasm is infectious. I come out of every conversation with her feeling more normal and determined that I can really pull this blogging thing off.

I may have forgotten that this podcast was being recorded at a couple of points because even though I was interviewing her, she would frame her responses in such a way that I forgot to follow up as I was too busy processing it.

I hope you get a lot out of this podcast. I also hope I’m as cool as her when I grow up.

More from the delightful weirdo.

How did you network with people when you first started out?

I just hung out! I joined Twitter and chatted with people about the usual normal-life stuff. Then I joined a couple of forums as part of information products I bought, built some closer relationships there. I started commenting on other people's websites regularly, too.

If you could start all over again, what would you do differently?

Nothing, really! I think everything grew as fast as I did. Started small, and getting bigger now I'm ready.

What are your main networking methods now?

Twitter, forums, comments. I do a lot of all of them and it's been so enjoyable.

What is one tip to make it easier for people to network with you?

Use the same profile picture and name everywhere. Make it clear who you are!

What is your favourite tip for getting on someone’s radar?

Buy something from them. And be grateful, but not fangirlish.

Like me, you are a member of a number of paid communities. How has this helped your networking efforts?

They're the best! My first regular commenters (the ones who started the momentum) were all from a paid community I belong to. We all retweet and spread each others' content and draw in similar people. And we provide great social proof for each other.

You have a section dedicated to your awesome readers. Has this helped build community?

Honestly, I have no idea. I did it because I thought it would be a nice gesture for my wonderful readers. I think its biggest benefit is in making it clear to new visitors that this website values its readers.

You had to do a lot of audio interviews as part of your fear wrangling course. Did this help you connect with new people?

It helped me connect with the people I already knew a bit on a much deeper level. Talking, especially about your fears, is very intimate. For most of the calls there was at least ten minutes of chatting and getting to know each other. It was so cool.

Does your testimonials widget help you connect with more people?

Not that I'm aware of. I still love it, though!

More from Catherine:

• Be Awesome Online
• Awesome Fear Wrangler ecourse

Or, Why I spent 160 dollars thanks to a dog

So, last night I was at the Social Media Club Melbourne event. (Side note - YAY for getting a shout out from the Problogger himself, even if it thoroughly embarrasses you.) After the panel ended, I *may* have been proudly showing off my new Haul bag to my friends Darren, Renee, Fran and anyone else who would listen. I then made the comment that networking is expensive.

On the train home, I realized how ruthless that sounded. I didn't buy that bag because I wanted to connect with the owner, Scott. He's awesome and I know we'll have the chance for a decent conversation at some point. I did it because I don't like recommending a product unless I have experienced it. This is why I stand out as a connector. My goal with this post is to give a bit of an insight behind the scenes of what I do.

Spending money makes you a better filter

I get given a lot of stuff to review. We are talking close to $10'000 worth of stuff. Ebooks, courses, seminars. Half of it comes from existing contacts and the other half comes from word of mouth. Over the past two years I would have spent at least $6000 on infoproducts. I would have spent more if my finances didn't limit me. This isn't because I needed the material. It was so I could make an accurate recommendation.

When you make a financial transaction, you are in the same mindset as other buyers. You have the same fears and hopes. You aren't getting the special treatment from your mates. You are getting the exact same experience that most people would get.

What I loved about going to Haul was that Ann was friendly, knowledgable and helpful. She brought the celebrity canine down so I could have a snuggle. She gave me background about the product. She didn't know I was going to blog about it. I am 100% confident in recommending that people buy from them. I am equally as confident of people such as Danielle Laporte and Kelly Kingman. I had no prior connection with them and spending $167 on two information products terrified me. Both purchases impressed me with their awesomeness.

I will go out of my way to help people who acknowledge me and help me.

This stems from having an anxiety disorder and having a lot of insecurities about how I fit in the social media/corporate world. When I was very ill, some people treated me poorly including some of the support services that were meant to help me. As a result, I have very little time for people who are just after favors or want to use me.

Usually, I'll decide that I'll want to help someone and then make the first contact. With Scott, I did this at Connect Now. I told him I was interested in the messenger bags but didn't understand why they were, in my tiny budgets opinion, expensive. He took me very seriously and explained the extra time that went into creating the product. The other times I've met him he has remembered my tweets, inquired about aspects of my personal life and congratulated me on my small successes.

Basically, Scott was able to demonstrate that he wasn't in this scene for what he can get out of it. That was one of the major factors behind my purchasing decision. I didn't necessarily want the product now but I knew I wanted to show it off and talk about it.

If I am thinking of talking about you, I will ask for recommendations

I was driving to the Dandenongs with Lane Burdett just before I went to the Social Media Club, and I mentioned how I wanted to drop into Haul. Lane told me about how impressed he was with the service at Haul. He phoned up wanting a Macbook sleeve and they didn't make the one in the size he was after. Scott was able to direct him to two other companies that could help.

This works in the opposite way. At the same event, I was talking to a friend who had worked with someone who was getting a bad reputation. While the service was initially good, she got treated poorly when she decided to leave. I had heard similar things from other people and as such will not be researching her because I don't want to recommend someone who will screw over of my friends.

I am putting my reputation on the line

I know that people buy my products, and those I recommend, because I have personal experience with everything I talk about. I don't bullshit. It makes me feel sick if someone buys something that I know is poor quality and I could have stopped them. I can see the potential in people and will connect them with whatever they need to kick arse.

What most people don't see is the stuff that goes on behind the scenes. The long emails to those who are wanting advice on what product to buy. Talking for ages on skype, google chat and in real life so you can learn enough to make a proper recommendation of them. Messages saying that 'such and such is amazing and can really help you.'

I'm getting a reputation as a connector. It's a skill and one that I'm leveraging to help others. However, I wont recommend someone unless I am 100% confident they wont screw over my friends. That's what all this hard work boils down too.

I work this hard because I like helping people. I have a skill and am an incredibly good judge of character. Just be awesome like Paul Cunningham, Jonathan Fields or Scott and I will work so hard to help you out.

Note: This post is unproofed because I didn't want Bill to know I spend $160 on a bag. He's busy this week so hopefully he wont have time to read this. That is all.