Shawn FitzGerald [00:00:01]:
Hello, and welcome to Intentional Change, the podcast for business owners and leaders who want to navigate growth, technology, and transformation, not by accident, but with intention. I'm your host, Sean Fitzgerald. With my co host, Joshua McNary, we explore practical ideas and share insights to help lead you through change with clarity and confidence. Be sure to follow, share, and subscribe so you don't miss the next insight that could change how you think, lead, or grow your business. For many of us, the mere mention of networking sparks a mild social panic. At best, it feels like some weird combination of speed dating at a job interview. But here's the good news. It doesn't have to be awkward and uncomfortable. Today, we're talking with Danny Beyer, someone who knows how to turn that awkward room full of strangers into networking opportunities. Danny, thanks for being here.
Danny Beyer [00:00:53]:
Thanks for having me, Sean.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:00:54]:
Give the listeners a little bit of your background and how did you get into networking?
Danny Beyer [00:00:58]:
Yeah. Absolutely. So full time job, the nine to five. I'm a financial advisor and shareholder at Iron Horse Wealth Management out in Johnston. That's that's what pays the bills on the side. That's important. Yeah. Mayor of Dallas Center currently for the rest of 2025, and I speak and do presentations on networking to colleges, small businesses, large, organizations, really to to share as I think we're gonna talk about the the positivity and what can really be done through great intentional networking. That led me to write The Ties That Bind Networking with Style. First edition was released in 2015, and then the second edition was released in, late twenty twenty two, early '20 '20 '3.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:01:41]:
When people think of networking, networking usually gets such a bad rap. Why do people react so negatively to networking?
Danny Beyer [00:01:48]:
I think the big, big reason is people associate networking with sales. Networking is dudes in suits trying to sell people something or trying to push their agenda. You know, there's a lot of what's in it for me, what's my return on investment. That's honestly how I dove into it back when I first started building my network in 02/2009 with my first sales career because everything I read at the time, Sean, said you you have to go to the room, you have to get 15 business cards, you have to set appointments, you have to have an elevator pitch, you have to sell to every single person you meet or it's not a good use of your time. And that just sounds gross. Like gross to the point that when I went to my first actual event, I couldn't get out of my car because I was so terrified of saying the wrong thing, of coming off rude. It it just wasn't my values or what I truly believe like building great relationships, having great conversations was about. And I think that goes through most people's persona. Networking equates to sales.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:02:47]:
You started off with this situation and you were told you were trained a certain way. Tell me a little bit about some of those situations or that awareness that you might have run across where you started to realize there was a better way.
Danny Beyer [00:02:59]:
The biggest moment for me was after my first thirty days because I I did get out of the car. I went to that first event. I got 15 business cards. I was like, okay. I can get 15 business cards. This isn't a big deal. So packed my calendar full of chamber events of networking opportunities, got business cards. The thirty days came from my thirty day review, and my boss sat down, and he's like, hey. How's it going? And I came into his office. This this might sound parody, but it's real. With this six inch stack of business cards. And I'm like, look at all the business I'm doing. And he goes, that's awesome. How many appointments do you have? Well, none. How many opportunities are out there? None. How many meetings have you had? Well, none, but I've got a bunch of business cards. He looked me in the eye, and he goes, okay. This is on me. I should have been checking in sooner. He threw all my cards into the trash. And he's like, if you come to me again in thirty days with a stack of business cards and no opportunities, just know that you're gonna be terminated. And that was a huge awakening.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:03:55]:
That's a motivation.
Danny Beyer [00:03:56]:
Yeah. Luckily, that same afternoon, the article how to network like an introvert from Harvard Business Review came across my LinkedIn feed, and I dove into that. And that was really the article that gave me the permission to go to an event and meet one person and have one real conversation and set a follow-up appointment there. And that was the article that made me realize that networking is a marathon. It's not a sprint. You can't build true, genuine, real, meaningful relationships in thirty days. It's it's gonna take years. You do talk
Shawn FitzGerald [00:04:29]:
in the book about business cards and the importance of business cards. So can we just kind of talk about the importance of business cards?
Danny Beyer [00:04:36]:
So one of the the things and it it keeps coming up. It it seems to be on a cycle that business cards are dead, that you don't need a business card anymore because we have LinkedIn. We have our cell phone, so forth and so on. To me, a business card, it's much more important for me as the one who wants to continue the conversation or the communication to get someone's business card than it is for them to have mine. I don't care if someone leaves the event or leaves whatever we're doing with my contact information. I wanna be sure that I have theirs. Because in my experience, the person who has the card of the other person controls where the conversation goes. You've been at events. That's where we honestly met was through networking events. You've been to the places where someone said, yeah. Do you have a card? I wanna follow-up with you, and you never hear from them. If I have your business card, now I get to control. Okay. I'm gonna text. I'm gonna call. I'm gonna email. I'm gonna follow-up, and I'm gonna actually set the appointment with you. If I give you my business card, I'm trusting you to do that, and time and time again, nothing happens because, again, we get business we get busy. We go back to our desk. We put the business card down. A week goes by. Now it's too long, and I look weird if I follow-up. So I just throw it away and move on.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:05:46]:
Sure. When you go to an event, you are presenting yourself. People are making decisions and judgments on you before you even get to speak. So when you wrote about that individual brand, what was it about the importance of having that brand that you take to a networking event?
Danny Beyer [00:06:02]:
The biggest thing for me is authenticity and consistency because I think we we get in this world and we're in this social media environment where everybody's an expert, everybody's an influencer. Right. You know what I mean? And we all take this information and I I see it with my younger colleagues. I see it with people I mentor. They're trying to be someone they think other people want to be or to sell instead of just being who they are. And people's BS meters pick up on that immediately. And so in order, I think, to build that personal brand and to build that individual brand or that consistent brand, you really want to be who you are and you want to lean into that so that you are consistently and authentically you when you go to events. Because if you're not, if you're changing every single time you go into a room or if you're being someone that you think other people want you to be, it's really hard to maintain that over the long haul. And, again, people will pick up on it. And so when I would go to a room, you know, I just wanted to be Danny. I didn't wanna be Danny the four zero one k guy. I didn't wanna be Danny the payroll sales guy. I just wanted to be who I was. Now I had the shtick early on. I wore bow ties. Right. I I still have bow ties. I still know how to tie them. I don't wear them as often as I used to, but that for a while was a way that I stood out. I'm not giving the advice today that go every guy wear a bow tie. I think that that's not what I want you to hear, but it's more about being authentically who you are consistently because people can pick up and they will realize, hey, he says one thing, but he doesn't do it. If you if you tell someone you're gonna follow-up with them, if you tell someone you're gonna do something for them, do it. Be a person of your word versus just telling people what you think they wanna hear.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:07:53]:
So I wanna dig in a little bit about, you you use the word being authentic to yourself, which of course is important, but it's also somewhat of a buzzword that gets thrown around a lot. From my own perspective, I'm thinking about when I go out, I've had people tell me you talk too much, you share too much. I think if you were to ask me who I am, I am not afraid of going to those places where people might be like, I'm not gonna talk about that. Very open, you know, a little gregarious in ways as my wife says that, I'll just go up and talk to anybody. And she's like, you would just need to leave them alone. Well, I guess the question I have is when someone who may have certain traits that might not be helpful for networking, how do you go through when you're trying to be authentic to your brand and say, this one I'm going to just kind of keep you know, under the table or over here or maybe not lead with that.
Danny Beyer [00:08:44]:
So to be completely frank, Sean, I've never thought you talked too much. So I will, I've always enjoyed the interactions that we've had. I've always enjoyed the conversations.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:08:53]:
That. I'm gonna make sure my wife listens to this part of the
Danny Beyer [00:08:55]:
podcast. You can get me the $20 later. But the thing that that I would counter that critique specifically for you, and I'll go into generalizations Please. Is when you are sharing, when we're talking, you are providing value. And that's really one of the the main things that I try to focus on if I'm sharing a story, if I'm having a conversation. It's something of value, not just ramblings. And that's why I don't have a problem with having conversations with you because I'm learning from you all the time. I would say in a broader sense, specifically to people who are nervous or maybe people who do not necessarily know who they are yet, or they're still trying to kind of figure out, you know, what they want to be, who they want to be. I always give the advice of you need to get more curious. Adam Caroll, heard from him early on in life, be interested, not interesting. So ask questions. You don't have to be the coolest person in the room to be perceived as the coolest person in the room. If people who are watching this will, will see this motion, but what do we wanna talk about more than anything else? Ourselves. I specifically learned early on that if I'm interested in the person I'm talking to, if I'm asking questions and letting them talk about themselves, they are going to perceive me as someone who is interested in them, who is curious, who cares. And the thing is I genuinely do. Like, I'm not I'm not just doing this to manipulate people. I really do enjoy learning, having good conversations, and that's why I think I have the the breadth of knowledge that I have today because of just the hundreds and thousands of conversations I've had with people.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:10:30]:
Yeah. I I absolutely agree. You know, again, going back to your book, you know, it's like you talk about dating as the metaphor. And and sometimes you need to go in and find out, is this someone that I could work with? Do I like the way this person thinks about things? So before we go in and say, hey, let's do this deal, there's a little bit of back and forth to go, do I trust this person? Is this person respectable? I mean, you kind of make character assumptions or maybe assassinations. Yeah. I have always found that taking the time to talk with people and just share, it helps me to understand if it's reciprocated. One, can they deal with me? Because sometimes I can be a little overbearing. Some people don't like that, and I understand that. But then other times, you can, you know, learn about someone and who they are and what decisions they might make, things of that sort that may help you to decide whether you wanna be in business with them.
Danny Beyer [00:11:18]:
You're a % correct and I wish more people would take it early in their career and understand you don't have to do business with everyone you meet. You can weed people out and that's the thing like asking great questions getting into real conversations, you'll realize, oh, hey. Like values aren't lining up here. This is not gonna be a good term, a good long term relationship. And so you'd spend fifteen minutes upfront to save yourself hours down the road. The other thing that I would point out and I've given this advice to a lot of college students over the years. If you find yourself in a room where people are judging you where people are saying, Hey, you talk too much. You're just in the wrong room. And it's totally fine to to exit that room or exit that event or exit that group, whatever it may be, because you wanna be surrounded by people who encourage you, support you, and want to see the best for you.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:12:06]:
So true. So true. If you don't know who you are, what your brand is, whatever the reason might be, You ask this one question, what's your story? Yep. What's the value of leading with that question to someone that you haven't yet really met?
Danny Beyer [00:12:19]:
The biggest value is where it allows the conversation to go because we have been trained either through school, through observation, through just social pressure to go up, shake hands with someone. Hey. I'm Danny. Sean, great to meet you. It's a beautiful day out here in April in Iowa. What do you do? That's the normal flow of conversation at a networking event or for a business thing. You exchange names, you talk about something that doesn't matter, and then you go into the question, what do you do? It turns out, and this came out again this year for 2024, roughly two thirds of the population don't like what they do for a living. They list their careers as things that give them anxiety, as things that give them depression. So frame it as, hey, Sean. Great to meet you. Beautiful day outside. Tell me something that depresses you. That's that's not how I wanna start a conversation with two thirds of the people that I meet. So with the question, what's your story, I say all the time, ask better questions. You'll have better conversations. What's your story is one of those for me because it allows the person I'm talking to to decide where they want the conversation to go. If they love their work, they'll talk about work. If they love their family, that's typically where they start. Most of the time, I see the flow go, well, I grew up here. I went to school here if they went to college. I met my spouse here if they're married. I've got these kids. Here's a couple of the hobbies that I do. And the great part about that is now you're getting to know who that person truly is, what they're interested in, what they like versus what they just do for a living. The great part about great questions is humans are reciprocal by nature. And so nine out of 10 people, if I say, Hey, what's your story? They're gonna talk, they're gonna share some cool stuff. And when they're done talking, they'll say, Okay, Danny, what's your story? And now I can match their vibe. I can share the same kinds of information. And we start to actually build a connection versus just talking about recording podcasts, being a financial advisor, stuff that you're not gonna remember as soon as I walk away from you.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:14:09]:
And I think that that's a really easy thing for people that may consider themselves introverts or shy or not experienced. It's really easy just to walk up to someone, say, hi, I'm Sean. What's your name? What do you do? What makes you tick? Yeah. What's your story? And then and it's just so open. The next thing is you just have to actually listen.
Danny Beyer [00:14:27]:
Right.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:14:28]:
Sometimes you can learn a lot by letting them just talk. When you go to a networking event, you had talked about doing some preparation. If there's somebody that you know is gonna be at one of the events that you really wanna meet or wanna do business with, what are some of the things that you do before the event to be prepared for that opportunity to talk with someone?
Danny Beyer [00:14:47]:
A lot of it will come down to there are certain events, there are certain things where they will get the guest list ahead of time. And if you simply ask if, for example, you're a member of a chamber, a lot of times they'll either share it with you beforehand or they'll share it with you afterwards. There's been times as well where I have connections that may be connected to someone or maybe in their periphery, they know this person. And I'll say, hey. Do you know if John is Josh gonna be there today? Yeah. Yeah. He is. Would you mind introducing him to me? I've just been trying to connect with him for a while. One of the biggest things I learned as I started going to this with the intention of meeting at least just one interesting person and having one great conversation versus the 15 business card rule, is that depending on what organization you're going to or where you're networking, you will start to notice a lot of the same key players in the room all the time. And so just understanding, okay, I might not have gotten to talk to them at this event, but chances are they're gonna be at the next one and setting the goal of I'm going to go talk to this person at this event. Something I I touch on the saying flattery gets you nowhere, I think is complete garbage. I've I tweaked it a little bit. Genuine flattery will get you everywhere. And so if there truly is a person, one of the my favorite stories is, I got the opportunity to go and have coffee with Suku Radio when he was still president and CEO of Bankers Trust. That one, I just sent a blind email because you can Google Suku Radia CEO email, and it came up. Sent him an email and asked if I could just grab coffee with him. So the email I sent to Suku, hey, Suku. I've been admiring you for years now, and I see what you're doing in the community. I would love to just get together with you and hear your story. That was my ask. And so genuine flattery truly was impressed with him, and he took the meeting. It took a couple weeks, but his secretary did respond, and she said, hey. Yeah. Suku's available 06:30AM, Tuesday morning for twenty minutes if you wanna come down to the Ruan Building. Yes. Yes. I do. So I got up early, full suit, went down there. I asked Suku to share his story, and for nineteen minutes, he talked and told me his whole background. And at the end of that story, I I realized I was pretty much out of time, and I said, hey. I've got one more question. Why'd you take this meeting with me? Because in the scheme of Des Moines, Iowa, you're at the top. You've been Des Moines most in or business records most influential human for, like, twenty five years running. Here I am just payroll sales rep. And he looked at me and said, Danny, the first meeting's free. You have to earn the second.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:17:21]:
I love that.
Danny Beyer [00:17:22]:
Yeah. And it was just not only mind blowing to me, but it was brilliant that and it took me years to realize that's how he was the most influential person in Des Moines because he would have that first meeting with almost anyone who asked. It was just finding the confidence, finding the courage to reach out and ask. And so since that point, I've adopted that myself. If someone listens to this podcast and you email, call, or text me, I am I'm gonna have the first meeting with you. Because if Suku could do it, I could do it.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:17:50]:
The thing that I have found is that, you know, living here in the Midwest, it's so easy just to reach out and get that meeting, get that call, have the email answered. And people are always like, how did how in the world did you get to talk to that person? I'm like, you just call them. It's really important to remember that we all still want to help, and we all want to be helped when we need help. And and I find that a lot of times people are afraid to ask.
Danny Beyer [00:18:16]:
Yeah. To your point, I I consider all of my success, everything I've been able to do both professionally, personally, with with variety, with writing a book, with becoming mayor. I attribute that all to the people I've surrounded myself with. I am who I am today because of the leaders and the people who pushed me and saw things in me that I didn't see myself. And so the genuine desire to help people do things or to connect people who I know are doing cool things with people who need the cool things those people are doing comes as almost a debt and obligation. Because without people willing to put their neck out for me, I wouldn't be sitting in front of you today. I wouldn't be having this conversation with you, Sean. Over and over and over and over again in my life, I have seen people really do want to help other people be successful. The only way they can help you be successful is if you're willing to tell them how they can help you be successful. And to your point, we're scared. We don't want someone to either tell us no. We don't wanna be laughed at. We don't wanna be told you're we're foolish. To this point in my life, I've done some pretty cool stuff. No one's laughed at me. No one's okay. People have laughed at me, but I've deserved it when they laughed at me. But, I've done some crazy things writing writing a book. I really had no grounds to even start this. But I had a thought. I had a dream. I had something that I thought would make sense and would be valuable. Our mutual friend, Tony Poshin, I ran it by him, and he's like, yeah. I'd read it. Here's what you need to do. And gave me kind of the steps and walked me through and helped me get to the point that I had a finished manuscript that then could be published. And so it's because of people stepping in and helping that I got to where I am today. And if I can return that favor just a little bit at a time, I absolutely will.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:19:59]:
I love that. I remember something that you had said to me a while back. And you said, you know, sometimes when you go to these network events, don't go because of what you need, but just go to be present. Yep. And then spend the time instead of really talking about yourself, just listening and saying, what can I do to help? What do you need to get ahead? So that when you think about networking, you're building that bond, not as I need something from you. And I went out and talked to these people and I got from people. Yeah. But you just go there to be present and you go to help. And sometimes those are some of the most rewarding experiences. Just being present, knowing that, wow, what you think I've got is a value. And if I give it to you, which is very easy, it makes a massive difference in our life. That is just such a positive energy. And I appreciate that. I thank you for that. It it's it's changed the way I look at networking.
Danny Beyer [00:20:48]:
Yeah. And that's really to your opening question about why do people have a negative connotation. I think a lot of it centers around that because networking, when you first get into it, it's it's what is there for me. And I've got friends who will go to two or three events. Well, I didn't sell anything, so I'm not it's a freaking waste of time. That's not what those events are for. Those events are to connect with people, learn how you can help them whether professionally or personally, and build long term relationships so that when they do need you, they think of you, they call you and business starts to come.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:21:17]:
Oh, that's so true. Wanted to come back to the business card after the meeting. You've got the card, you're in control. And what do you do with that card? How do you connect, reconnect, strengthen that relationship?
Danny Beyer [00:21:30]:
So you mentioned the the networking dating. I absolutely believe networking when you're first starting is dating. At a certain point and it's truly the follow-up is when I go, okay, networking is no longer dating. There's no twenty four hour, forty eight hour desperation rule. My goal has shifted slightly to the point that if the person says they don't have a business card or if I really don't know that I'm gonna follow-up with them because my own personal calendar is busy, I will set the appointment at the event. So before I even leave, I'm taking out my phone and saying, hey. Can we get together in a week, two weeks, grab coffee? Every single time they've taken their phone out of their pocket, their purse, wherever, and have given me the appointment so we don't have to send that follow-up email. If that's an option, do that because you'll set the appointment, the meeting will happen, and you'll be able to strengthen, build the relationship. If that's not an option, if if time runs out, I'd absolutely go back to my office. And as soon as I possibly can, I will send the follow-up email? Hey, Sean. Great meeting you today at x, y, and z. Enjoyed our conversation. I'd love to connect and learn more about you. It's always about the other person. It's not about me because I want to learn about them. Can we grab coffee? I will tell you success rate is probably in the high 90 percentile with with that type of communication. And then again, with the follow-up, it truly is just setting the the meeting and going there with an open mind, with an open opportunity to, hey. I'm gonna learn about this person. There may be business there. There may not. But it's more about what can I do to help this person? What can I learn from this person that's sitting across from me? I will tell you one of the biggest or most asked questions I get is, okay. So how do you build relationships then? Because you've got this huge pipeline. You've got all these people you've met with. How do you manage? Do you do you set a calendar reminder? Are you reaching out every two weeks? Are you reaching out once a month? In the beginning, yeah. Absolutely. If if there's a system you wanna develop. But I have found that I fall now on what I call divine intervention, where if someone pops into my brain, I text, I call, I email. I don't just ignore it, and and push it aside because whether you believe in God, whether you believe in karma, there's some reason that person popped in. And so I'll just send a random text, a random email. Hey. Was just thinking about you. Would love to get together and catch up. It's been a while. You wouldn't believe the amount of times that people have said, oh my gosh. Yes. I've been thinking about you. We need to get together because I wanna do x, y, and z. Or, yeah, I need to move some money to you, and I really wanna be a client in in work situations. It's fascinating how many times good stuff has happened because I've listened to that intuition.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:23:59]:
Even if you have to be the one always reaching out, sometimes that's important because there are strong relationships to be had, but that other person just isn't gonna meet you in the middle. I think that being open to that, and sometimes I get angry about it because I'm like, why don't they call me or whatever. If you can't adopt that, that is being of service to someone. Mhmm. Because they meant to call you. They meant to send the email, but for some reason, it's just gonna take them too long. And when you do that, it kinda cuts through the clutter, and then the relationship can continue on.
Danny Beyer [00:24:29]:
I'm gonna steal that verbiage that you just had. It's a service to someone because I find, especially with my newer workforce with my newer employees, they're nervous about following up too much and being a nuisance. But also, like, I've read, I'm sure you've seen it, it sometimes takes up to 12 follow ups just to get to the next meeting. And it's not because people are annoyed or they're ignoring you, it's because we're busy. I get it. So don't be afraid of the follow-up.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:24:55]:
We've talked a lot about in person networking. You know, we've got social media of all different types that have different ways that you can network LinkedIn or Facebook. How can we be better networking in the digital space?
Danny Beyer [00:25:08]:
Fabulous question. And actually, that's what pushed me to write the second edition because I had been thinking that I needed to update it, that I needed to get some new content, some new things I had observed and learned. And when I got to the section on networking in the digital age, it undone me through my own personal experience and through talking to others that that I needed to title this section, the more things change, the more things stay the same. Because the tips and tricks that we have talked about today already, whether it's asking better questions, whether it's telling people what you want, being being willing to help, Those are universal tips and tricks. They work on a computer screen just like they work if I'm sitting across from you and talking in person. So I adapted and I was like, well, I wanna see if I'm full of crap or not. So during post the pandemic, I did not change how I was gonna talk to people, interact with people when I was on those Zoom calls, those Google Meets, and the same results continue to happen. I'd asked the question when I met someone for the first time, hey. What's your story? And the same conversation would happen. Yes. There was a computer screen now instead of a face, but we exchanged the same information. We built the same relationship. One of the fascinating things is pre 2020 IronHorse, the firm that I work for. We were in five states, all of the states that touched Iowa. As we came into 2022, we were in 17 states because of the fact that we now had learned we can work anywhere. We can have the real genuine conversations. We can help people. And my largest single client is based out of Oklahoma. They signed up with me. They moved their four zero one k plan to me, as we were coming out of the pandemic. And at the time, when they moved all of their assets over, I'd never met them in person. We did everything through Zoom meetings. It actually took until 2023 for me to go down and meet them for the very first time that I got to shake their hands, and it was like I was meeting an old friend. Just because it's with a screen instead of in person does not change the person, does not change communication. You know, there might be a leg and you have to deal with that. But other than that, I would say we can still build the same type of strong relationships with people through a computer screen that we can as if we were sitting down at Starbucks.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:27:17]:
One of my friends who does some consulting work and coaching she said that after the pandemic and we started going back to in person she found that the level of conversations that she was having were not as personal. Yeah. And I said, well, why do you think that is? She thought because we're looking at a screen and that screen is, like, really close. And, you know, like, going back to dating, the closer you get, the more intimate, the more you're open and you're sharing and you're trusting and things like that. She says, I think that there is a psychological component where because I'm looking at you and your face is large in the screen and it's almost as if you were this close if we were to be in person. So I'm more compelled to trust you or to share things. Fascinating. But I found that a a really interesting observation
Danny Beyer [00:28:02]:
Mhmm.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:28:03]:
That when we can close the gap, whether it's virtual or not, conversations tend to open up.
Danny Beyer [00:28:08]:
Yeah. I would I would agree.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:28:10]:
We just have to close the gap. If you could change one thing about how we network by snapping your fingers and poof, it's all changed. It's gone. What is that thing that you would change?
Danny Beyer [00:28:20]:
I would get rid of the unnecessary conversation that happens first. The the weather talk, the how's Iowa State football talk. I would really like to get into true meaningful conversations as fast as possible.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:28:32]:
What's the biggest lesson that you've learned or that piece of advice that you might have been given throughout your life when it comes to networking?
Danny Beyer [00:28:40]:
I think you you already kind of hit this. We're all people. No matter title, no matter age, no matter sex, we are people and you don't have to be intimidated by someone because they're older because they have a bigger title. If you truly want to learn and you want to grow, it's gonna take effort on you to connect and reach out to those people who have done the things you want to do.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:29:03]:
When you think about networking with businesses, is there one tool or one aspect that you think is the most important, most impactful to positive outcomes with network?
Danny Beyer [00:29:14]:
I think the the most important one is that I've that I've taken away is going to an event specifically on networking with the goal of meeting one person, not meeting 15. Networking is a marathon. It is not a sprint. And it takes real genuine conversations, one cup of coffee, one Pepsi, whatever you drink at a time.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:29:34]:
But make sure that if you get that one meeting, you go into it not expecting the second one because it might not happen. So you make the first one
Danny Beyer [00:29:41]:
count. Count. Yep. Absolutely.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:29:44]:
I can't tell you how much of a pleasure it's been. I always love chatting with you, your experience, your insight, your openness. You know, I just really appreciate your friendship, and I appreciate you taking some time to, come over and talk with my listeners. And Yeah. If one of our listeners wants to get a hold of you or wants to connect with you, how can we continue the conversation with you?
Danny Beyer [00:30:05]:
Yeah. Absolutely. Again, first meeting's free. So if anybody reaches out, it's just danny@dannybeyer,beyer.com is my email address if you wanna reach out. Just ended my year as president of Variety, the children's charity, a charity organization near and dear to my heart.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:30:21]:
So Congratulations on that. You've done some incredible things.
Danny Beyer [00:30:24]:
It's been a lot of fun. So if listeners, if you have questions about nonprofit engagement involvement, happy to have those conversations as well. But, yeah, that's that's where I am.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:30:33]:
Your your role with Variety, are you gonna still continue on with that, or are you looking for something new? I guess, what's what's next? Because your your mayorship is wrapping up soon. And Yeah. You know, what's next?
Danny Beyer [00:30:44]:
I think, I've still got two more years in the Variety Board, and that organization will always be my number one, but we'll see.
Shawn FitzGerald [00:30:51]:
Very good. Thanks again for being here, and, appreciate the insight as always. Thanks, Ron. Today's conversation with Danny Beyer reminded me that networking doesn't have to feel like a forced exchange or a shallow numbers game. Instead, it can be an opportunity to create meaningful one on one conversations, as well as an opportunity to be ourselves and put our personal brand on display in a consistent and authentic manner. When we lead with genuine curiosity and shift our mindset from what can I get from you to what can I do to help you? We create the kind of space where real relationships and real opportunities grow. But my biggest takeaway came from Danny's story about asking for a coffee meeting with a high profile executive he admired and getting a yes. It's a great reminder that sometimes the boldest thing we can do is just to ask. I'll be taking that mindset with me into the next week. Thanks for listening to Intentional Change. If today's conversation sparks something within you, I hope you will apply it with purpose in your own business. I'd love to hear how our Intentional Change podcast is helping you make a difference in your business. To drop me a note, visit ready2levelup.com and click on the Let's Talk button in the top right. To contact Joshua McNary, visit mcnarymarketing.com. And one last thing, don't forget to subscribe and share the show with others in your network. Help us bring intentional change to every growing business. Until next time, I'm Sean Fitzgerald. Take care.
