Hacking Relationships With Two Simple Apps

Hacking Relationships With Two Simple Apps

I think we've all heard the phrase it's not what you know, it's who you know. Maybe you've even heard the phrase your net worth is in your network.

I think we can all agree that having a larger network is a good thing.

Our network is people in our lives who can:

  • Help us get through problems
  • Challenge us and work towards our goals
  • Get more clients and referral sources – people who can connect us with other potential clients

Our networks can have exponential growth!

The problem is that in the audio world most of us aren't just bad at networking, we're horrible at it.

And I get it…I'm awful at networking, too.

Tell me if you can relate to this: I meet someone and we have a good conversation with the potential for a mutually beneficial relationship.

Then I just let it fade away. I don't follow up, I don't email, I don't text, and I don't set up another lunch. This is something that happens to me on a weekly or even daily basis.

If you can relate to this, it has to stop.

Why This Behavior Can't Continue

If you can't build a basic relationship with people and then go deeper with that relationship, you're going to have a lonely career. You'll be stuck in your audio cave turning knobs and editing stuff with no friends or people connect with.

Don't be like this lonely little guy

You can go broke because you don't have people out there referring work to you, and you can get stuck with problems that you can't solve because you don't have friends or colleagues who can .

I want to show you two different free apps that I've been trying out in order to help systematically and effectively build and nurture my network without letting all of these relationships fall through the cracks.

Before we start talking about the two specific apps I tried, I need to explain the requirements I had for the apps.

Because there are so many different relationship management apps out there, if you don't have the right goal in mind you can't find the right app for what you're trying to do.

My main goal was simply this: to be able to import my important contacts into the app, set a follow-up schedule for each contact, and then receive a notification when it's time to follow up with that contact.

Additional criteria included:

  • Built-in reminders
  • Easy to use
  • Good reviews on the app store
  • Easily fit it into my weekly routine

My life's motto is basically “habit and routine over motivation“.

Motivation is something that will come and go, but habit and routine are something that I can depend on every single week in order to get things done.

The Apps

The two apps that I have started using right now are Ryze (iOS only) and LincSphere (iOS only – Android and web app in development).

Both of these apps do roughly the same thing. You can look over this article and see which one you like more.

They each have pros and cons, which I'm going to discuss in this article.

Ryze

The first app we're looking at here is called Ryze.

  • Simpler
  • Better design
  • More crashes

Watch this clip where I explain Ryze

Ryze does fit my requirements, it fits into my routine, it offers automated follow-up reminders, and it's fairly easy to use.

Unfortunately, it does crash frequently and there are a few features I think could be added.

LincSphere

The second app I wanna show you is called LincSphere.

This one is a lot more in depth, and it's one of the newer ones I found as I was researching for this article. I think I actually like this one more, but it's also a lot more complex.

Unlike Ryze, LincSphere does have limitations with its free account – you can only add up to 25 contacts, which I think is more than enough to try it out and see if you like it or not.

To add unlimited contacts, it's $4.99 a month or $49.99 a year, so you essentially get two months free if you pre-pay for the year.

LincSphere's plethora of features include:

  • Scan business cards
  • Import contacts via CSV
  • Import contacts from other sources
  • Make introductions
  • Send referrals
  • Track “help given” and “help received”, connections, and referrals

Watch this clip where I explain LincSphere

Again, this is what I was ultimately looking for: a follow-up list of who I need to reach out to now and then future follow-ups.

Taking Action

This is just a quick and easy way to make sure I'm not letting these relationships slip through the cracks and that I am constantly nurturing and pushing relationships forward. To do this, I'm adding as much value as possible wherever I can.

Whether you use either of these apps or not doesn't really make a difference. The point is making sure you're using some sort of systematic way to stay on top of your relationships.

My rule is basically this: KISS. K-I-S-S. Keep It Simple, Stupid.

If you try to use some overly complex solution for a very simple problem, you'll just fall off the wagon and you'll never use it. Eventually, you'll be right back where you started.

If you keep it simple, you stay consistent, and you make it part of your routine, it will be a game changer when it comes to building and nurturing relationships and expanding your network.

It will open up all sorts of opportunities that you never even imagined simply because you use a system to stay on top of your relationships.

If you found this article helpful, I encourage you to take action on it. Start implementing these tips into your business and your life. Start making changes!

And if you want deeper content on topics like this, such as how to get more clients, how to get more leads, how to make more sales, and how to really position yourself as a premium service, I encourage you to go check out my free workshop over at TheProfitable.studio.

In that workshop, I go over a lot of different things that you can use to implement into your business. Similarly to this article, it's action-oriented.

I show you specific steps that you can use to improve your studio today.

To sign up, visit TheProfitable.studio!

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