Not a PI. Not the Dark Web. Just LinkedIn.
The Smarter Way to Network: Research First, Connect Deeply
TL;DR
Authenticity shapes first impressions and lays the foundation for genuine connection. Never enter a meeting unpreparedāresearch matters. By valuing peopleās time and ensuring you are equipped with thoughtful, tailored questions, you demonstrate respect and curiosity. This opens space for real rapport, a strong connection and shared opportunity. A personās job is only one facet of who they are. Look for their individuality: their interests, values, and points of overlap with your own. People are often surprised when youāve taken the time to read whatās publicly available about them, yet they also recognise it as a sign that you value them. That attention fosters trust and creates remarkable possibilities. You never know when you may be able to help, or be helped through an email or phone call, even years after that first meeting.
š°ļø Read time: approx 15 mins
Hot tips for players
Prepare for meetings by undertaking research
Find three key pieces of information about the person (not the basic information, look for more details)
Interweave this information into the conversation naturally, where possible
Be genuinely interested in the other person
Your network is your net worth; the time you spend on preparation will create many opportunities
Authenticity is the foundation of lasting relationships.
INTRODUCTION
When someone says, half-joking but slightly suspicious, āYouāve looked me up,ā I think: No, I havenāt been on the dark web or hired a private investigator (PI), I just checked your LinkedIn!
I often get this response when I first meet someone. I always ask specific questions and the person looks very surprised, almost a little concerned. Like Iāve been on the dark web, hacking their Instagram or some other platform, trying to find out information. Iāve simply looked at whatās publicly available! Itās a strange reaction. I know that when people ask me specific questions, I am flattered that they have taken the time to research and ask thoughtful questions.
I like to look at a personās Twitter/X, LinkedIn, personal website, company website, biography, etc., to find out who they are and ensure that the meeting is productive.
This is for both in-person and online meetings. Iāve met people at events for the first time and have read their biography, for example. Before an online meeting, I always read about the person, usually from their LinkedIn, so I can be prepared with specific questions.
IMPORTANCE
I love researching, always finding the little, hard-to-find details (perhaps, mentioned only once in a large body of text) and working with those.
I donāt ask generic questions like: Where do you work? Where do you live? Only if this information isnāt clear. This information is so well rehearsed, so scriptedāitās basic information. On LinkedIn, itās always included. I find that people get bored of the basic questions. Often, their eyes glaze over. The minimum I can do when meeting someone is look at their information available beforehand.
I find that itās lazy and a waste of valuable time asking something that I can read for myself.
The question is: why wouldnāt I look you up?
My preference is to build rapport quickly and form a genuine connection, get to really know the person, and explore how we could potentially work together.
It helps if thereās overlap, and this is something to look for in your research. Did you both serve in the military? Do you have any mutual connections? Did you both study at the same University? If so, this helps build rapport even faster! You may share similar experiences, know the same people, or have taken part in the same activities.
If a person studied in France, for example, this type of information is where it gets interesting. This was a piece of information I found very far down in a personās LinkedIn profile, as they had been working for 15+ years since that study experience. When I asked about this, the personās face lit up, excited to share the amazing memories from that chapter of their life.
The personās job doesnāt really paint the full picture of who they are. Connecting with people is finding out who they are: what they care about, what they truly loveātheir jobs are only a part of their whole life. By meeting with them, you are using their time (and yours, of course), so the value must be clear. Meeting with people for the sake of meeting is a waste of time, there must be value and objectives. Their job is an important part of their life, and as this article is about networking professionally, job-related conversations are core. However, can you also uncover other interesting aspects about the person?
The goal with networking is quality not quantity
I met with someone once for three hours over a lunch meeting. 90% of the conversation was about technology and health. The last 10% of our time, once the rapport had been built, was about where I grew up on the South Coast of NSW. One month later, he shared that he took his family on a trip to the South Coast and thanked me for the recommendation. He later helped me secure a developer for a project. While I couldnāt provide help at the time of the meeting for professional goals, I did help with a personal one: a holiday with his family. You could say this is more valuable and important to that person than work.
A person works in marketing for example, but what does that mean, exactly? Do they specialise in graphic design, SEO, emails, etc.? What if I know nothing about marketing, I canāt really delve into that subject; how we can build rapport? Especially if we donāt both work in similar areas, such as marketing.
What makes this person unique? Who are they? How can we connect?
If we do work in similar fields, then there is a lot to explore. Even so, the rapport building and discovery of their uniqueness is still critical.
Perhaps you mentioned youād like to live in the USA for personal reasons. The person shares they just went through the process and know a wonderful lawyer who could also help you. Itās okay to ādropā (mention) goals of yours and vice-versa, and how you could help each other. Perhaps they are professional goals, but sometimes they are personal.
Tips:
Always smile while waiting for Zoom or when you first meet someone. As soon as you join the meeting or approve someone joining, just start smiling. Iāve lost count of the number of times someone (sometimes me!) just took a bite of some food or is talking to a person or their dog and is quite startled to hear someone else speaking!
Say their name, and if itās a difficult name, ask how to pronounce it. Sometimes people upload an audio on LinkedIn with the pronunciation, so always listen to this. Itās important to say a personās name properly
Be positive and say how great it is to speak/meet with them
Initial questions. Itās standard to ask āhow are youā, but this person is often a stranger and youāre connecting for the first time, so it feels a bit silly. Itās unlikely that they will answer truthfully. For example, they are unlikely to say: I just had a fight with my wife, Iām really stressed about money, etc. Instead, I often ask, āhowās Melbourne? I havenāt visited for so longā, āWhat do you like about living there?ā or āI love NYC. How long have you lived there?ā, based on the information I found prior to the meeting
Maintain eye contact and smile. When online, resist looking at yourself and turn off the camera if you like. Most people leave their camera on, but if itās too distracting turn it off or at least minimise it so your āscreen viewā is primarily the speaker. In person, focus on them and really listen to what they are saying
Always have a follow-up plan. Keep in touch. Send a link or document as discussed. Always do this as fast as possible. Sometimes itās easier to do right after the meeting. Within two days is professional and builds on your positive impression. You can write a thank-you card or send an email/message saying how much you enjoyed the connection. For example, a person I recently met mentioned he would love to live where I am currently based in Costa Rica and that papaya is his favourite fruit. I sent a follow-up email with all the links as discussed (work-related), and at the end, I included a picture of a papaya tree just outside my house. This shows that I actually listened to what he shared. I interwove both the professional and personal aspects. Ideally you always include both, with the majority being professional and a little bit being personal
Write some notes to keep for yourself. This could include important insights you learnt or something valuable they mentioned. Before your next meeting/communication, review these notes as part of your preparation.
HOW TO PREPARE
Check:
Google
LinkedIn
X/Twitter account
Their personal website
Their company profile/biography
The company they work for
Any published work
Any features (newspapers, podcasts, blogs, etc)
This takes 10 minutes on average. If a person is high profile and there is a vast amount of information, I may spend 20ā30 minutes on research and pre-reading.
Some people are very private and donāt include a lot of information. When this is the case, collect whatever information that you can and be excited to meet the person and hear it for the first time if you couldnāt locate it.
People are complex. No matter what is listed on their sites, there is still a lot more to uncover.
My goal is to find three pieces of interesting information about the person, memorise it and interweave it into the conversation. For example:
The person undertook a study exchange to France 10 years ago
The person shares in their biography that they are learning to fly
The person volunteers for a Heart Institute not-for-profit
The goal of all of this preparation and execution in the meeting is to build rapport, demonstrate authenticity and initiative, respect the personās time and build a strong connection.
You need to memorise the information and you can write dot points to have nearby to read before or during an online meeting or to review before meeting a person face-to-face. Interweaving this information into a conversation is an art. Carefully select whatās important and figure out how it can be valuable in the context of the conversation.
āInterweaveā: waiting for an opportunity to mention one of these pieces of information when it is similar to something in the conversation and you can build on it. When asking, listen to their response and ask follow-on questions. Donāt jump to the next piece of information you learnt about them in your preparation.
Not the best approach
Person A: Hi! Itās great to meet you. I saw you went on a exchange to France,
Obviously, awkward, out of the blue, and strangeā¦
Do you cringe just reading this?! š³
Recommended approach
Example 1
Person A: You travel a lot, youāve mentioned you are living in the USA, and I saw on your profile you undertook a study exchange to France. Tell me more about those experiences. Iām particularly interested in how the time in France shaped your work today.
Person B. It was so long ago, yet itās had a big impact on my career. Firstly, ā¦ā¦ā¦
Example 2
Person A: Your full-time job sounds really interesting, I am especially interested in your SEO services and will reach out when I need assistance. Iām curious about your board role with the Heart Institute not-for-profit. Could you share more?
Person B: Itās not often I get a chance to talk about this role. Iāve been on the board for two years, following a heart attack and a personal desire to learn more and help othersā¦ā¦..
Even with your preparation, you may not get a chance to interweave everything you planned to. Aim to bring at least one piece of information into the conversation.
If you canāt find a way to interweave the information, you can try this:
Person A: We havenāt had a chance to talk about travel and living in different countries. I think this is really important for understanding cultures, health systems and different practices. I saw on your profile that you studied in the USA, and Iād love to learn more and how that impacted your work today.
or
Person A: Itās been amazing to learn about your role at [company]; itās cutting edge, exciting and valuable work. Iād also love to learn more about your board role at the Heart Institute.
If you are short on time and canāt read their entire LinkedIn profile or other sources of information, scan and find the key information. You can do this in a few minutes. Ideally, you spend longer to find the best information, read more about it and be very prepared. Always do the quick scan at a minimum, remembering to look at where they live and work so you have their basic information and look for the āhiddenā insights, too.
A global, diverse, and meaningful network is possible through preparation and authenticity.
First impressions
You only really get one chance at this, which is the first time you meet with someone. An email is a first impression when organising a meeting, and while this is important, the most critical time is the first few seconds with that person either face-to-face or online. Ensure your initial and ongoing interactions are professional.
Research shows that it can happen astonishingly fast, in a few hundred milliseconds (ms) (Willis & Todorov, 2006).
Practical rule: in real interactions, the decisive window is the first 5ā30 seconds; in visual-only settings (photo, website), the window can be measured in tens to low hundreds of milliseconds.
Tips:
āļø The first impression checklist (use it in 60 seconds)
Prepare to be deliberate. These are the high-leverage cues that matter most.
Face and eyes: Clean, engaged eye contact (not stare); the clearest signal of presence
Smile and micro-expression: A genuine smile lowers threat and raises warmth
Posture and open frame: Upright, uncrossed: look capable and approachable
Voice and tempo: Speak a touch slower than nervous speed; a clear, slightly lower pitch projects calm
Dress for the room: One notch above the expected norm
Grooming and visible care: Neat hair, clean hands, tidy clothes. These are immediate competence cues
Opening line: Short, confident, specific. Have this prepared
Listening posture: Mirror small behaviours, nod, paraphrase; this signals youāre trustworthy
Small rituals: Have a reliable entrance ritual (two breaths, facial reset, posture check) to reset nerves
Digital thumbnail: Photo + headline + first paragraph must win in 0.5ā5 seconds; clear photo, value headline, short first sentence.
How to repair a weak first impression
Acknowledge, reframe, deliver: Quick, sincere āIām nervous. I want to get this rightā, plus a strong follow-up action can reset impressions
Use behaviour to re-anchor: A well-timed listening question or a tangible helpful act (offer contact, resource) can change the narrative
Follow-up matters more than you think: A thoughtful message within 24 hours often overrides a shaky first meeting.
First impressions favour the prepared and the practiced.
You cannot control every bias someone brings, but you can control your signal: face, frame, opening line, and the first small action. Do these deliberately and youāll bend those split-second judgements toward opportunity.
POWER OF A NETWORK
Your network is your net worth. (Gale, 2013 and Sanders).
The larger and more connected your network is, the more opportunities become available. You can only achieve so much on your own.
You can save a lot of time, effort and money by knowing (the right) people. Rather than sitting alone with your computer trying to solve a complex challenge, you can can contact someone in your network who can share a strategy, tip or connection. This is the ideal network; people you can rely on who you are comfortable enough to reach out to. Ideally, this isnāt one-sided, and your first impression and the rapport you built will uncover where you could potentially help each other.
One of the only times where people have reciprocated research and tailored questions was whilst I was studying at Harvard University. I felt flattered that they had shown interest and take the time to prepare. For example; a classmate who I spoke to for the first time knew Jaspenās vision and offered their help. It was a tailored question that demonstrated he was genuinely interested in who I am and what I was working on. If youāre interested, the offer was access to consumer purchasing patterns at his company, which has a total of 17 million customersā extremely valuable!
From my experience and the reactions I receive, itās not standard to undertake preparation. This level of preparation and research enables me to achieve a 98% average cold calling rate and an extensive, global network. This isnāt just a list of people Iām connected with on LinkedIn. The rapport I build, the conversations, and the connections I have created are incredible.
An example: I started engaging with a professor on X/Twitter, and we arranged to meet in person in Sydney, Australia. We had one meeting that lasted two hours, a fantastic conversation about chronic pain, a tour through the laboratory and an agreement to keep in touch. Around one year later, I needed a reference, so I wrote to this professor. He phoned me that night saying that he would have it to me the next day. This example shows that due to my preparation, the success of the meeting and how we connected, he was making time in his very busy schedule to help me and in a very fast manner! He wrote a glowing reference. I shared some updates from exciting events that transpired. 20 minutes of preparation, asking thoughtful questions, being genuinely interested in him his work and his research facility when we met led to this outcome.
Note* none of this can be faked, you can never get to this level of connection if you donāt show genuine interest in the other person. Authenticity is the foundation of lasting relationships.
Case study
Canva founder Melanie (Mel) Perkins struggled early to get traction and investor interest. She recounts more than a hundred rejections before things changed. One pivotal contact was investor Bill Tai, who invited her to MaiTai, a private kitesurfing retreat for Venture Capitalistās (VCās) and tech founders. To be part of that scene and the informal networking that happens there, Perkins taught herself kitesurfing, not as a hobby, but as a pragmatic way to āwedge my foot in the door,ā meet people and build relationships in an environment where many investors socialise (Forbes, 2019).
Recognising that those rooms and reefs required a shared currency, she learned the sport so she could stand beside the people who mattered and be part of their conversations.
That entry point led to introductions and informal conversations that would otherwise have been hard to arrange from her location in Perth, Australia. The MaiTai connections helped open doors to early supporters and celebrity investors and the networking around those events is widely credited as one factor that accelerated Canvaās early funding and visibility. It wasnāt the single cause of Canvaās success; the product, timing, persistence and later team hires mattered hugely, but learning to kitesurf to access investor networks was a pragmatic, high-leverage move that paid off.
Perkins found many investor conversations happened offstage; on beaches, at informal retreats and at MaiTai-style meetups where VCās and founders socialised. Those beachside introductions and relaxed, repeated conversations converted curiosity into concrete introductions and early funding.
Networking often happens where business feels least like business.
Today, Canvaās valuation is $40 billion.
Pre-reading a personās publicly available information is a easy and simple activity, itās certainly not learning to kitesurf! š¤£
This case study highlights the importance of being prepared and ensuring you explore and find out the uniqueness of a person. It could be kitesurfing, a study exchange to France, a board role, learning to fly, writing a book, a desire to move to another country; you may have a common interest and this is where the real connection grows. You may just find yourself learning to kitesurf! šŖšš¼āāļø
FURTHER TIPS
You can see my article I shared about ācold callingā and how this type of research can help you secure a meeting:
Netflix, an email, and a scientistās yes: how curiosity opened a door
TL;DR You may be surprised who says yes to your ācold callā. It doesnāt always mean a phone callāin many cases, email is the most effective channel. Whether youāre seeking advice, a meeting, mentorship, collaboration, or a partnership; with the right approach, itās possible to convince people to say yes. The
The research you do for cold calling will be ready for your meeting, saving you a lot of time.
You can see my article about āthe vibe checkā, which will help you determine the āvibes of the meetingā and next steps after meeting:
Just like dating, some people are only āgood on paperā. This is why I implemented the vibe check
TL;DR The vibe check is a way to assess how you felt during and after meeting a person or organisation. The vibes could be amazing, average, bad or shifty. While some people and organisations may look āgood on paperā, with credentials, media attention, prestige, etc., the vibes might not match. The goal is to stay connected and work with people who have ā¦
Before engaging with someone new, research and craft intentional questions to better understand what makes them unique. Doing so lays the foundation for enduring professional relationships.
You never know what possibilities may arise.
Sources
Ambady, N., & Rosenthal, R. (1993). Half a minute: Predicting teacher evaluations from thin slices of nonverbal behavior and physical attractiveness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 64(3), 431ā441. https://doi.org/10.1037/0022-3514.64.3.431
Forbes (2019), https://www.forbes.com/sites/alexkonrad/2019/12/11/inside-canva-profitable-3-billion-startup-phenom/?utm_source=chatgpt.com
Lindgaard, G., Fernandes, G., Dudek, C., & Brown, J. (2006). Attention web designers: You have 50 milliseconds to make a good first impression! Behaviour & Information Technology, 25(2), 115ā126. https://doi.org/10.1080/01449290500330448
Tim Sanders and popularised by Porter Gale in Your Network Is Your Net Worth (2013).
Willis, J., & Todorov, A. (2006). First impressions: Making up your mind after a 100-ms exposure to a face. Psychological Science, 17(7), 592ā598. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9280.2006.01750.x
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