I’ve changed my life for many times by meeting new people every year. To be honest, my social skills are great; I’m good at learning something new from everyone I meet. Today I’m going to share how to meet more people by going on an international trip. I hope you will try these ideas, too.
- The art of thinking outside the box and crashing a party:
When I took an international trip to Europe last year, I went to a five-star hotel and crashed a party. Interestingly, nobody realized that I wasn’t even invited, and I met some very interesting people there.
That party was a business networking event. I went there for drinks and snacks, and other people approached me because I was very well dressed. Here is what happened:
I was wearing a smart outfit and a colorful scarf. People started conversations with me because they noticed my unusual scarf. In other words, my scarf was the conversation starter.
This is the best-kept secret: Always wear something that people can comment on so that everyone wants to ask you “What’s that?” first.
Two people that I met from that party became my close friends. One of them taught me how to create leveraged income which permanently changed my life. Basically, leveraged income means I do the work once and then get paid again and again because of the work that I’ve done, e.g., writing a book which generates royalty checks, selling an online course, etc. It also refers to passive income from investing. In contrast, linear income is the wage that I receive from a day job.
There is nothing wrong with having a day job, but it’s better to combine linear income with leveraged income, right?
- The unconventional way to meet new people:
Because I’m a freelance writer, I can work from anywhere in the world. All I need is a laptop and the Internet. Therefore, I have visited many countries. Several years ago, I took an international trip to Australia and was driving a car that I rented there.
While I was driving, I noticed a Lamborghini in front of me. I saw a man in his 30s driving the Lamborghini, and I followed his car. About 10 minutes later, his car stopped outside a restaurant (it was lunchtime). So, I also stopped my car outside this restaurant and entered the restaurant with him.
“Could you recommend something nice here? This is the first time for me to be here as I’m a tourist.” I ask him.
He recommended a few items on the menu and sat down with me – we shared a table and had lunch together.
During our conversation, he mentioned that he was launching an online business and was looking for a ghost-writer. I showed him some of the blog articles written by me on a website. After reading those articles on his smartphone, he hired me as his ghost-writer because he really likes my writing and my creativity. Now he is still my client. We deeply respect and appreciate each other.
Well, isn’t that also how Dan Savage met Tim Keck?
“If you work on your social skills, your life will become very different!”
