Your Collaborators+ Workbook is a copy of a Google Workbook template that the CC has set up.
It provides many individual “sheets” and a lot of functionality that you’ll learn about in future lessons.
For the moment, let’s just focus on downloading an Activity Workbook for future use.
Ideally, you are walking through this process with someone you have just registered using Zoom (or similar), and they have shared their screen with you to see what they are doing.
Tip
Ensure your new builder is using the Chrome web browser
Ask them to select the following option from the Builders menu:
The system should then display the following:
Ask your new builder to click “Make a copy”.
After clicking this link, the system will download a blank Collaborators+ Sheet from a central template.
After your new builder has downloaded their Activity sheet, ask them to bookmark their Collaborators+ Workbook for later use.
If your new builder is an accomplished Google Drive user, they can probably find this spreadsheet on their Google Drive.
However, it’s usually safer to ask them to bookmark the link (click star at the right of the address bar) as shown in the following screenshot:
Bookmarking is easy!
Click Here for a good video explaining Chrome bookmarks if you are unsure or want to learn how to organise bookmarks.
Ask them to share a link to their new Collaborators+ workbook with you by clicking the Share button as shown below:
Note: Make sure you spell your email address carefully so they enter it correctly
Goggle will then email you a link to their new Collaborators+ sheet.
Then ask them to change just the following part of the Workbook name to their First and Last Name (don’t overwrite the last part with First / Last name as we want to be able to see the version):
Tip: When the link to your new builder’s Activity sheet arrives in your inbox, update the entry you have for this person in your “Potential Partnerships” spreadsheet by hyperlinking their name to their Fellow Collaborators sheet – as shown in the following screenshot:
Now you can easily access their Collaborators+ sheet by clicking on their first name.
Typically, you become registered as a new member of the Connect Collaborative with your ‘Connector’ guiding you through the process over a Zoom call.
Once that has happened, it’s important to quickly review the following instructions describing the steps you took (while it is fresh in your mind).
Just going through these steps will make it easy to remember where to go when you are onboarding your first partner!
Tips
Go through the registration process with the ‘Connector’ helping onboard you – this is typically done over a Zoom call so they can help guide you through the registration screens.
Usually, the person who introduced you to the CC will also be your ‘Connector’ and will help you through the initial registration and onboarding process.
However, it is wise to review the following steps once you have been through the registration process.
It’s best to allocate about 45 minutes and do it on a Zoom call That way you can share your screen with your ‘Connector’ who can show you what to do and answer any questions you may have.
Better yet, the onboarding process (usually 4-6 weeks) gives you more opportunity to build a relationship with your ‘Connector’.
Become familiar with these instructions It’s really quite a simple straight-forward process However, it’s good to have it all clear in your head before you onboard your first person (though feel free to ask your ‘Connector’ to help you onboard your first couple of people if you don’t feel confident)
Have this page open so that you refer to it during your Zoom call if you need to
Prepare the person you are registering Do they use the Chrome web browser? If not, they’ll need to download it Have the used Zoom before? Send them a calendar invite with a Zoom link
Assuming you are on a Zoom call, ask the new network builder you are helping to onboard to share their desktop and go into the Chrome web browser and enter
The next step is very important and will save you a lot of heartache!
When you can see they are in their Chrome web browser, using the method described below find out the email address with which they are currently logged into Chrome
Write it down!
Later in the process when they enter their Contact email address (see below),
if their contact email address they enter is different from the email address they have used to log into Chrome
then….
(1) Ask them to put the email address they logged into Chrome with (the one you wrote down) into the Google Email field (see below)
(2) Ask them to always log into Chrome with that email address when accessing their Activity Workbook
Here’s how you can find the email address they are logged into Chrome with
Now ask your new person to go to the website and go through the following steps with them (these are the steps you have just been through with your ‘Connector’)
www.connectcollaborative.net
A screen similar to the following will be displayed
After clicking ‘login’, the following will be displayed
Click ‘Register’
A screen similar to the following will appear:
The Registration page has a password: .. we don’t want someone new attempting to register before they know anything about the value of what we are doing.
The ‘fixed’ password is .. ccfingers (all lowercase)
Click ‘Enter’
A screen similar to the following will appear.
Click ‘Select’ and the following screen will be displayed
There are some important notes below this screen – please be sure to read them!
Notes on the registration screen (shown above)
The fields denoted with an asterisk (*) must be entered. Fields not marked with an asterisk can be filled in later.
Username
This can be anything but we prefer “First Name Last Name”
E-mail Address
This is their usual email address.
Important
This may not be the email address the use to log into Google with If not they will need to enter their Google email address in the next field
Google E-mail Address
It is important to know what email address they have logged into the Chrome web browser with (that is the Google email address they are using). It’s important to get this right or they won’t be able to access the Fellow Collaborators sheet later on and this will cause frustration you can avoid!
Your Google Email
In many cases, you will have an email address that is different from the one you use to login into your Chrome web browser. For example, you may have a contact email which is something like Me@mycompany.com Whereas, you log into Google (i.e. your Chrome web browser) with an email address that could be different.
Mobile Phone Number
This is requires so that we can send SMS updates about the weekly workshop.
It also allows other collaborators to get in touch with them
Your Local Hub
This is selected from a drop-down selection (e.g Brisbane or Sydney)
Website / Link to further information
This field will often be filled in later. It may be link to a company website. However, it may also be a link to a Google doc with information for other collaborators with links to other websites
Relevant Industries
The industries which are relevant for this person can be chosen from a list When “Other” is chosen, another box will appear and the Collaborator can type a couple of industries in free-form
Relevant Positions
The position titles (such as “Director”) which would be relevant to describe this collaborator
Your Connector
When you are helping a new person to onboard, ask them to enter the contact email address you used when you registered (NOT your Google email address)
Explain that it could take a bit of time to find you. When found, your details will be shown as displayed.
Note: If not found, they may have entered your email address incorrectly (or you may have given them an email address other than the one you used to register)
Card Information
Explain to the person you are onboarding
Their card information is not stored anywhere in our system
If asked, explain that in the first instance all details on this form are collected by a plugin called PaidmembershipsPro (which has an exceptionally good reputation) and then passed to the Stripe payment gateway. Stripe is well known to many in business as being one of the most secure payment gateways. Stripe is fully PCI compliant.
Their credit card will not be immediately charged and after that, it is only $85 per month (easily cancelled at any time should they decide to). Initially, this is similar to checking into a hotel which requires entry of your credit card. even though there is no immediate charge.
Terms & Conditions
Remember to get them to tick agreement to the terms and conditions
Mailing List
This box is ticked by default and means they will receive a flyer about upcoming weekly meetings
After selecting “Submit and Checkout”
If there are any errors they will be displayed and you will be given the chance to fix them
If it’s all good, a screen showing their invoice will appear
The Builders Menu
“Builders” will now appear as an option in their menu as shown in the following screenshot
Ask them to click on the Builders menu & ‘hover’ over “Your Membership”
These options are self-explanatory.
Explain that when they are getting people it’s good to show them how they can cancel if they need to (see above).
In the end you are looking for a few people who see the value in and are motivated by building their own networks.
The leaders you find will usually be busy
As such, they will usually see the value in using and duplicating a systemised self-learning approach
In the search for leaders, you will find some great contributors who are very happy to be part of your team. However, they may not yet be rapidly building their own teams.
Rather than trying to ‘make’ them do what they know they should, it’s usually far easy to find some others who are ready to go now while the others “marinate” in a great environment.
Finding other Leaders
Leaders grow teams of people…. in any organisation, network, business or association of people.
Everything rises and falls on leadership.
Which is why it is so valuable acquiring leadership skills.
Becoming a leaders is purely a decision.
What’s Core-50?
You are recognised as Core-50 when you have:
4 teams that have a minimum of 10 people in each using the CC NBS (Network Building System) to build their networks
You have personally introduced a minimum of 5 people who are currently subscribing to the NBS
You have a minimum of 50 people in your group who are currently subscribed to the NBS
As you can see from the above, the main thing is to find just 4 leaders who are keen to build their network (of team building advocates).
When they each have 10 in their teams that is most of what needs to be done for you to achieve Core-50.
It’s quite exciting when you think about what just 4 others find a few more motivated people can achieve.
What’s Core-10 & Core-20?
You are recognised as Core-10 when you have 10 in your team of which you have introduced at least 5 personally.
You are recognised as Core-20 when you have 20 in your team of which you have introduced at least 5 personally.
Networking is vital they say – and they are right – but how do you effectively build your network?
How do most people see networking and what results are they achieving?
Most people see networking as the process of connecting with others in the hope of doing business with (or being hired by) those they reach out to.
We call this one-dimensional networking
It is typically very labour-intensive and does not multiply your time.
It typically goes something like this:
I meet with you and listen to your pitch
(but I’m not really listening – what I’m really doing is thinking about how I’m going to pitch to you)
We both agree we can’t do much for each other right now
(but we’re glad we’ve met and we’ll keep an eye out for good connections for each other in the future)
We move on looking to catch our next fish and rarely do anything to further the relationship
And what’s the process?
Meet and pitch to lots of people on LinkedIn?
Attend “networking” events and feel awkward about randomly breaking into conversations?
Do we engage in such activities consistently or just when we feel we need more business (because it is so unpleasant and unproductive we don’t enjoy it)?
2-dimensional networking
This is where you join a networking group where the expectation is that you will refer business to others in the group (whether you like and trust them or not).
Often this is a static group consisting of local business owners whose vision is limited to gaining success for their current business.
Little thought is given to achieving personal end goals through leverage.
This is fine if that’s all you want and you enjoy the social aspect of regularly meeting with the same group of people.
However, if you decide to put the time into networking – why not expect the process to produce much greater results through the leverage that is possible?
Build an exponentially growing network of people who proactively advocate for those they Know Like & Trust
The benefit here is that you learn how to find great potential partners with whom you can build Know Like and Trust relationships
It doesn’t matter what industry they are involved in because they are also consistently building their networks and meeting people who could be ideal business partners for you.
When they do find people that may be great contacts for you, they will do more than just refer you, they will actually advocate for you.
As your network expands you have a growing number of people who will advocate for you so that it becomes easier and easier to generate both short and long term results.
In most cases, the reason people will strongly advocate for you is usually that you have first advocated for them (the law of reciprocity is very powerful).
When you build your own network
You gain the respect of others who are also building their networks
There is no point in “joining” a network, purely to meet the people already in the network. No one will respect you or advocate for you unless you are willing to contribute by building your own network
You are in control of who you choose to build relationships with, who you advocate for and the results you achieve
You can now take advantage of the 3rd-dimension of networking by interacting with others building their networks
Which means you massively multiply your results
You discover many new ideas and commercial opportunities
What are the benefits of building your network?
Exponentially growing results are achieved by following proven duplicatable processes to build Know Like & Trust relationships with others who also believe in advocacy and reciprocity.
Which means you can leverage your time and quickly progress towards you personally desired end goals
As with anything worthwhile, it will take a small amount of consistent effort.
To help you put in place an action plan (that you can stick with) to make it happen
To provide the tools which can make it a practical reality
The Connect Collaborative does not provide or recommend business opportunities
Business is conducted between (and through) the members of the network you build and others building their networks within the Connect Collaborative
Our program has been developed by people who have created businesses from start-ups who are “paying it forward” – passing on the important lessons they have learned on their journey to setting up the life they desired.
An intelligent person learns from their own mistakes. A wise person learns from the mistakes of others!
Although it may sound trite, we believe the starting place for everyone should be:
Am I doing what I am doing?
Is it just about getting more business?
Is it just about ensuring I get the next job or gig?
Or am I seeking to set up a better future?
The following video really help to distinguish the difference between
Your End Goals & Your Means Goals
The Connect Collaborative has the tools, culture and process which can help you rapidly grow Know Like & trust relationships with an exponentially growing number of people who will proactively advocate for you.
Following are some of the ways you can find people who (like you) may be interested in investing in building their networks
Invite people you have already met
Invite people you are already connected with on LinkedIn that you’d like to get to know better
Create a filtered list of like-minded candidates on LinkedIn and reach out to those that you select from this list
Even if you only found people by reaching out to people you have not yet met on LinkedIn
Using the system should take only about 200 connection requests sent to a filtered list (good candidates) asking some version of:
If (like me) value stronger connections outside LinkedIn let’s connect with a view to meeting on Zoom or by phone.
Important Note
Effectively you are offering them your precious time – because:
You believe (from their profile) they have the attitude you are looking for and you believe you may be able to help them connect with people you know.
Note that (unlike most people) you are not wanting to connect with them because you think you may be able to sell them something
You are connecting because you think you may be able to help them (not the other way around).
How long would it take to send out 200 connection requests on LinkedIn?
At the rate of 10 per day = 20 working days
At the rate of 5 per day = 40 working days
The details of how to achieve Core-5
Are covered in the Workshop titled: Why Core-5 and When
What if you have your own (different) way of meeting people?
The first thing to consider is – will your way be faster and more predictable?
In other words, which category does your strategy fall into:
Pleasing methods or pleasing results?
And if you are time-poor, what’s the most effective way?
The second (and probably more important thing to consider) is that
Your main objective is to find 5 people who you can teach how to build a team of 5
If you can point to the (documented) systematic way of doing it, it could save you a lot of time trying to teach them your way and give them material to refer to in case ‘life gets in the road ‘ for you!
As we say: It’s not only what works that counts – it’s what duplicates that counts.
The Connect Collaborative exists to help people build (and activate) their own networks and to achieve exceptional tangible commercial outcomes.
By building your own network we mean proactively finding people who are not yet part of the connect collaborative who see the value of building their networks using the Connect Collaborative system.
As you build your own network in this way, you build great know like and trust relationships with these people (especially through the initial onboarding and subsequent help sessions). Through these people, you also get to know the people they onboard.
You also have the ability to introduce (and potentially advocate for) those people (once trust has been established) to others in the CC who are building their networks.
The Connect Collaborative grows and thrives for the benefit of all because everyone contributes by (1) Building their networks using the CC system and culture (2) Advocating for and to those they have come to know like and trust within and through the CC.
It’s OK to come to be part of the CC and just meet the others in the CC
However, that is unlikely to produce the results you really desire from being part of the CC
If you are passionate about achieving results and believe that building your network is the best way to achieve those results then it makes sense to set a small goal (Core-5) and encourage others in your group to do the same.
Just imagine if you achieved Core-5 and 5 others in your group also went Core-5.
What if those 25 also did Core-5?
That’s huge exponentially growing advocacy for you – right?
You are recognised as “Core-5” when you have found at least 3 people who are not yet part of the Connect Collaborative who now see the value of building their networks using the Connect Collaborative system and have decided to take a trial of the NBS
AND
You have at least 5 people in your team. You must have introduced at least 3 but the others may be introduced through the others in your team.
For example, you introduce 4 to the NBS and one of those introduced someone. You are now Core-5.
Core-5 is so easy & so worthwhile
We explore just how easy and worthwhile going Core-5 is during our workshop titled: “Build Your Team”.