Professional Networking

Professional Networking for B2B Marketers

Overview

This skill covers professional networking strategies for B2B marketers and revenue professionals, including how to approach outreach, which platforms to use, who to prioritize in your network, and how to build relationships that compound over time. All practices are sourced exclusively from Exit Five podcast guests across 9 episodes. No general best practices have been added.

Who to Network With

Prioritize founders and CEOs, not just functional peers. Revenue professionals — marketers, sales leaders, and others — tend to default to networking only with people in their own function. Instead, intentionally build relationships with founders and CEOs. These relationships are higher-leverage because founders are the ultimate decision-makers and can open doors that peer networks cannot. Attend high-density founder events like SaaStr to make this efficient. (Source: Jason Lemkin, Episode #142; Episode #207)

Build these relationships before you need them. Most revenue professionals only reach out to founders when they're job hunting. Attend events like SaaStr — where founders above $1M ARR are present in high density — and introduce yourself before you have an ask. The mechanism is presence at the right events before urgency forces your hand. (Source: Jason Lemkin, Episode #207)

Develop a network of outside mentors who have no stake in your company. Build relationships with mentors and peers who don't work at your company and don't know your business. These outside relationships provide unbiased, actionable advice that colleagues — who are influenced by internal politics — cannot. Reaching out to strangers in your industry for mentorship is a high-ROI activity; many people are willing to engage. (Source: Tara Robertson, Episode #188)

Build skills through community and peer connection, not by becoming an expert in everything yourself. Recognize that you don't need to be an expert in all marketing disciplines. Actively network and build community relationships to learn from others who have deeper expertise in areas outside your core skills. This reduces pressure to know everything and accelerates learning through diverse perspectives. (Source: Tara Robertson, Episode #188)

How to Approach Outreach

Replace cold outreach with warm, relationship-first outreach. Move away from cold email and cold DM campaigns that pitch directly. Instead, build the relationship before making an ask: connect with prospects on LinkedIn before pitching, seek introductions, or invite them to events with social proof — such as roundtables or LinkedIn Lives with recognized attendees. Reserve cold outreach for specific, high-value asks (like attending an event) rather than generic pitch requests. (Source: Sara Lattanzio, Episode #268)

Demonstrate genuine engagement before making a request. When reaching out to potential podcast guests or collaborators, establish credibility by showing real familiarity with their work. Reference specific details from their previous interviews or posts, and show evidence of consistent interaction — such as LinkedIn comments — before making your ask. This significantly increases response rates compared to generic outreach. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #189)

Make unscheduled calls to executive peers to maintain existing relationships. This practice applies when you already have peer executive relationships (CRO, CEO, CFO) — not as a cold outreach tactic. Proactively call these peers with no preset agenda. These unstructured conversations often yield better ideas, more productive brainstorming, and stronger relationships than formal scheduled meetings, and help combat feeling disconnected from the executive team. (Source: Sylvia Lepoidevin, Episode #283)

Use a podcast as a long-term networking and learning tool. Start a podcast focused on a topic you're genuinely passionate about, with the goal of meeting interesting people and distributing knowledge — not to generate immediate sales. Over time, the podcast becomes a repository of expertise, a networking tool that connects you with peers and potential collaborators, and a source of inbound opportunities. Measure success by the quality of relationships and learning, not download numbers. Persistence matters; results compound over years. (Source: Sean Lane, Episode #187)

Platform Strategy: Twitter vs. LinkedIn

Use Twitter and LinkedIn for different networking goals. These platforms serve distinct purposes and should be used accordingly:

• Twitter/X is better for relationship building and DM conversations with peers and influencers. It functions as a messaging platform for your existing network. If you're trying to deepen relationships with specific contacts or build a smaller, highly engaged network, Twitter's DM culture is more valuable. As a concrete example: Amanda Goetz raised $2.6M for her last company primarily through Twitter relationships and DMs — not through viral tweets.
• LinkedIn tends to produce more consistent, predictable audience growth and is better for systematic audience building. If you're trying to grow an audience quickly, LinkedIn is more efficient.

(Source: Amanda Goetz, Episode #158)

Building Self-Awareness to Network More Effectively

Discover your own work preferences through low-stakes questions before making high-stakes networking or career decisions. Use a series of simple preference questions — hot or cold, movie or magazine, spring or summer — to build self-awareness about your dispositions and needs. Start with inconsequential preferences to develop the skill of identifying what you actually want, then expand to more consequential work preferences like management style, meeting frequency, and project types. This builds a foundation for understanding yourself without requiring identity statements or permanent self-definitions, and helps you identify which relationships and environments will actually serve you. (Source: Kara Hardin, Episode #160)

Where Experts Disagree

No disagreements were identified among the contributing guests on this topic.

What NOT To Do

• Don't rely on cold outreach as your primary relationship-building strategy. Cold email and cold DM campaigns that pitch directly are saturated and largely ignored. The warm alternative is specific: invite prospects to events with social proof — roundtables, LinkedIn Lives with recognized attendees — rather than sending a generic pitch. (Source: Sara Lattanzio, Episode #268)
• Don't only network with peers in your own function. Limiting your network to fellow marketers or sales professionals misses the higher-leverage relationships with founders and CEOs who are the actual decision-makers. (Source: Jason Lemkin, Episode #142; Episode #207)
• Don't wait until you need something to build relationships with founders. Reaching out only when you're job hunting signals transactional intent and limits the value of the relationship. (Source: Jason Lemkin, Episode #207)
• Don't send generic outreach when requesting someone's time or appearance. Failing to demonstrate genuine familiarity with a person's work before making an ask significantly reduces response rates. (Source: Dave Gerhardt, Episode #189)
• Don't rely solely on internal colleagues for mentorship and advice. People inside your company are influenced by internal politics and cannot give you the unbiased perspective that outside relationships provide. (Source: Tara Robertson, Episode #188)
• Don't measure a networking-focused podcast by download numbers. If you start a podcast to build relationships and learn, measure it by the quality of relationships and learning it generates. Optimizing for downloads misaligns incentives with the actual goal. (Source: Sean Lane, Episode #187)

Sources