RelationshipOps of the Week #4.

Do Something Else.

When I first started copywriting in 2020, I read multiple books and took several courses. But not long after, I felt a bottleneck.

And what got me out of it wasn’t more books or courses.

Instead, it was random experiences like fishing, running, and talking to strangers - totally had nothing to do with writing… but somehow made me a better writer. 

It’s the same with relationships.

You can read books like The Short List or The Referral Code, but after a while, you’ll realize the real breakthroughs come from random substacks like “How to engineer luck” (... we need some luck in relationships, don’t we?)

Finn McKenty.

That’s why in this piece, I wanted to bring in Finn McKenty (learn more)… someone who doesn’t come from the typical agency or consulting background, yet has built an extraordinary career over the past two decades and is now running a fractional CMO firm.

He’s helped generate over $15 million in revenue, worked with brands like Red Bull, Element, and Nike ACG, and grown an audience of more than 130 million views and 760k subscribers on YouTube, 105k followers on Instagram, and 15k on LinkedIn.

And he’s turned years of creative and marketing experience into lessons about visibility, consistency, and doing the work when no one’s watching.

In this piece, he shares about how the relationships he’s nurtured over the years have shaped his life… and how they continue to play a key role.

Dead-End Job.

Leonard Chin: What’s an instance when a relationship led to a big win or a really great opportunity for your business?

Finn McKenty:

Essentially every big opportunity I've had in business has come from some relationship that I had. Usually one that I built a long time ago without the intention of ever being transactional about it.

Probably the biggest one is back in 2002 or so when I met Chase Jarvis who people may know as the founder of CreativeLive but back then he was much earlier in his career as an outdoor sports photographer.

To make a long story short I was stuck in a dead-end job at the time doing printing. I had no idea how I was gonna get out of it and I took a chance on giving him a call one day after meeting him at the print shop and the rest is history-- we've worked together in various ways since then. Almost 25 years now!

The whole story here.

Nothing Heavyweight.

Leonard Chin: What's your daily/weekly routine for maintaining relationships that help your business?

Finn McKenty:

My general approach toward relationships and life in general is just that I really like meeting cool new people, learning about what they do, and making new friends. Maybe I could be more strategic or something like that by making friends with the "right" type of people but that's just not how I operate. The only way I know how to be is 100% genuine, for better or worse (it can definitely be a double edged sword).

I don't approach relationships in a transactional way, so I don't have anything like a master spreadsheet where I make sure I follow up with people and nudge them down my funnel. But I do mentally keep track of everyone and I make it a point to send people a note any time they pop into my head- which could be when I'm in line at the grocery store, lifting weights, or any other random moment.

It doesn't have to be anything heavyweight or super strategic, you can just say "Hey, I was just thinking of you. What's new in your world?”

Relationships Over Skills.

Leonard Chin: What tips would you give to your younger self around relationships and how they impact business?

Finn McKenty:

Without a doubt, there's nothing more powerful than relationships. You can have all the skills in the world but that will only take you so far without the right people in your life to help you apply those skills.

To give myself some credit I think I did a pretty good job over the years of building relationships. So I might tell myself, "You're on the right track, just keep doing what you're doing." In hindsight maybe I would just put 20% more effort into it but I think fundamentally I was doing the right things.

Key Takeaways.

While it’s not something we advocate at VeraOps, we think it’s just fine for those who prefer not to have a system for managing relationships.

Because everyone operates differently.

The most important thing here is… we keep our connection genuine and always begin with a heart to help others with our offers, expertise, and experience.

So, do whatever works best for you.

That said, we’re thrilled to feature Finn McKenty in this piece. To sum things up, here are a few takeaways from his approach:

• Every opportunity starts with a relationship. Finn McKenty’s biggest breakthrough came from a simple reconnection call with Chase Jarvis almost 25 years back… and that changed his career trajectory.

• Genuine beats strategic. He doesn’t rely on spreadsheets or funnels to “manage” relationships. Instead, he reaches out whenever someone crosses his mind with a quick, sincere message.

• Relationships amplify skills. Skills matter, but Finn McKenty believes relationships are the true multiplier. Because with the right people, they open up the right opportunities for you to implement the skills.

That’s all for now, and I hope you got some value out of this piece.

If you're open to sharing your experiences in one of our future articles… or know of someone who is, feel free to drop me an email here.

Author.

Leonard Chin
Follow me on LinkedIn.