HOW DO YOU NETWORK?
We all know networking is important for our business and our own personal growth. Meeting and establishing relationships is vital to our business and personal health. So, how do you network? What do you do? Are you using social media outlets like Twitter, Facebook, and LinkedIn? Do you go to networking meetings? How often? Do you pay for these events? Is it worth the time and money? These are all valid questions and the answers are probably varied for everyone.
I live and work north of Boston, so I usually attend networking events in the greater Boston area, and since I work during the day, these events fall in the evening. I attend Chamber of Commerce events, and several different business association and LinkedIn groups, and most require a payment to enter, with a discount usually offered for purchasing tickets ahead of time. This can get costly if I attend alot of events, so I occasionally skip some gatherings for financial reasons. Ofcourse, calendar also plays a part in being able to attend all events too. Sometimes there are schedule conflicts and I miss a great event, which I am sure happens to all of us.
What is your approach to networking? Everyone is different in the way they network and in the way they accept other peoples networking methods. I am an agressive networker and not everybody agrees with the way I do things, but it's my philosophy we need to make as many contacts as possible and find the ones that will agree to build a working relationship. I use Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and contact as many people as I can. These are networking tools and I use them as often as possible. Not everyone accepts connection requests, and that is okay with me, but many more do, so it's worth the agressive efforts. Once connected, I also try to build relationships. I send emails, newsletters and blogs. I join the maximum number of groups and I post as often as I can. Not all posts get published, but that is okay too. When my posts are published they can be very effective.
Networking events can be fun, and I set out to meet as many people as I can shake hands with and swap business cards. Listening is probably my biggest challenge, as I tend to talk alot, but I am working on listening and hope it creates better relationships. Follow-up is also something I do regularly. After an event I will send emails telling people I enjoyed meeting them and hope we can get together again at some point soon. I believe if people hand out their cards, they should expect contact to be made. Isn't that why we give out our cards in the first place? And this includes phone calls. The cards have our phone numbers for a reason, so we should expect the occasional "luke warm market" call we get from people we meet at networking events.
So in summary, here are my key points to networking:
1. Attend as many networking events that you can afford and your calendar allows.
2. Have fun, but be agressive and meet as many people as you can, listen to what
they say, and follow up.
they say, and follow up.
3. Utilize networking tools like Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter to make as many
connections as you can.
connections as you can.
4. Send out emails, newsletters, blogs, and post often in group discussions.
5. Make "luke warm market" calls and establish relations with willing partners.
What do you think? Let me know how you network, and maybe we can discuss it over coffee!
I do go to as many networking events as I can, but it does get costly. Thus the reason for HBSU's new networking group on LinkedIn, "Instant Networking Org". This is an open group with an open forum. Share whatever is on your mind and offer some networking tips. We also will be meeting in person once a month, a FREE NETWORKING EVENT open to all. We are going to hold it at my home at 29 Fiske St. in Tewksbury, MA to start things off. HBSU will provide free water, soft drinks, and munchies, and you are welcome to bring your own beer or wine. There won't be any agendas, just simple networking.... refreshments, good conversations, and establishing and building new contacts and business relationships. Sound good? Please, go to the LinkedIn Group, "Instant Network Org" and join today. The first meeting will be in April, with the date and time to be determined. Stay tuned!
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