When I first began writing these little articles, several months ago, I talked about networking. It’s a subject that I find fascinating. Many people are afraid of it, but many people thrive on it at the same time.
We all know that we need to network whether it’s face to face networking or social networking in order to grow our businesses. But I hope that, at the same time, networking is also important to you because you want to build relationships, just for the sake of building relationships. People have made life long friends through networking, and not just through attending networking events, but through participating on a Board of Directors of the organization of your choice.
I am very excited because in a couple of months, I will be participating as Chairman of the Programming Committee for the Orange County Los Angeles chapter of the American Advertising Federation. Will there be a lot of work and a lot of responsibility? You bet there will, but I’m feeling that the rewarding part is going to come from those close relationships that I will develop from sitting on the board.
Christine Oller, Change Strategist, suggests three fresh approaches to networking:
#1
Networking is actually more about listening than talking. To network with someone
is to make a genuine, quality connection with them. In order to do that, you must
engage them as the person they are, not as the job they do.
#2
Networking is truly one of the most powerful and yet one of the most underutilized
tools that each of us has in our toolkits. And, by using it, you can start to change
your life without first changing your circumstances.
#3
When you are networking, There’s no desperation. You are not begging for a job.
You are presenting folks with information that they or someone they know might find
helpful now or at some point in the future. The more people that you educate, the
more people you will have out in the world effectively educating other people about
you.
So there you have it. Some food for thought.
Happy summer, and happy networking!