These days there are many faces to networking: business events; organizations that tout building relationships and having others sell for you; or the proverbial “meet and greet” functions, with its casts of thousands, who stand around shaking hands and handing out business cards which usually doesn’t lead anywhere.
So is it going to be the networking du jour menu, where you “pick your poison,” by choosing events blindly without any strategic planning? Or should you start to strategize about what you want to accomplish with networking and which path is going to work specifically for you.
I recently had the pleasure of meeting Bob Beaudine, who wrote “The Power of Who.” Bob advises that, “You already know everyone you need to know” to get what you want and to actualize your dreams through the simple process of identifying your WHO and connecting with them.
In today’s ever-changing and challenging business landscape, networking has become more important than ever. Establishing mutually beneficial relationships with other business people, potential clients and/or customers is the name of the game.
How would you rate your networking endeavors? Are you networking in a smart and strategic manner or are you just collecting business cards that are only good for collecting dust?
Please add your thoughts, comments and suggestions to this blog. As we all can benefit from a variety of approaches.
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Good points Terry. Netwroking is not an event . It is about building meaningful relationships. I would also mention the social networking that is such a focus of so many today. I would venture to say that the sane people who think handing as many cards out as possible at an event are the ones with 500 plus members in their linkedin group. Another waste of time.
ReplyDeleteHello Coach Terry Yoffe! And thank you for sharing your insights about Networking. I still recall the impressive coaching session you provided to me and a few colleagues and I'm still impressed by you. Everyone who networks should read this blog! I like to believe that my networking is highly effective and smart yet I'm always open for improving and enhancing my what I call "networkability." Thanks for sharing and hope to see you at future networking events. My best regards,
ReplyDeleteGloria Buono Daly
In honor of the 40th Anniversary of Woodstock, I thought I'd share this somewhat unconventional, but heartfelt thought about networking. In essence, networking is all about all of us helping each other. When I was at Woodstock, one of the MC's, Chip Munck, said this: "Hey, man, remember man, we all got to keep feeding each other, man." He didn't that literally, but figuratively -- we all have to work together to keep it all working.
ReplyDeleteGreat blog, Terry! Your points are right on - as always!
ReplyDeleteIn other news, congratulations on starting your blog! It looks great. I look forward to reading all your posts!