by Rick Baker
On Jun 1, 2010
Lately, I have been spending quite a bit of time talking with quite a few people about networking.
The people I meet have disparate views about networking.
Some folks tweet dozens of times a day, follow other folks on Twitter and Facebook, and tell me ‘getting your name out there’ is what it is all about. Other folks tell me they attend local business-social events and don’t find this networking to be productive.
For business, I define networking as: meeting new people and re-meeting people in a business or social context.
3 points for networking success:
- understanding yourself…that’s the best starting point
- networking is a people-process…it takes 2 and it takes time
- to obtain value from networking be prepared…you must work at it
Q: Are Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter networking?
A: Yes, under the above definition, networking does not have to be face-to-face it can be face-to Facebook, etc. In other words social networking is a type of networking. Face-to-face networking is another type of networking. And, for most business people both types are networking can provide value.
Q: How do selling and business networking differ?
A: A successful selling process happens when one party feels persuaded to purchase something from another party. A successful business networking process happens when two people understand enough about one another to assess whether or not there is a probability for them to do business together at some future time. Networking is distinct from selling/buying. It is a good precursor to selling/buying…networking paves the path to selling/buying.
Links to other blogs about networking:
More about networking in future blogs…