Rick Baker Thought Posts
Left Menu Space Holder

About the author

Name of author Rick Baker, P.Eng.

E-mail me Send mail
Follow me LinkedIn Twitter

Search

Calendar

<<  March 2024  >>
MoTuWeThFrSaSu
26272829123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
25262728293031
1234567

View posts in large calendar

Recent Comments

Comment RSS

People Networking…Succeeding in the 21st Century #2

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:
  1. understanding yourself…that’s the best starting point
  2. networking is a people-process…it takes 2 and it takes time
  3. 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.
 
More about networking in future blogs…

Tags:

Networking: The Joys of Connection

Comments (1) -

Richard Canada
12/5/2010 8:58:34 PM #

Great post.

Add comment

biuquote
Loading

Copyright © 2012. W.F.C (Rick) Baker. All Rights Reserved.