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Why Networking is more important than ever
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I met with a couple of different acquaintances and friends earlier this week that are looking for employment. As this economy has continued to hit businesses, it’s also raised unemployment rates, and its caused business owners to scramble as they tighten their belts and still try to maintain a viable business presence.
What we need to do, more than ever, is continue to reach out to each other and network and share our needs with each other. I asked both the people I mentioned what they needed and they gave me some useful information I passed on to the rest of my network. Now my network can go to work for them, and perhaps help them out. And the result of that help is that at some point, those two people might be in a position to help someone in my network or their own networks.
Networking has been obsfucated by elevator speeches and business cards, so that people focus more on trying to get business from they network with, and focus less on listening and finding out what the genuine needs are of each person they are giving business cards to. While an elevator speech has its uses, and a business card can be a helpful way to make contact with someone, we need to remember that what makes networking effective isn’t the ability to spam people with what we want from them, but rather is the ability to listen to them, and find out what they need and help them make the right connections. The same applies for social networking, where what has changed is only the medium by which we communicate.
I can’t guarantee in the end that I’ll be able to help my two friends find jobs. But I know that by putting that need out there, I’m expanding it to my sphere of influence and that people in that sphere, will likewise put it out to their sphere of influence. And I know that while I’ll never get paid in money by those friends and that helping them isn’t directly relevant to growing my business, getting paid for my services, or other related concerns I have, I do know seeing a smile on their faces and knowing I helped even just a bit is its own form of payment. I’m paying it forward in hope and in the belief that by networking I can help make their lives, and others a bit easier, especially in the times we live in.
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