To network or not to network, that shouldn't even be the question

Let me define networking by mentioning what it is not: -It is not a one way street, e.g. you should not be asking others what they can do for you, you should be asking what you can do for them. (sound familiar...) -It is not about simply passing your business card to every living being in a social gathering. (That is the networking equivalent of spamming. People will think "who the heck is this person" & look for the nearest trash can. I've actually done that & it doesn't work! :) What you should do is get to know people a little and ask them what their interests are, what they are looking for and how you could be of assistance. Some of you may think that you have nothing to offer someone else (though this is not valid excuse since you can find practically anything you could ever want on the Internet), but if you at least know what the person is looking for, you can get back to him/her if you come across something that could be useful to the person. You can't really go too wrong on this because (especially if the person is a subordinate or peer) s/he knows that you are at least thinking about him/her. (Now you shouldn't send irrelevant & useless information too often since you will appear to be clueless. :) -It is not about being impatient & expecting the next $100 million contract from the first person you meet. You need to build trust in order for your network to be effective & building trust takes time. -It is not about waiting till you need something from someone to start talking to the person. By that time it is unlikely that that person will be willing to give you what you need. However, if you have already been speaking with the person and, even better, have already helped them out, they are much more likely to help you out. It's human nature. Of course you will come across bad apples that only take and never give, but the benefits of helping others far outway the drawbacks of dealing with selfish people on occasion. -It is not about taking as much as possible without giving anything back. You will quickly establish the reputation of being a selfish person. -It is not about making false promises about what you will do and then never follow through. You will again obtain a bad reputation as someone who makes false promises or essentially is a liar. If you can't help someone, let the person know & if possible refer the person to someone that may be able to help. You are then at least seen as someone who is honest and respectful of others' time. -It is not about waiting for people to come to you. It is about you finding others who you can help and who maybe in the future can help you.

In essence, networking is about giving without conditions or guarantees. (There is a little more to it than that but you will learn more as you go.)

Happy networking & let me know how I can help you? :)

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