What Your Business think

Networking is about building relationships with others. It's about giving first, before expecting to receive. It's about making contacts, and then developing relationships so that each person can feel comfortable referring the other person's services to others. It's about building TRUST. How long does it take to build trust? The amount of time varies. But, it definitely takes more than a chance one-time meeting.

The key with networking is building the relationship. This happens when you nurture, and maintain contact with persons who you desire to "build a network" with. Whether you use a contact management software program to help you do this, or a Rolodex file, it is important to find a way to keep in touch with the person.

Keeping in touch can be accomplished by:

1. Sending an article out of a newspaper/journal that may be of interest to them.
2. Inviting them out periodically for coffee to "relationship build."
3. Calling with some news, special information of interest to them.
4. Calling to let them know you referred a lead to them.
5. Socializing with them at networking events.

These are all simple ways to keep in touch, and might be done monthly. Of course, it is important to prioritize your contacts, and strive to develop the ones which you find are most valuable to you. They can be categorized by:

1. Needs my product
2. Knows someone who needs my product
3. Valuable or professional contact
4. Social contact
5. Useless contact (Yes, they exist! You will know which they are.)

How you categorize your networking contacts is up to you.

I have been attending a lot of networking events lately, meeting LOTS of new people. Today, I attended a group I have been part of for four years. It was great to see familiar faces. It was then that I understood the value of these long-term relationships, and how long they take to build. I felt "at home..."

© 2006, 2008 Bonita Richter and Profit Strategies.