Last week I posted a story about networking on LinkedIn that surprisingly got a lot of attention because it focused on an idea that is often overlooked by many networkers and that is 'mutual benefit'.
As I suggested, networking is not marketing, sales,
or a numbers game. It's a relationship game where the objective is to help others get what they want before what you want. So what is networking? Networking is a social activity where groups of like-minded individuals come together to share information about themselves, their area of expertise, provide and receive business referrals to/from other members, and serve as a resource for others. Business networking serves many purposes: sales, general marketing, recruiting, job-hunting, knowledge exchange, and business development and out of all of these, business development is the one that it supports best. Meeting new people in person is one of the best ways to market yourself, your company, products, and services and it's an environment where you'll have the opportunity to expand your contact list, particularly when you meet someone that will be of benefit to one another.
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or a numbers game. It's a relationship game where the objective is to help others get what they want before what you want. So what is networking? Networking is a social activity where groups of like-minded individuals come together to share information about themselves, their area of expertise, provide and receive business referrals to/from other members, and serve as a resource for others. Business networking serves many purposes: sales, general marketing, recruiting, job-hunting, knowledge exchange, and business development and out of all of these, business development is the one that it supports best. Meeting new people in person is one of the best ways to market yourself, your company, products, and services and it's an environment where you'll have the opportunity to expand your contact list, particularly when you meet someone that will be of benefit to one another.
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