Networking? I haven’t done much of that recently.
I know it is important but I am so busy.
I hear that from people all the time.
Except if the person is in transition and then they have all the networking time in the world.
I got an e mail from a successful person the other day.
I would suspect that their financial currency is high but their social currency may need a deposit.
They shared that they had done a poor job of networking outside of the people who they had worked with in the past. That’s not a bad strategy per se but it keeps you network relatively a small circle.
Many people think that they are networking when they are online.
A thin layer of commitment that most people would think would be shallow in their personal lives.
I have heard the rationale.
I will connect when my friends reach out to me.
We are friends so we don’t need to communicate a lot. We feel each other.
Good friends are there whenever you want them even if we haven’t talked in a bit.
It was probably years.
This is an ideal time for you to write your networking tips for the coming year.
I don’t live your life but here are some Holiday and New Year’s networking tips I have written in the past.
I did a press release called Networking tips for the coming year through Business Wire in Dec 2008. That was the year the world melted and everything changed for everyone but the release is still online.
It cost me money to do it not just time. I had all the time in the world but no money.
I had an article in the OC Register in 2009 on networking. I wish the reporter still had a job.
I have learned from my networking mistakes in the past when my network didn’t know me.
Now is the best time to develop your networking plan for the coming year.
Start with low hanging fruit.
Have lunches or coffee with people that you know. I can guarantee you that you haven’t seen them in a long time. Time flies quickly. What you think is recent is most likely a memory. Ask them to recommend 2 to 3 interesting people they have met in the past year.
Attend a couple of industry networking events a month. Don’t overcommit and under deliver.
Have one networking event a month with a stranger that reaches out. Some will become your friends.
Let me leave you with a question. How would your life change if you met one new person a day?