Why Should We Network?

I love to network. I do it all the time. I have spoken to companies, schools and organizations across the country for years.

I guess that is why I am connected with thousands of people on LinkedIn. It surprises people but doesn’t surprise me as I was the guy waking up at 4.30 to take the 6.45 flight to Albuquerque, Omaha, Baton Rouge, Albany, and Jackson Mississippi from John Wayne Airport.

Establishing a broad network takes lots of personal investment. Some people want others to do their work for them.

I always know I am two to three calls to find resources. It’s important in my line of work. Solving problems is a big part of what I do. I don’t have a job. I only get to bank what I make happen. I am a simple working man.

Over the course of my journey I have I tried to put some metrics on my networking journey from Why I Network with People in Transition to Is Pay it Forward the Right Metric in Networking to Networking in Buenos Aires. I count my money in different ways. I accepted Social Currency before Bitcoins.

I know the easy people to reject. Hi Hank I met you at a networking event, can you please connect me to this marketing person that you are connected to on LinkedIn. I have a great idea for them. I have a great idea for you also my friend. Using me is abusing me. It shows a lack of respect.

Hi Hank. We are connected on LinkedIn. They want me to connect them and use my network to monetize them for free because we are on LinkedIn together. I don’t feel very close to them. I know the cashiers and baggers at my grocery store better. A cashier baked me a poppy seed cake for Christmas a few years ago.

I get other invites.

Hey buddy can I buy you a cup of coffee. I drink Decaf so coffee doesn’t mean much to me unless I am having a Café Con Leche in Buenos Aires. Now we are talking.

A tall decaf late at Starbucks is $2.95. Not really worth my time to meet at a Starbucks where in the New Normal everyone has an office for free. I heard a story about a coffee shop in London where the tea and the coffee and the toast were free but you had to pay for the amount of time you spend there.

Another outreach I get is let’s get together and see how we can help each other. More old networking language that has grown stale today. An approach learned in the Old Normal. Usually used by people who want me to help them for free.

Then there are the tough choices. I got an email from a person the other day. I have known him on and off over the years. He sent me a thought on a presentation that had come from attending a Mentor Conference with enough speakers to numb the mind.

It said Never Underestimate the Gift That Can Come from a Single Conversation. That’s the elixir of new networking encounters. Will this lead to Shangri-La? Rationally it is not a high probability approach.

What a web networking can weave.

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