I'm grateful for all of my blogger friends who have sent me questions to answer about Smart Networking for a virtual blog interview. If you're interested in getting in on the fun, I'm actually going to hold a contest à la Rohit Bhargava, the brilliant digital strategist who pioneered this. More details in tomorrow's post.
However, Kevin Burke (@kb33), founder of boutique firm Lucid Marketing, set an even tougher challenge for me: Give three networking tips in 140 characters or less. Not one tip in 140 characters, but three! It took a bit of thought, but here's my answer (in exactly 140):
Clarify goals to focus activities/be comfortable offering and receiving help/build visibility, networking is easier when people approach YOULooking over this, I'm pretty happy with it. It actually does capture three unique principles of Smart Networking:
- Your goals should drive your networking activities. Don't just start showing up at events and connecting randomly with whoever happens to be there. Start by defining exactly what you want to achieve, which will determine who you need to have in your network, and that, in turn, will help you identify the best activities to pursue. They might be different than you think.
- Be as proficient at offering help as receiving it. The traditional mantra of networking is "give to get," but I prefer to think of balancing the two. By being a helpful and generous person in general, people will more readily and proactively offer their help. Being able to graciously accept that help is key to ensuring that more will be available to you in the future.
- Market yourself to boost your profile as a networker. Networking can take a lot of time if you have to do all the chasing. But when people seek you out, already primed to work with you and arriving on your doorstep with opportunities in hand, networking becomes a whole lot easier.
What are YOUR three best networking tips? Share them in 140 characters or less in the comments section below and/or on Twitter. Be sure to include your Twitter handle so I can follow you. I'm @liz_lynch. Thanks for playing!
Hey Liz!
Yours is brilliant - and tough to follow. But I'll play. Here's mine:
Know your own vision for the world, discover the visions of others, make connections to help everyone realize their aspirations.
@WalterAkana