“You are now competing with everyone on a global scale. There is no job security at all, and now it is all about being found instead of submitting your resume. Networking is the way to be found, and how the smart people get jobs and opportunities now. That is the big difference from even five years ago.”
Dan Schawbel, author of ‘Me 2.0: Build a powerful brand to achieve career success’
Many people start to proactively network when they want something, for example, a new job or new clients. This is too late. Core to any networker’s continual success are strong relationships built on a foundation of trust. These relationships and trust don’t magically appear on a first or second meeting; they take time to establish. This means that the best time to build and invest time in your network is at least six months before you need to call upon it.
“We are living in a knowledge economy in which the first thing to recognise is no single person is smart enough by themselves to be genuinely successful.”
Hamish Taylor, Shinergise partners Ltd
Effective business networking is the process of building up mutually beneficial relationships for your career or business. It is not the start of the sales process. Let me give you an example, of how networking personally helped me achieve my biggest career success – being commissioned to write this book. Without the introductions and profile I achieved via my networking activities, I can categorically state I would not be writing ‘The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking’. Amazingly, it was not the five introductions into publishers which secured me this deal, it was the profile I had generated my online networking activities, which brought me to the attention of FT Prentice Hall.
As Dan Schawbel said in his quote, smart people are using networking to be found and get the best pieces of business and assignments. What are you personally missing out on by not proactively networking?
Heather Townsend is the driving force behind The Efficiency Coach and a co-founder of 'the executive village'
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