Networking gets a bad rap and how to fix it

Gayle Hallgren-Rezac said...
Networking gets a bad rap because it continues to be so transactional. Even when people give lip service to the idea that you should 'try and do something nice for someone else' it comes with some FINE PRINT: 'they owe me one.' This idea of networking indebtedness is wrong.

Sue Pelletier editor of Association Meetings magazine is right on the markdescription that meeting people and building relationships starts with approaching it in a 'thoughtful, respectful, non-commercial way' takes all the pressure off the 'hard sell' of typical networking. We (the authors of WORK THE POND! Use the Power of Positive Networking to Leap Forward in Work and Life Prentice Hall) subscribe 100% to Sue's unconditional philosophy that "it's all about finding people who have a need you can fulfill. Whether or not it will ever pay off for you personally, you do what you can for that person. By meeting that need without a "what's in it for me" mindset, you create a relationship with that person, and, by extension, with the people s/he knows."

We call it Positive Networking, (discovering what you can do for someone with no expectation of anything in return) and if you don't already practice this when networking/meeting people you should give it a try. It takes all the pressure off. It's a better way to build business because in the end...people do business with those they know, trust and LIKE.

Raising people network shepa one connection at a time
www.workthepond.com