Networking Tips
Forwarding is the New Networking by Mindy Selinger, author of Face to Face Networking
Well, guess what was forwarded to me - A link to this article by Tom Davenport of the Harvard Business Review, ‘Forwarding is the New Networking’. Tom’s article supports what I’ve been teaching for the past five years; The Importance of Sharing Information. Networking is the exchange of ideas, information and resources, (from John Naisbett’s book Megatrends) is, in fact, the definition of business networking that I use. Learn to use all those book marks and forwarding social networking buttons and you can share any article with hundreds of your closest business associates.
The world is getting smaller at the click of a mouse because social media use is now so prevelant. We’re unlimited in our networking reach. Will be become better networkers because of this? Not entirely. The quality of the connections you have are what’s important. Forwarding along useful information is an excellent way to stay in touchwith someone you met at a business networking event, let someone know you were thinking of them and their needs.
Be careful though. Don’t get in to the habit of just regurgitating the same old information to everyone. Make it personal. Always send along a short note on why the information will be useful to them.
Just the other day, one of my connections, that I met at a business networking event, forwarded me a resource and her thoughts on how I could use the resource for my benefit. I understood the value and took quick action. The subsequent result was Wonderful! I’m thankful someone thought of me.
I think Benjamin Disreali summed it up very well…. “As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information” (I’m sure he meant to include women, as well)
