updated May 2021 In Networking in the 21st Century, I spend a lot of time looking at the importance of follow up. The key to powerful networking is relationship-building. And relationships aren’t transactional, so your networking has to be more than just one-time encounters. To ensure that this happens, it’s important to create processes and systems that allow you to touch base with your networking contacts on a regular basis. This is where technology can really help. Social media and digital tools can give you an easy way to maintain you connections over time. Technology Tips to Become a Relational Networker 1. Capture contact … [Read more...]
The Magic Number of Networking Connections
I often get asked about the ideal number of connections you should have in your professional network. The topic often gets muddled because our first impulse is to equate networking success directly with the number of connections we have. I’m here to tell you that you don’t need a huge number contacts to have networking work for you. It’s much more important that you have strong relationships with the people in your network. But if you are really looking for that magic number of connections, here it is: One more than you have now. That’s the key to success. What’s really important isn’t the overall number of connections, but the … [Read more...]