A Business Network Makes You Powerful Article 5 of 8
A Business Network Makes You Powerful Article 5 of 8
With proper planning and strategy, you can populate your network with the right type of people in a reasonable amount of time. People who make the effort to constantly develop and nourish their networks will find that it is fun and rewarding. The following are 7 ways to build your network whether you are in sales or just want to further your career.
1. Lunch This is the most underutilized opportunity to build a network. I am amazed at how many people have lunch with the same group of people almost daily. In addition, many executives spend too many lunches eating at their desks. Not only is this not healthy, its bad for business and your career growth. One good habit to make is to have lunch with new people every week. Another is to try to never eat alone. By doing so, you are stretching yourself to build relationships with broader sets of people. It also allows you to get to know people from all departments and from all levels of the company. Outside the company, it affords you the ability to stay in touch with former colleagues and friends.
2. Exercise Choosing the right gym allows you to combine a great work-out with running into the right people. Many have found that choosing a gym where many executives work out and going at the right times have proven to be very profitable.
3. Community Involvement Another great place to build your network is through community involvement. Taking leadership positions in your community gives you an opportunity to be more exposed to others around you that have a common interest. If you are genuinely interested in the cause you are fighting for, you will create a bond with others that share the same passion.
4. Online The Internet has created some great ways to get and stay in touch with former and current friends and colleagues. One of the ones I use is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is simple to use, has a large number of users, and helps people share ideas, get information, meet new people, get business, find service providers, find employees, find jobs, and collect testimonials in an efficient manner.
5. Professional Associations This is one of the most common networking tools, allowing you to network with other people with similar backgrounds and interests to yours. Organizations like your local Chamber of Commerce bring professionals together to help each other. These organizations usually bring together 3 components: education, community, and commerce for its membership.
6. Join a Networking Group If you are in sales and want to have your own marketing team from other industries, it is a good idea to join a networking group. The best groups are set up to ensure that you have no competing businesses (or limited overlap) among the other members. This way, everyone in the group is there to create referrals for each other. Business Networking International is one of the largest organizations, with many chapters in most major markets. There are a lot of benefits to joining these groups: They bring you an established organization, processes that work, and make it easier for you to form a group.
7. Build Your Own Networking Group If you are a more seasoned networker with very high-level contacts and already recognize a formable group of other networkers, it may be more beneficial to establish your own group. To form one is not very difficult, and the benefits can be much better than joining the established networking groups. The advantage here is that you have more control over quality, as many networking organizations tend to compromise quality for growth because they are trying to make money.
Networking does not necessarily have to be hard, but it is work. By having a strategy and working your network regularly, you will find that building one can be fun, and anyone can do it.
A Business Network Makes You Powerful Article 5 of 8 - To learn more about this author, visit Howard Shore's Website.
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Networking should be part of every college curriculum, regardless of major. It is something that everyone should do while in college and continue to do from the day they exit. Unfortunately, many believe that networking is not for them, that it is only for those people that are very outgoing, those that are in sales, or those that have an immediate need for it in their position. However, networking is important for everyone. For example, at some point in their careers, many will experience being displaced from their jobs. Even owners close their businesses to move on and do other things. It is in moments like these that people who did not build their networks wish they had.
With proper planning and strategy, you can populate your network with the right type of people in a reasonable amount of time. People who make the effort to constantly develop and nourish their networks will find that it is fun and rewarding. The following are 7 ways to build your network whether you are in sales or just want to further your career.
1. Lunch This is the most underutilized opportunity to build a network. I am amazed at how many people have lunch with the same group of people almost daily. In addition, many executives spend too many lunches eating at their desks. Not only is this not healthy, its bad for business and your career growth. One good habit to make is to have lunch with new people every week. Another is to try to never eat alone. By doing so, you are stretching yourself to build relationships with broader sets of people. It also allows you to get to know people from all departments and from all levels of the company. Outside the company, it affords you the ability to stay in touch with former colleagues and friends.
2. Exercise Choosing the right gym allows you to combine a great work-out with running into the right people. Many have found that choosing a gym where many executives work out and going at the right times have proven to be very profitable.
3. Community Involvement Another great place to build your network is through community involvement. Taking leadership positions in your community gives you an opportunity to be more exposed to others around you that have a common interest. If you are genuinely interested in the cause you are fighting for, you will create a bond with others that share the same passion.
4. Online The Internet has created some great ways to get and stay in touch with former and current friends and colleagues. One of the ones I use is LinkedIn. LinkedIn is simple to use, has a large number of users, and helps people share ideas, get information, meet new people, get business, find service providers, find employees, find jobs, and collect testimonials in an efficient manner.
5. Professional Associations This is one of the most common networking tools, allowing you to network with other people with similar backgrounds and interests to yours. Organizations like your local Chamber of Commerce bring professionals together to help each other. These organizations usually bring together 3 components: education, community, and commerce for its membership.
6. Join a Networking Group If you are in sales and want to have your own marketing team from other industries, it is a good idea to join a networking group. The best groups are set up to ensure that you have no competing businesses (or limited overlap) among the other members. This way, everyone in the group is there to create referrals for each other. Business Networking International is one of the largest organizations, with many chapters in most major markets. There are a lot of benefits to joining these groups: They bring you an established organization, processes that work, and make it easier for you to form a group.
7. Build Your Own Networking Group If you are a more seasoned networker with very high-level contacts and already recognize a formable group of other networkers, it may be more beneficial to establish your own group. To form one is not very difficult, and the benefits can be much better than joining the established networking groups. The advantage here is that you have more control over quality, as many networking organizations tend to compromise quality for growth because they are trying to make money.
Networking does not necessarily have to be hard, but it is work. By having a strategy and working your network regularly, you will find that building one can be fun, and anyone can do it.
A Business Network Makes You Powerful Article 5 of 8 - To learn more about this author, visit Howard Shore's Website.
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David BarrDavid Barr is the President of Venture Opportunities, Inc. David has been a professional business broker/intermediary since 1980 focusing on General Business Brokerage and Mergers and Acquisitions representing client transaction value from $400,000 to $20,000,000. Mr. Barr has handled the sale of over four hundred and fifty companies. David earned a university degree from the State University of New York majoring in economics and business. David holds the Mergers and Acquisition Master Intermediary and the Certified Business Intermediary designations from the International Business Brokers Association. He is also a Senior Business Analyst and a Texas licensed Real Estate Agent. For more information about David and Venture Opportunities, visit www.bizdealmaker.com. - Visit David Barr's Website |
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Jeff FosterWebBizIdeas.com is a Minneapolis website design company founded to help people start an internet business by providing them with website, business, and internet resources that help foster the growth of successful online businesses and develop innovative Internet business ideas. We specialize in internet consulting & internet marketing. - Visit Jeff Foster's Website |
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David AchesonDavid Acheson is the founder of DCJA Consultancy. DCJA Consultancy is a management consultancy business specialising in B2B sales consultancy. They offer bespoke and packaged sales consultancy including Sales Optimisation Review, Interim Sales Management, Sales & Marketing Review, 1:1 Sales & Management Staff Analysis, Management Training, Solution Sales Training, Creation of New Pay Plan, KPI's, run Customer Feedback Campaigns, assist with Recruitment, Coaching, Appraisals and set up Strategic Marketing Campaigns. David spent his early career in accountancy and then moved into sales in 1982, working in Office Equipment, IT, Advertising, Training, Outsourcing and Consultancy. He has held many Senior Positions in SMBs and Global Organisations including Head of Sales Operations & Head of Business Development. His knowledge, skills and great experience of the Sales Industry has led to David making keynote speeches and running educational sessions to key businesses through organisations including The Chamber of Commerce and Business Link. - Visit David Acheson's Website |
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Leanne Hoagland-SmithAre your sales where you want them to be? Will you be one of the few who achieves sales or business success or one of the many who have failed to change? Are you tired of being told you are like everyone else? Then you may find my first book on sales of interest. Be the Red Jacket in the Sea of Gray Suits, The Keys to Unlocking Sales available at Amazon or at http://www.processspecialist.com/red-jacket.htm. This book is a reflection of my no-nonsense approach to improving sales to overall business results. If you are truly committed to making sustainable changes, then I can help you secure a positive return on your investment because I focus on executable solutions not telling you the problems you already know you have. From training to corporate (group) coaching to executive one on one coaching, my approach is to assess, create awareness, build a goal driven action plan and then execute. The bottom line question is "Not do you or your employees know it, but do you or they want to do it?" Please call for a free strategy session at 219.759.5601. - Visit Leanne Hoagland-Smith's Website |
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Cheryl MatthynssensCheryl is a life skills coach, licensed Chemical Dependency Counselor and a 20 year entrepreneur. Cheryl's dedication to achieving a life of balance led to her expanding her teaching from the simple managing of life's daily challenges to adding financial well being as well. A direct marketer with DrinkACT, she is gaining ground in the online community with her concepts of making sure business owners, entreprenuers and employees have well rounded life styles. She opened up a small affiliate site - The Balance Guide- to help others find resources for mental and emotional well being. Visit Cheryl's blog to see more of the diversity beyond business she has began offering online at www.thebalanceguide.blogspot.com - Visit Cheryl Matthynssens's Website |
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