Basic Networking
Everyone has a network. Not everybody knows it, and not everyone knows how to use it. In this post I’ll try to show how to map your current network as a first step to expansion in the future.
I believe that the base of every network, online or not, is the people around you. It doesn’t matter (and this is important) if your network is for business or any other purposes. You should always start with the people who know you and are in most cases fond of you.
Family – a lot of people have a hard time regarding to their family as part of their network, which is understandable due to the fact that most people are used to get a hot meal from their moms and not talk business. The funny thing is that in many cases family members can be strategic connections in your network. The advantages of family members are of a wide range. In some cases it could be your parents that naturally have years of experience in their field of work, or a sibling, an uncle or aunt. The family has two great advantages, they are very approachable when in need, and usually one can find a wide variety of professions in the family.
Of course there are families who network only in the family…
Places of work – it can be colleagues at your current work, friends from former companies you worked at. People you were their boss, your former boss and anyone you met while working. This includes people you meet every morning next to the coffee machine, especially if the coffee isn’t that good. Then you really have something to talk about. The advantage of keeping in touch with work colleagues and making them part of your network is that all of you have a familiar background and these people know what you are good at, and in many cases recommend you when necessary. And another thing, most of your colleagues will go through more than one work place in their lives. At some point one of these places could be a business opportunity for you.
Close Friends – how good do you know your friends? Where do they work? What do they do at work? What did they study? Where did they study? Knowing these details might be useful in the future. Your friends trust you, and enjoy being in your presence, they would probably be more than happy to introduce you to a colleague or a partner when asked.
All these people mentioned here or part of them could be a solid base to start your network. In the next posts we will review more opportunities to growing your network, and share our own examples.
