Long Term Thinking

Having connections is a great way to get in front of people and to create possibilities. But having relationships with people goes a lot further. Networking is so much more than trading business cards and connecting on social media. The most value to be gotten from networking is in the creation and the building of long-lasting, mutually beneficial relationships.

Relationships involve things like trust, reliability, integrity and recommendations. When these things are present in a networking relationship, it’s the difference between:

“There’s this guy I my group, here’s his number but I don’t know if he does good work or not.”

and

“I have a buddy who can definitely help you out with that. He’ll do a great job and you’ll be in very good hands.”

The second kind of referrals above, are worth 10 of the first type, as you can imagine.

Relationships take time, don’t rush it. Keep in touch with your contacts on a regular basis and just keep building, one brick at a time. Stay the course and you will be rewarded.

Happy Networking!