How long have you been networking? I’ve been at it since July of 2000. For over 8 years I’ve joined various groups, visited dozens of others, and given my “elevator speech” so many times that I can recite it in my sleep. I’ve been hugely successful in my networking. Not because I’m a genius, but because I’m patient. Many times I speak to people that are either quitting the networking group they belong to or not renewing their chamber of commerce membership. Although I understand that there are times when the group or chamber is the issue, the vast majority of the time the reason for discontinuing is the person hasn’t gotten results. Funny thing is that whether you succeed or fail at something, you have gotten a result.
I always ask about the details of the supposed failure, and the answers are fairly consistent. The person who hasn’t gotten results from networking, generally hasn’t put in either enough effort or time into the endeavor. On some occasions, they lack the skill-set to facilitate positive results (check out my earlier posts on the subject). Overwhelmingly, however, it comes down to sowing and reaping. And, yes, it has to be in that order. And, just like with crops, there has to be an understanding that your efforts will not yield results immediately. As I like to say in my networking seminar, the only place that success comes before work is in the dictionary.
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