Networking - The Old Fashioned Way.

Do you even remember what it is or is it a thing of the past?   Is it still vital in today's business with the focus being so intense on social media these days?  What is the old fashioned way?  Well... from my point of view and after looking it up to get a good definition..it is...

"the exchange of information or services among individuals, groups or establishments specifically the cultivation of productive relationships for business, personal or other group activities."

At one time or another, we have all been in situations where networking was involved.  From the time we were children to teens and into adulthood, networking has been key in the growth of our relationships with others.  In high school or college, we attended school functions, football games, dances, parties... where we engaged or socialized with our peers.   Basically, we were networking and didn't even know it.  

In today's work environment, relationships are essential to the growth of every successful company.   Through-out my careers, it has been stressed over and over, how important relationships are... and not just building them, but maintaining them... nurturing them and honestly, I would not be where I am today without the relationships I have been so fortunate and blessed to have made through-out the last 4 decades.    Thank goodness, I am a "people person".   I absolutely love people and often, I can meet someone for the first time and feel as if I have known them all my life.  

If you were to ask any successful business person, I honestly believe that they will tell you that above all else networking skills are absolutely vital to grow your business. Why?  Networking can increase your market share, help you gain new ideas, provide work and perspectives on life and business. It can expand your brand within a matter of minutes.  Speaking to one person can potentially give you access to over 200 clients and suppliers or more. 

Now, I know that with social media... the expansion of networking is now in the thousands, but I like to think that the old fashioned method is still the most effective.  I am not saying social media isn't important... it is, but for me... I enjoy meeting someone and getting to know them.     

I've been in many conversations with my colleagues and was shocked to discover that there are a lot of people who are uncomfortable with networking.  I tried to imagine that... and while at times, it has been overwhelming to walk into a room not knowing someone, I found that all it takes is a warm smile and a friendly hello to strike up that first conversation.  I have always stressed to co-workers and employees... don't wait for someone to approach you... initiate the conversation and even though you may be afraid or uncomfortable, by reaching out first, you have the opportunity to meet people who look interesting to you.   

I found the quote below while researching successful tips on networking and found this statement to be profound.    

           Effective business networking is the linking together of individuals who, through trust and     relationship building, become walking, talking advertisements for one another. 

Isn't this so true?  I mean, seriously, how many times have you been in conversations with someone and they mentioned that they were looking for some particular product or something and if you knew someone, you immediately recommended them or told them you'd make an introduction.  For me... I do it daily.   I have actually become known as someone who can make introductions... and that's not a bad place to be.   For me... I just love seeing the right people get together to create success. 

What else can you do to become effective?   Well... one thing is when you walk into a crowd, don't shrink into a corner.  Be seen.  Smile warmly, greet everyone and try to set yourself apart from the crowd.   Make sure that you dress for success.   There are times to dress up and times to dress down, depending on the occasion, but know that impressions, especially first ones are lasting.  Be positive and confident.  Even if you're feeling shaky on the inside...project a calm and confident manner outwardly.   Once you do this enough, it will be come natural.   

One thing that I have found in my own careers is by being open and assessible and willing to help others, it comes back two fold.  Be approachable and engaging and most of all, be geniune.   These are the things that for me have proven to be successful time after time.   There's a thrill and challenge in every opportunity to network because you never know who you might meet or connect with at any given chance.    I've always found that by just being myself... it usually works out.   When you meet someone new, you don't always have to talk business... small talk can be quite effective in developing a relationship.   Being able to talk to anyone about anything is a valuable commodity in its own way and essential.

Networking is not about selling a company or product. Its about two people who meet and engage in a conversation.    Its about meeting someone and listening to them and showing that you have a geniune interest in them as a person.  By being fully engaged, you are showing the other person that you really do want to get to know them.   You can always provide them with your business card at the end of the conversation and tell them that you'd love to visit with them more.   Its a great way to make sure that you get their information and have a way of following up with them. 

Even though, we are moving forward with technology that provides new ways of linking and reaching other individuals, I would still like to believe that the old fashioned way works best.  Nothing takes the place of being face to face wtih someone and having that acknowledgement that they are actually listening to you.   Having a smile returned or finding someone to talk to that you really find interesting.  

For me... there's simply nothing better than that.  (Well..... okay, maybe the Old Fashioned Cocktail...hmmm... as a very good friend of mine would say - YUMMY!)

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Social Media... Is it Ruling Your Life?

How many times within a 24 hour period do you check Facebook?   Tweet something?  View your linked in profile?  Check in somewhere using foursquare?  What other social sites are you using on a regular basis? 

Sitting here, I am trying to remember back to a time when there was no facebook, no twitter, no linkedin, no four square, no google buzz.... none of the social media that has the world wrapped in a warm embrace.      How did we spend all the minutes... sometimes hours that we now devote to these vehicles?   Social media... is it ruling your life?  As I was trying to determine what to blog about this week, it crossed my mind, that I may be guilty as well.   Before I sat down to write... I found myself checking all of my own social media sites.  The thought occurred to me and I began to think about how often I am on all of them... and what did I do before all of these came along?    

With the latest advances that our cellular devices and networks are providing we are now more connected than ever before.   Every day, more technologies are coming out... it will only get more involved.   I tried to think about the advantages and disadvantages of being so addicted to all of these.  Is addicted the right term?    Its kinda like when cell phones first came out or for me,  when I got my first blackberry.... I was immediately known as a "crackberry" because I was the person who definitely checked emails and texted during dinners, lunches, meetings and all of the between.   In my own defense and mindset... I thought I was being productive.  I couldn't help myself.  It dinged ... and I would feel compelled to check it and answer.

 There came a time when my two grown children threw an INTERVENTION and the crackberry had to stop... especially when I was with them.  It was then, that I realized how absorbed I had become... okay, I was addicted.  Very addicted.  So I began the process of breaking myself away... so that I would only check emails at intervals and that at night, I would set it aside for several hours.    Just when I thought I had broken myself... of being SO addicted to it - WHAM... social media comes along and here we go again.  Social media gives us justified reasons that we are all spending countless minutes and hours on our cell phones, ipads, computers, smartphones.... basically anything that has access to the internet or is it justified.   The only thing to offset my addictive behaviour now... is that the world around me all seem to be caught up into it. 

Can you remember the first time you logged into a social media site?  If you were like me... you were like a fish out of water, afterall, most of the social sites at the time were targeting high school and college age.  Once getting on and learning the navigation and trying to understand the whole purpose...my whole attitude changed.  I didn't feel so inferior anymore, I wanted to learn more about it.  Personally,   I think social media has a lot of positives.   On facebook, my friend list is a mixture of family, friends, colleagues and friends that I had in high school or college that I am now re-connecting and enjoying seeing where they ended up in life.   Its a way to share photos and updates with all of those on my friend list at one time.   It's also a way to be kept abreast of what's happening around me.   Every morning, I can log on to facebook at any given time... and find out some news.   Facebook is like a revolving door.. and its always entertaining but a lot of times it can be informative.  Out of all of the sites, I use it the most and its really the more personal of the ones that I use.   Secondly, I use LinkedIn where I connect with all of my professional friends and colleages.  You can also browse the various groups, read interesting discussions, see what jobs are open, and yes, share status updates on it as well.  Lastly, I do tweet as well.   When tweeting, its usually something really specific as I do not have all of my accounts on social media intertwined.   I have different sets of friends on each, although some do cross over to all three.  Arent they LUCKY friends to be that connected to me?    One of the other hot ones is foursquare, but I haven't completely dived in to that one yet.   I do have a profile and login.   I have many friends who use it and are "mayors" of various venues.   I think I have only checked in to one place thus far... but I've been getting a lot of encouragement to get on board with it!   So... who knows... in time... maybe I will conquer it as well.
  
Social media... has changed not only our personal lives, but also our businesses.   Companies are creating budgets to implement social media as part of their overall marketing program.  They are now hiring specific positions to develop, create, implement and execute a complete social media launch.  Nowadays, there are more than 100 plus job titles related to this phenomen.  Why?   Instant gratification.  On any of the social sites, you can tweet a message and instantly have it read by the masses -- provided you've done your homework and have a good following.   Same on facebook, you can create a company page and instantly have your information and provide updates to large groups.... you can post a status... it goes out to all your friends and you can even request that they forward it to their friends... and so on.   On linked in... in the group discussions, you can post a relevant topic or pose a question to colleagues...and you have access to answers from your peers.   Not all of us are "social media gurus".  We're adapting and learning as we go, but IF we are open to the idea of using it, eventually, we can become adept at using it.  I think thats part of the evolution.  Social media is changing the way we all do business.   It's changing the way we communicate... 120 plus characters at a time in most posts.    

It's a marketer's DREAM, as I've been told often over the last several years.   But... at the same time... when you think about how much time we are spending on various sites... is it ruling our lives to the point where we lose sight of what's really important.  The things in life that truly add value to it.  I gave this some thought... and my personal answer is... I don't think we have changed the things we used to do... I believe we are now allowing ourselves to share what we are doing with all of friends or connections.  I believe we are all much more open to sharing than we were in the past.  We are sharing our lives openly and willingly.   I think that it is up to each of us as an individual  to be acccountable and understand the balance of time that we allocate to social media so that it doesn't rule our lives.   There were several articles written, one in particular by Reuters on how being "so" connected can create undue stress, create sleep loss, and even in some cases weaken personal relationsihps.  The article did a study of college students where they blacked out the sites for a week... can you imagine THAT withdrawal?   But... after giving it some serious thought, maybe, that's a lesson for all of us... just to take a step back every now and then... so that we don't get so caught up in it and we remind ourselves that there is a big ole' world out there whether we choose to read a great book, see a movie, enjoy a play, dinner or just spend times with those we love.   And... then after taking the break... we'll have something new to put on all our posts.

Social media doesn't have a hall monitor.   It's up to us... to develop our own checks and balances so that it doesn't rule us.  It can be an engaging way for all of us to connect whether on a personal or professional basis.  At the same time... we also need to take a deep breath and every now and then step back for a few hours or days.  Maybe a week?

Is it a fad?  I don't know the answer for sure...but, I think it will be around a long time.  I think more sites will be developed and as we continue to learn to use them, both personally and professionally, we will gain more insight and knowledge on how to be responsible with them.  

Even in the world of blogging, social media is making it easier to get your thoughts into the hands, hearts and heads of others.  Today, I am going to post my blog and link it to all of my sites... facebook, twitter and linked in and invite all of you to follow me on twitter@jenrobinson09,  become my friend on facebook, or connect with me on linked in and even... foursquare.    

Happy Tweeting, Updating, Checking in and Posting!