Today is

By: Ikedi Ani-okoye.

Networking Philosphy

If you always take, but are short to give, you will find yourself not reaping all you can. If you always give, but do not take, you will find yourself on the short end and maybe resentful. Stay in balance to stay in the flow of networking.

It’s a studied fact that when you balance give and take, you reap more than you would than if you just take. Reflect on how your networking skills balance give and take. Then act to either be or maintain balance.

Social networking

Social Networking has literally taken the world by storm. Everywhere you look people are trying to start the next MySpace, Google, or Facebook. Marketers, advertisers, businesses, and ordinary people are looking for ways to capitalize and make money on these social networking sites.

These people see opportunity knocking on their door from social networking and want to be a part of the game. Then there is the 95% of others out there who sit back and wait for things to happen. These are the types of people who enjoy "playing it safe" their whole life. They like to watch as others go out on a limb and try something new.

Business networking

Networking allows you to formally explain what your business is about and as fellow networking business people get to know you so you will naturally start to win new sales leads because people like to pass business to people that they know.

Simply attending a networking event will raise your profile especially if you network on a regular basis. Remember my earlier point about advertising; recognition and repetition, attending a regular networking event achieves this.

CONCLUSION

Many times, I've been able to take the newbie and introduce them to someone else, someone with a common interest. That's networking and that's life. In retrospect, one of the great things about my work is meeting a wide range of people with a wide range of careers and experiences. It encourages me to know more. And what a great place to be.