Blog Post: Networking, a “Must-Do” for your Career or Business Development

Building a network, as Mackay’s book will tell you, begins when you have absolutely no needs at all. Your career is on track, or your business’s revenue streams increase quarter after quarter, you’ve got great friends, a wonderful place to live and life is good. Then the bottom falls out and you’ve got to “start networking”. 

“Networking” is not easy; it’s not showing up at an event, handing out a bunch of business cards and expecting good things to happen. As is the case with everything you do in life, networking takes a mix of time, money and effort.

In the networking workshops I conduct, I typically advise my audience to hold membership in three organizations and to be active in all of them. The first should be your professional association – if you are a CPA, join an association of accountants, if image consulting is your profession, become a member of an organization of image consultants. The second organization to join is one that nourishes you spiritually; sure, it can be your church or other religious community, but it can also, for an example, be the Big Trees Forest Preserve in Atlanta, a club that goes sailing in the Caribbean every year, or a study group that examines pre-Columbian life in South America. The third group, it is my belief, should be one that is “off the beaten path”, one that challenges and stretches you. If your ancestors came to the United States from Norway, join the Norwegian-American Chamber of Commerce; if you’re a coach, join an international network of immigration lawyers (yes, you will be welcome; it may seem a bit strange at first, but remember we’re not after “comfort” here – you are placing yourself in an unfamiliar environment on purpose, to meet people you would not otherwise meet, and expand your network [dig that well deeper]).

Large corporations often have “affinity groups” – woman, minority, GLBT, etc. – and tout them as the perfect answer to their employees’ need for having a network. There’s nothing wrong with these groups, but their wells provide little if any drinking water. If XYZ corporation closes its doors (think “ENRON”), you and everybody else lose your jobs and who do you know then who can provide you with fresh job leads?

If you do not already have a large network (“a deep well”) of people who can help you with the further development of your career or business, begin building it today. Go to a networking event, participate in a conversation, be a good listener, find out what you can do for the other person, don’t give out your business card before it’s asked for, follow up, stay in touch and let the start of a relationship happen. That, after all, is the foundation of a strong network: relationships.

Lya Sorano is the CEO of The Oliver/Sorano Group, Inc., and the Founder of Atlanta Women in Business. As an internationally published writer, her topics have most often covered international business, the role of womenin the international business world, and information technology. She may be contacted at 770-455-8088 or via her web site, www.lyasorano.com