What Is Professional Networking?
Professional or Business Networking, as opposed to Social Networking, refers to the active development of relationships with people in your business or professional community. It is not new. Indeed, for as long as we have been doing business, networking has mattered.
So, when we say that effective networking is a prerequisite to success in business or a professional career, we are not saying anything that wasn't true before the arrival of the web. Most of the genuinely successful people in this world are effective networkers, whether they set out to be or not.
The chances are that you have the foundations for a decent network, but you don't actively manage the relationships that could make a difference to you by:
- - Opening new doors
- - Helping you to develop new ideas
- - Passing on business to you
- - Providing fast access to new resources, and many other ways.
Think of all of the people that you've studied with, worked with, played on the same team as or met socially. How many of them know people that could help you? How many of them have you kept in touch with? How many of them could you contact right now if you needed to?
Why network?
Hopefully you can see the value in networking, but let's look at it more closely.
Have you heard of the game 'Six Degrees of Separation' - often played linking someone to the actor Kevin Bacon?
It's like that. Networking isn't just about who you know, but who they know, and who they people they know know....
Ultimately, the larger the network you have, the higher the probability that someone in your network will have something that you need - and of course that you will have something that someone in your network needs (itŐs nice to be needed).
Let's play that out..
You're in sports marketing and you want to develop a campaign for a client around a theme of performance. Who in your network can help you with that? Maybe a coach, a sport psychologist, or a sport scientist?
Let's try another one..
You're still the sports marketer but you're looking for a new post. One of your ex-colleagues is working for a great new agency. Luckily you've kept in touch and they are happy to recommend you.
Or maybe..
This time you get a call from a sport psychologist that you've been keeping in touch with. They've been working with a governing body and while talking to one of the managers there they find out that they are looking to find new sponsors and are looking for some help. They've read your blog and you've corresponded, and they decide to introduce you.
But networking isn't just about size.
What does a good network look like?
OK. Size matters. But you have to also consider the effort that you can put into maintaining your network. So there's always going to be a trade off.
What else matters?
A good network isn't something that can be benchmarked to some consistent standard, but some of the things that you might consider are:
- - How influential is my network?
- - Can it get me access to new opportunities?
- - Do I enjoy meeting or talking to the people in it?
- - Does it provide intellectual or creative stimulation?
- - Can I access the knowledge that I need through it?
- - Does it give me opportunities to help others?
Of course, I'm sure that you'll have your own ideas.
How can iStadia help me network?
You'll notice that we haven't talked about websites or technology.
Networking happens on and offline. But by joining our iStadia's sport & exercise networking community, you can make and cultivate new connections, and keep up with professional contacts that you already have.
Bringing networking online means that you have access to a global network on a daily basis where traditionally networking was built around a local community or professional group that would meet primarily at annual conferences.
What makes us different to other networking sites is that we are completely focused on sport and exercise professional networking. You won't be poked, you can't send funny little gifts, and you won't have people posting what you got up to last night on your profile.
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