Strategies for Busy Business People Who Network

Quite often we have demands on our time in business from many different areas. It can be quite difficult to make time for networking and growing our referral networks, which is often the key to your success. What if there was a way we could formalize our meetings with new people everyday and possibly turn our business referrals around with no extra interruption to our time tables.

Secondly, by not consistently widening our circles of acquaintances and contacts, we may be severely curtailing our chances for advancement and success. It's estimated that an average connection has 250 people in their network of contacts. And each of those people knows, in turn, another 250 or so people. This means that for each new person you meet, you gain access to a potential pool of 62,500 people separated from you by just two degrees!

Consider the odds, then, out of how many contacts, you WOULDN'T find one single contact who could be a better source of info about a better quality work, more clients, and other equally valuable projects. In all likelihood, you would find many more than one.

Do these numbers sound staggering? At the end of this article, I will prove the multiplier effect to you!

Business networking is one of the highest growth activities you can take part in. Fortunately, like any endeavor, one can get more proficient at it with practice. Moreover, it takes very little time or effort to get it right.

It takes only a moment's conscious decision to become a networker, with no interference to one's daily routine. All it requires is a slight shift in attitude, and adopting one simple trifurcated rule:

Greet each new acquaintance with an openness to learn more about that person, a willingness to help, and an offer to stay in touch.

This approach is equally applicable to every form of networking, whether in business or social contexts, and whether the encounter takes place in person or, as frequently happens today, online.

It will also be to your advantage to meet new people in person, but also keep yourself sharp and alert. Practice making friendly conversation; even if no relationship develops with that person, he or she will likely remember you as a "nice guy/lady" if asked about you at some point in the future.

If you feel you are too busy to go to networking events, attend only those vital to your professional or business standing. Make the best of chance and casual meetings that occur during the course of your normal workday.

Also, take more business cards than you give out. That way, you are more in control of the tempo of developing relationships.

If you'd like to network from the comfort of your home or office, or during down time on weekends, join an online business networking community. Many of them have sub-networks focused on topics of particular interest to you. In addition, you can look at others' profiles and prioritize accordingly.

The raw power of networking online is quite powerful in the way is spreads (they call this viral marketing). I belong to an online networking community that has tens of thousands of members.

As members invite friends to join, this network's rate of exponential growth is now up to an average of more than 2,750 new members a week. As an individual member, over eight months, I have linked directly and mutually to 208 online "friends." Amazingly, this translates into 8,138 "friends of friends!" These are all people I can access with a few clicks of a mouse, and without disturbing my first circle of friends at all. It's amazing at how big each circle of friends, who know more friends who know more frined can grow to, and this exponential growth happens more frequently as you go with less effort each day on my part.

It is worth noting that all this is free - and for just a small upgrade fee, I can search the entire network for individuals who work in a specific industry or company, live in a city I plan to visit, are experts in a field in which I am seeking advice, etc. And there is a very good chance they would respond to me, since we are members of the same community of networkers.

Lack of time is no longer an excuse for failing to "reach out and find someone" who can possibly be on your side in the business of life.