The concept of networking to meet people has been around since the Model T, however it has taken a new concept in the past two or three years with all of the social media tools available since you can meet more people in shorter time. Networking is the number one way to make connections today whether is to get a job, get a client, build a relationship, heck even to meet the love of your life. Heck, I met my wife through a friend which technically is networking!
The world is a different place today. There is a lot of competition out there, globally and even in your town. You may have the best product, be the best looking, are the best speaker, but if you do not know anybody, what good is it? The more people know about you the better chance you have to be more successful in what you do.
I am hoping my message goes out to the people that prefer to network when they only really have to, when they are unemployed, when their back is against the wall whether it is with their business or their personal life. One of the first statements I make to people when they mention they have a great new job, or landed the most lucrative client, is that they should network MORE THAN EVER. Networking is a great way to build a contingency plan if the great new job or new client falls through. You will be ahead of the game and be able to recover quickly since you would have a list of contacts that you can reach out for help.
To repeat, the world is a different place today. We may never go back to being a job creating machine like we were in the mid 1990s or mid 2000s. There is too much competition globally. Professionals in places like China, India, Romania are just as smart as us and they are much more cost effective. You need to build a contingency plan for yourself and diversify what you can do and most of all, WHO YOU KNOW. Since it isn't what you know, it is WHO YOU KNOW that will lead you to your ultimate success.
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