Foreword: Networking: old wine in new bags?

Are you tired of hearing the word “networking” over and over again? Everybody tells you about the importance of networking, but you feel that you have something else/better to do? Or do you think that networking is only for the in-crowd and not for you? Or maybe you don’t feel comfortable attending networking events and you recognise Geert Conard’s situation (from his book “A girlfriend in every city”):

“I was always horrified when I had to walk into a room full of strangers by myself ... and had to try and make conversation with whoever seemed up for it ... often I just stood at the side and watched the crowd.”

If you’re thinking “This is exactly my situation”, then this book has definitely your name on it. If you are already comfortable with networking at an event, then you might benefit from the very practical tips and networking secrets that are revealed in this book to network more efficiently, more effectively and with more fun.

I wrote this book because of the tremendous value of networking. Value for everyone, not just for sales people like in most books about networking. In an ever rapidly changing world, it is good to have a safety net: your network.

The importance of networking is incessantly increasing. In their book “Funky Business” Kjell Nordstrom and Jonas Ridderstrale define today’s society as follows: “The “surplus” society has a surplus of similar companies, employing similar people, with a similar educational backgrounds, working in similar jobs, coming up with similar ideas, producing similar things, with similar prices and similar quality”

So how are you going to make a difference? As a company you could partly solve this by adapting your marketing strategy. But what can you do as a salesperson or as an employee if you don’t have any impact on the marketing strategy? And where do you find the time (and expertise) if you are a small business owner or freelancer?

There is good news. You really can make a difference. In the first place by providing high quality service to your network (inside and outside your company). And secondly by tapping into the power of networking.

Not only is networking becoming more important, it has always been and will always be a very effective and cheap way to move on in life. In her book “Professional Networking for Dummies” Donna Fisher writes that in the USA more than 70% of the people find a new job via their network. And networking cuts both ways: recruiters also use their network to speed up the process of finding the right candidates. They use their network as a preliminary filter so they don’t have to review hundreds of resumes. Also in the USA the Bristol Business School found that 70% of the revenues of small business owners comes from their network.

In a more private atmosphere networking helps you to find a cosy restaurant, a relaxing movie, an inspirational book, a reliable baby sitter, a friendly dentist and maybe even your dream house.

So networking becomes more important and is an easy and fun way to get things done. But how do you do it? Where do you start? How do you behave?

We were never taught networking at school or any other place. Like many other important things in life like discovering your passion and handling money, networking is apparently a skill we are supposed to learn by ourselves. That’s not always easy, so let this book be your guide on the networking path.

There are lots of good books about networking on the market. You can find a number of them at the back of the book and on my website. I learned a lot from the books and from the people who wrote them. You can see this book partly as my way of thanking and honouring them. Next to the insights I got from them, I also want to thank the participants of my networking training courses for telling me their stories and experiences. I learned a lot from them as well. This brings me to the intention with which I wrote this book:

To give you a solid foundation and insights in the dynamics of networking, combined with some very practical tips for networking on events and on the web no matter what your current professional or personal situation.

Networking is important in every stage of life and in every aspect. However, this book focuses primarily on how to network in a business environment. Not only commercially, but also as a way to interact with colleagues, customers, suppliers, partners and all other involved parties.

Maybe you are very eager to go to the practical tips right away. However to better understand the tips I recommend that you read the book in the sequence it is presented to you. You’ll gain insights in the foundations and the attitude of networking. If you know them, it is easy to find the right approach and tools yourself. Remember the story of the three little pigs: the houses of the pigs which didn’t have a foundation were blown away by the wolf in no time. Don’t allow this to happen to your networking efforts!

Enjoy!

Jan