Networking: What It Is and How to Do It Successfully

What Is Networking?

Networking is the exchange of information and ideas among people with a common profession or special interest, often in an informal social setting. Professionals use networking to expand their circles of acquaintances, find out about job opportunities in their fields, and increase their awareness of news and developments in their fields.

Networking is one of the main benefits of joining a professional organization or attending a trade fair or convention. However, networking most often occurs spontaneously when two or more like-minded professionals cross paths.

How Networking Works

People generally join networking groups based on a single common point of interest that all members share. The most obvious is a professional affiliation, such as stockbrokers or social workers. Many find effective networking opportunities in a college alumni group, a church or synagogue social group, or a private club.

For professionals, the best networking opportunities may occur at trade shows, seminars, and conferences, which attract a large crowd of like-minded individuals. Networking helps a professional keep up with current events in the field and develop relationships that may boost future business or employment prospects.

Needless to say, it also provides opportunities to help other people find jobs, make connections, and catch up on the news.

Business owners network to develop relationships with people and companies they may do business with in the future. These connections help them establish rapport and trust among people in their communities.

Successful business networking involves regularly following up with contacts to exchange valuable information that may not be readily available outside the network.

Online Networking

Professional networking platforms such as LinkedIn provide an online location for people to engage with other professionals, join groups, post blogs, and share information. And, of course, they provide a place to post a resume, search for jobs, or identify job candidates.

These days, a business-to-business (B2B) customer pipeline can be developed almost entirely through the use of a social networking site. Online networking forums allow professionals to demonstrate their knowledge and connect with like-minded people.

LinkedIn is the largest professional network, but there are many others. Some cater to particular subsets of people, such as Black Business Women Online. Others, such as Meetup, try to combine online networking, real-world networking, and video conferences.

Special Considerations

Given the growing number of networking opportunities available to people looking to start or advance their careers, it's important to take some time to explore your options before committing to a specific networking group.

While it's tempting for a new business owner or someone looking for a dream job to join as many networks as possible, a better strategy is to target your time and efforts toward those groups that best fit your needs and interests. Many networking organizations will host special meet and greet events for prospective members.

Once you join a networking group, it's important to become a contributing member. Rather than just using the association to further their own goals, people who use networking effectively look to offer something of value to other group members.

Networking can help you identify opportunities for collaboration, strategic joint ventures, partnerships, and new areas to expand your business.

The Bottom Line

You don't have to be an extrovert to create a social network. You just need an interest in sharing information and ideas among people in your profession. Over time, you'll find that it expands the circle of people that you can rely on to help you professionally, and that you can help in turn.