The contacts you use depends upon what you want to achieve. All contacts are not created equal. Once you have established your goal, you then need to determine which contacts have resources which match your goal and are likely to be helpful. This will suggest to you which avenues to pursue both at present and in the future.
If you’re cultivating your contacts for getting a job or seeking promotion, you must remember that getting a job is not always dependent just upon what you know. It’s not always dependent upon whom you know. It’s often dependent upon who knows you. Networking is an excellent method for creating your visibility and credibility among those important to the achievement of your goal.
Active networkers know that every stranger represents an opportunity: The chance to reach targets, get problem-solving assistance, obtain guidance and direction, information, tips, leads, referrals, advice, support, counsel, sponsorship, as well as enhance your self-esteem and growth.
Always remember that it’s a much smaller world than you think. You can get information by way of a chain of people very quickly. Back in the 1960s psychologist Stanley Milgram demonstrated that you could give a letter to one randomly-selected individual in Nebraska who would pass it along so that it ultimately was received by another randomly-selected person in Boston through a communication chain of only five people!
Think how quickly that stranger-to-stranger connection can be made using the Internet. If you know a minimum of 200 people and each of those people knows a minimum of 200, you automatically have access to up to 40,000 people. So your network is potentially a lot larger and better-connected than you think it is.
Making and cultivating contacts requires your knowing what you want from them, seeking them out, and approaching them. Of course, this is easier if you’re comfortable talking with strangers and asking those you know for help.
Whether you are throwing yourself into networking now or are working on your networking skills for later, you have to follow certain guidelines in order to be effective and get what you want.
– Determine what you want by assessing your own resources
– Determine what you have and what you need
– Let others know you’re interested in them
– Let them know you have resources to offer to them as well
– Be able to describe (1) who you are and (2) what your seeking then (3) suggest an exchange, that is, that you’re available to return the favor
But remember, if they assist you now, you are not necessarily expected to reciprocate immediately. They’ll let you know when they need access to your information or resources. Your comfort is important so you should tailor your networking to your style and personality.
But that doesn’t mean leaving out steps. To do so frequently results in frustration and disappointment. Each recommendation is essential and an integral part of the whole process. What makes networking ultimately so appealing is that the risk is low and the benefits are high. You owe it to yourself to follow the self-made millionaires’ strategy to “access for success.”