It’s vitally important for anyone interested in growing themselves in the business world to network. This is true if you’re a low level employee of a business with large ambitions, you run a a business, or you’re simply looking for more opportunities. People often say it’s not what you know but who you know that makes all the difference in making it big. This is somewhat true, but not completely true. It also pays to build a good reputation, and stay competent. You can forge all the business connections you like, but unless you’re Frank J Abagnale, it’s unlikely it’ll take too long until you are exposed. However, a competence business guru can really explode in popularity and find new standing points to really boast about if only they’d network.
There are a few methods of doing this. Just like forging any social connection, it’s best to do it in the most natural manner of all. The following suggested methods have taken this into account, and should hopefully help you find your intended goal:
The first place to look is LinkedIn. Think of this as a social media website for business professionals. It’s likely you’ve heard of this to some degree already. Ensure that your profile is updated, continually refined and that you open yourself up for contact, and you might find some interesting business opportunities coming your way .We’d also suggest adding into the ‘business network’ connections that the website allows, or to look for profiles that might feature external networks like this. This can help you talk to like-minded people on online message boards, helping you discuss ideas or even meat specific people that could be important for your career later on.
Tour The City
You’d be surprised how simply traveling the city, attending lunchtime bars and nice cafes in the financial district can open you up for natural discussion with people who walk and talk as you do. This might look different in different areas. For example, using www.ridester.com to find Lyft promo codes and trying to explore Silicon Valley could introduce you to many new startup farms, and slowly begin building a mental roadmap of where the positive action is. Then, using your ‘street reconnaissance,’ (for lack of a better term.) you might have your finger on the social pulse, at least much more directly that the new norm of doing things.
Word of Mouth
It can be essentially important to listen to the recommendations of people around you. If someone finds it worthwhile to mention a name to you, try and locate them with all your heart. You will often find that these people have been recommended for a reason, but if not you might consider simply moving on. This word of mouth can help you build a natural sense of who’s who, as this is the way business reputation worked for the longest time. This can also help you feel out people from the ground level, and gain the skill of assessing someone’s character and business intelligence from one simple meeting. This can be invaluable to forging the right connections.
With these simple efforts, you will forge business connections worthy of consideration from the start.
