subject: Professional Networking [print this page] Professional Networking Professional Networking
In 1919, Henry Ford filed a $1,000,000 lawsuit against Chicago Tribune newspaper for libel. In a paper's editorial he was called an "anarchist" due to his opposition of the World War I United States involvement and his highly publicized assertion that "all history is bunk."
While being grilled on the stand, Ford did prove his ignorance of history.
Did that bother Henry? NO! He admitted to not having the greatest grasp of all subjects. After all, by academic standards, Henry Ford was not considered a well educated man. But he knew, and also told that to the jury, that with the push of a button on his desk, he could get whatever information he needed from expert sources.
And with only that much knowledge, he had a major hand in revolutionizing the industrial world.
(Ford won the suit, by the way. But the jury only awarded him six cents!)
We are not Henry Ford but, believe it or not, we have those same resources available. We just need to reach out and find them. How do we do that?
First, there is a concept of traditional networking groups, where members get together on periodic bases for mutual benefit, sharing their knowledge, experiences and referring potential clients and business opportunities to each other. Groups are either affiliated or non-affiliated, the affiliated once being more structured and stricter of two.
Second networking method is an online networking method, where personal and business relationships can be created and developed on the Web. The number of people using different social media channels today is staggering and growing by millions per day. If Facebook was a country it would be the World's 3rd largest, after China and India. LinkedIn has one of the highest average household incomes of any websites, $109,000/year. Twitter gives you an instant access and contact with potential customers 24/7, each and every day of the year.
Third, new way of professional networking is one that combines the power of in-person relationship development with the power of on-line networking.
"Professional Networking on the Web" group in Raleigh, NC combines social networking tools and power of internet with a more traditional relationship building and referral sharing concept for knowledge exchange, increase in sales, general marketing, recruiting, job-hunting, and business development. It is a team of people sitting around a conference table with access to each other's on-line connections, sharing ideas and knowledge and working together to enhance each other's businesses.
"Coming together is a beginning; keeping together is progress; working together is success."
