Forwarding is the New Networking by Mindy Selinger, author of Face to Face Networking
Well, guess what was forwarded to me – A link to this article by Tom Davenport of the Harvard Business Review, ‘Forwarding is the New Networking’. Tom’s article supports what I’ve been teaching for the past five years; The Importance of Sharing Information. I adhere to this definition and concept of business networking: Networking – The exchange of ideas, information, and resources. [From Megatrends by John Naisbett] Learning to use all those book marks and forwarding social networking buttons will give you access to sharing any article with any of your closest business associates and clients.
Social media now brings people from every corner of the world together with the click of a mouse. We’re unlimited in our networking reach. Are we better networkers because of this? Not necessarily. It’s all about the quality of the connection that you make that’s important. Forwarding along useful information is an excellent way to stay in touchwith someone you met at a business networking event, let someone know you were thinking of them and their needs.
Be careful though. Don’t get in to the habit of just regurgitating the same old information to everyone. Give it a personal touch. Always send along a short note on why the information will be useful to them.
Recently, one of my connections, that I met at a business networking event, sent me some information on a resource along with her thoughts on how I might use that resource. I took action and the result was huge…MASSIVE. I’m very grateful.
I think this quote from Benjamin Disreali sums it up so well… “As a general rule, the most successful man in life is the man who has the best information” (I’m sure he meant to include women, as well)