"Opportunities Arise Out The Relationship's We Build!" That's the long running mission statement for Strategic Social Networking, the 161,000+ member strong social networking organization I co-founded back in 2012. Its also a statement that speaks the honest truth, that I continue to stand behind today, and that's personally benefited myself and countless others over the years. The reason I put so much emphasis on this statement is for the simple fact that the relationships we build with others are often the gateways to finding new opportunities, to securing good paying jobs, and to building our humanly dreams into a lifetime of success. Simply put, when networking is done right, we can greatly reap the rewards for our efforts; when done wrong, it can cost us our livelihoods.
Now, before I get into the many ways in which social networking can personally benefit you, I first want to start out by defining what it is. As noted in this article from Tech Target: What is Social Networking - Definition (Or so they say), the author defines social networking as quote, "The practice of expanding the number of one's business and/or social contacts by making connections through individuals, often through social media sites such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and Google+." This is false!
Sorry to tell the author, but this is the worst definition of social networking I've ever seen. In fact, reviewing dozens of articles throughout Google search I continuously found very similar dumbed down statements regarding what it is. People often make the mistake of assuming that social networking and real-world networking are 2 completely different things. While networking on the web vs. networking in real life has its differences, the premise of both situations remains the same, we're seeking to make connections and build relationships with others.
So, what is Social Networking? It's the art of building relationships with others through networking. What the author from Tech Target failed to realize is that the art of social networking is not centered upon simply making connections, but rather building useful relationships. Likewise, social networking is hardly confined to social media, and rather denotes our abilities to connect with others and establish meaningful relationships that actually benefit us. Note the keywords of importance here and that are very self explanatory, "Social" and "Networking", meaning we're socializing with others, and building a network of individuals to interact with.
A network itself literally denotes a set of interconnected entities. A good analogy would be an interconnected set of servers, switches, and routers, that make up a network of computers; or a Group on Facebook that's centered around a given topic. In both cases, the Group on Facebook, and the set of interconnected computers resemble the make up of a functional network. Things like a church group, this is also a functional network.
Networking is something we not only do on social platforms across the digital web, its something we do in real life, in person, in a face to face manner. Just think of networking events for instance, these are typically face to face events where people from a given industry congregate to make new connections, and ultimately establish new relationships.
Why You Should Network With Others?
Networking with new individuals helps one to establish their influence, authority, and trust with others; effectively increasing the likelihood of finding results to problems they face in every day life, and exponentially increasingly the likelihood of making their goals become a reality.
Networking also opens the doors to obtaining a foothold in a given industry. For instance, my uncle originally started out his job at a veterinary company working in a warehouse stacking dog food, and decades later went on to run the company! Likewise, in the case of the internet, search engines like Google typically rank individuals and organizations based on a system of trust metrics. Those trust metrics look closely at the connections one has to the industry they're in, then attempts to make an informed decision as to ones authority and influence they hold over that industry.
Simply put, the more authoritative and influential one is for a given subject, the higher the likelihood they will rank for that subject in Google search. This is also the whole reason why Strategic's community on Google+ can often gain 50 to 100+ members in a single day. Google gives us more visibility as a result of our authority and influence within our industry.
The fact is, we live in an interdependent world, where regardless of our personal goals, the ability to achieve those goals is always dependent on others. Even if you're self-employed and operate your own business, you're still dependent on things like suppliers, tax accountants, and manufacturers, etc. Paint it however you like, humans are not alone in this world, and we definitely do depend on one another.
The Right and Wrong Ways To Network:
People network for all sorts of reasons, but usually the end results are typically the same, as there's often a stated goal one intends to achieve as a result. Unfortunately, people often make the mistake of seeming more like a car salesman than a human when attempting to convince others to take interest in what they have to offer, and ultimately what they intend to achieve. This is akin to the guy on a date who brags endlessly in hopes of winning over the girl, only to realize they've been dumped for being so fake. The mistake being made here is telling people what you think they want to hear and pretending to be someone you're not; and neither is going to give you credibility.
Let's face it, we've all been to a job interview before, and the goal is always the same, to convince the HR person interviewing us to want to give us the job!
By now you're probably getting the idea that a big part of networking and building relationships with others, and actually seeing results from those relationships, are very much dependent on our abilities to convince others. The more convincing we are, the more likely we are to achieve our desired goals.
For instance, if I were ever to become a salesman, the first thing I'd try and sell you is my personality, and the last thing I would attempt to sell you is the product or service I'm pitching. The best salesman sell their personalities, and the business that follows is often the byproduct of the relationship that was built. For instance, I once bought a new Cadillac myself simply because I thought the salesman was cool and he deserved my business. He never begged me to buy anything, but instead showed me the car I asked about, and explained everything about it, then said if I had any more questions to let him know.
The point here, stop selling snake oil and start selling yourself! If I were to look back at all the opportunities I've been given throughout my entire life, virtually all of them were result of the fact people liked who I was as a person, and what I had to offer. In the end, it was my personality that sold me, not my qualifications and credentials; though these do help.
Seeing Results From Social Networking:
Networking both online in the virtual spaces of social media, and off-line in the real world, can both prove to be beneficial to achieving ones long term goals. For instance, I've achieved many great things as a result of my own networking efforts; such as the ability to secure the funds needed to pay for my college education, the ability to escape poverty for close to a decade, and I even built an entire media organization out of the inspiration of both myself and those I met through social networks like Google+.
In fact, things like Strategic Social Networking, along with my gaming brand Gamers Bay, and even my interests in pursuing an education in information technology, were all things I never actually planned on, but was inspired to pursue based on the relationships I built out of networking with others.
Building strong relationships with others can also help us to solve problems and find support when we need it most! In light of our ever changing economy, my financial situation has taken a turn for the worse in recent years, leaving me struggling to pay the bills. But thanks to the many positive relationships I built with others, I'm able to keep the lights on, and more recently when my computer busted leaving me without a leg to stand on, I managed to secure a new one thanks to the great friendships I harvested with others as a result of networking.
All being said, networking as a whole not only helps us to build the relationships that can open the doors to new possibilities and that help us to achieve our goals, but it can also inspire us to do new and incredible things with our lives.
Written and published by Daniel Imbellino, co-founder of Strategic Social Networking and Gamers Bay! Connect with me on Google+: https://plus.google.com/u/0/+DanielImbellino
Check Out Strategic Social Networking Community on Google+: https://plus.google.com/communities/116564172151613669656