Building a better network

Although Castle represents many leaders in the technology industry, we’re not talking hardware and software here. Rather, we are talking about a world of opportunities, personal and financial reward, camaraderie, friendship and learning experiences that can come from building and nurturing a fantastic network.

Everyone needs a network—whether for business development, career development or personal reasons. In fact, everyone has a network, whether they know it or not. But not everyone knows how to build or use one.

My 15-year-old niece has more than 100 names in her e-mail contact list. She’s building a network now, and no doubt some of those 100 friends will remain in her network for years to come. And this is encouraging, because e-mail is a wonderful tool that allows today’s teens to become tomorrow’s stellar networkers—to a point.

To create a usable, expandable and vibrant network, you must nurture it. Some of that can be done via e-mail, but much of network building and maintenance comes from getting out, getting together and getting on the phone.

Just as our PR team builds its media contact database (another network!) by getting to know folks individually, taking the time to contact people on their terms, supplying relevant information and seeing our targets as people, so must a personal network-builder take the time to correctly develop a network.

So here are a couple of lessons learned:

• Networking happens everywhere: Think the DNC was a political event? Only partially. The Democratic National Convention was the biggest networking opportunity to hit Boston in recent history. Anywhere people congregate and share interests can be fertile networking ground. A neighborhood cookout, school committee meeting, black-tie gala or walkathon can be just as appropriate as a planned “Networking Luncheon.”
  
  Here at Castle, the events we managed and those we attended, the convention itself and even cab-sharing became networking opportunities for our clients and ourselves.
• This brings up an important point: The best networkers help others build their networks as well. The smoothest networkers I’ve met are also the most sincere—they look for opportunities for other people that make sense. Just as media relationship-building means occasionally giving non-client-related story ideas or sources, so does personal and professional networking mean helping others that may not directly pay off for you.
• Which leads to point three: What goes around, comes around. May sound trite, but it’s true. Networking is often little more than doing the right favor, making the right recommendation or offering the right connection for the right person. Remembering someone’s need, and helping him or her to fill it, will position you as a problem-solver as opposed to an opportunist. And people do remember—and repay—favors.
• Use technology to your advantage: We’re all busy, and the best intentions of getting face time or even phone time sometimes fall by the wayside. It’s not possible to call or see everyone you’d like to, but you can stay in touch via e-mail, instant messaging, Blackberries, PDAs, etc., providing you keep your database clean and current. Use your database to remind you to call certain contacts. Use it to send e-mails. If you don’t have a database, try services like Plaxo or LinkedIn to help you create, manage, organize and track your own contacts.
• Have your elevator pitch down cold: We’ve all heard this before, and it’s true. If you can’t verbalize what you do, you can’t expect potential members of your network to be interested in what you have to offer. So be able to succinctly describe your company, its products and services, and your role. And listen carefully to your counterpart’s pitch—otherwise you might miss a chance to make an important connection.
• Be yourself: We can all smell phoniness, opportunism and disinterest a mile away. Don’t let your new contacts smell that on you. I have found that the people I network best with—invite to events, pass contacts along to, do favors for, are, not surprisingly, the people I enjoy being with.

Networking is an art, and must be developed like any other business skill. The first step is being aware that you’re building something fluid, lasting and vital. And you’ll be amazed at how it can grow with a basic level of nurturing and support.

Here’s a way to test your network-building success. Attend a large annual corporate event (for example, here in Boston, The Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce Annual Meeting or the Boston Business Journal Book of Lists party). Take a look around and consciously note how many people you know—either well, slightly or peripherally. Then, after setting networking goals and working on your network, attend the same event. I guarantee a noticeable expansion of your network. Sure, the longer we’re around, the more people we meet.

But you can make the difference between meeting them and knowing them.

Sandy Lish