Growing up we are taught, “It’s all about WHO you knowâ€. Throughout your life you will meet over 50,000 different people, who all will meet another 50,000 people and so on. This is called a network. LinkedIn, a professionals social networking site, lays everything out in plain language. You meet or connect with people you know, which then allows you to reach out to each person they know. So your immediate network could be 500 people but if each of those people have 500 contacts as well, your potential network reach is 250,000 people. That’s a lot of people!
Each month we do a networking event to get people to meet other business professionals and in return we get to meet new people too. It is important when throwing a networking event to reach beyond your immediate network. For example if you send out an invite to all of your contacts and inform them to bring people they know, every person that is a guest is a new person added to your network which then allows you access to their network of people. The more this is done, the more people you meet!
Networking is important so that in the future these people you have met can use your help or advice and vice versa. You never know when you will need someone or something but you can always be prepared when you have a network of people!
