how networking works
people generally join networking groups based on a single common point of interest that all members share the most obvious is a professional affiliation such as stockbrokers or social workers many find effective networking opportunities in a college alumni group a church or synagogue social group or a private club for professionals the best networking opportunities may occur at trade shows seminars and conferences which attract a large crowd of like minded individuals networking helps a professional keep up with current events in the field and develop relationships that may boost future business or employment prospects needless to say it also provides opportunities to help other people find jobs make connections and catch up on the news business owners network to develop relationships with people and companies they may do business with in the future these connections help them establish rapport and trust among people in their communities successful business networking involves regularly following up with contacts to exchange valuable information that may not be readily available outside the network business owners and entrepreneurs often join their local chamber of commerce to promote their business interests and help others in their communities do the same online networkingprofessional networking platforms such as linkedin provide an online location for people to engage with other professionals join groups post blogs and share information and of course they provide a place to post a resume search for jobs or identify job candidates these days a business to business b2b customer pipeline can be developed almost entirely through the use of a social networking site online networking forums allow professionals to demonstrate their knowledge and connect with like minded people linkedin is the largest professional network but there are many others 1 some cater to particular subsets of people such as black business women online others such as meetup try to combine online networking real world networking and video conferences the term computer networking refers to linking multiple devices to share information and software resources in an immediate way special considerationsgiven the growing number of networking opportunities available to people looking to start or advance their careers it s important to take some time to explore your options before committing to a specific networking group while it s tempting for a new business owner or someone looking for a dream job to join as many networks as possible a better strategy is to target your time and efforts toward those groups that best fit your needs and interests many networking organizations will host special meet and greet events for prospective members once you join a networking group it s important to become a contributing member rather than just using the association to further their own goals people who use networking effectively look to offer something of value to other group members networking can help you identify opportunities for collaboration strategic joint ventures partnerships and new areas to expand your business 