{"id":483,"date":"2015-05-20T10:00:03","date_gmt":"2015-05-20T10:00:03","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/?p=483"},"modified":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","modified_gmt":"2025-07-01T17:20:24","slug":"networking-is-rubbish-have-friends-instead","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/networking-is-rubbish-have-friends-instead\/","title":{"rendered":"\u201cNetworking is rubbish; have friends instead.\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">I attended a meeting last week . . . the same one I attend every month.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">At this particular meeting, we began talking about networking events, asking one another what events we attend, which ones produce useful referrals, which ones do not, and so forth.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In the context of our discussion, a \u201cnetworking event\u201d is a new business development activity whereby people gather to meet and greet, exchange business cards, and generally, try to plant the seeds of mutually beneficial relationships.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Sounds OK, doesn\u2019t it?<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But as our discussion unfolded, we found ourselves in agreement on several surprising conclusions:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Traditional networking events suck.<\/li>\n<li>Traditional networking events don\u2019t produce useful referrals.<\/li>\n<li>Traditional networking events tend to attract more takers than givers.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Collectively, we decided there\u2019s a better way to make connections that are satisfying, sustainable, and rewarding.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">If you\u2019re interested in hearing more about this, please continue reading below.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><strong><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u201cNetworking is rubbish; have friends instead.\u201d\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 &#8211; <\/span><\/strong><em>Steve Winwood<\/em><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">The problem with most traditional networking events is this: the selection process for attendees is almost entirely random.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">People may be members of the same umbrella organization (like a chamber of commerce, for instance), but there\u2019s no other glue, no common thread that binds them together.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So they\u2019re young and old, male and female, and they\u2019re from an entire spectrum of organizations . . . large and small, manufacturing, service, retail, hospitality, not-for-profit, on and on and on.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In that kind of hodge podge of people, you\u2019re probably going to walk out with a fistful of business cards that have no real value for you or your business.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">It\u2019s a little like trying to find your soul mate in a crowded bar\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0. .<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0.\u00a0could happen, but the odds are heavily against you.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">There\u2019s a lot of truth in the notion that people do business with people they know, like, and trust.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But in the sort randomized networking events described above, how can you hope to develop strong know\/like\/trust relationships?<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Pretty tough to do.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So what\u2019s the alternative?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">According to the people in last week\u2019s discussion, their best, most productive referral sources come from pursuing other, mostly non-business, interests.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">They might come from serving on the Board of a charitable foundation, or from serving on a committee at church, or from joining a book club.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Maybe your passion is chess, or scuba diving, or doing volunteer conservation work.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Whatever it is, when you pursue your passion by joining with others who share your interest, you provide the glue that allows a long-term, know\/like\/trust relationship to develop . . . the kind of relationship that typically doesn\u2019t grow from a business card swap-o-rama networking event.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"color: #000000;\">We\u2019re not talking about something cynical here . . . we\u2019re not saying we should all go out and join the National Cancer Society because we\u2019ll get good referrals from it.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">But there\u2019s no doubt, when we need help in our business, we will turn first to a friend.<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">So the question is, where are such friendships most likely to take root?<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">In traditional networking events?<\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">\u00a0 <\/span><span style=\"color: #000000;\">Or in groups of people working or playing together in pursuit of a shared interest?<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>I attended a meeting last week . . . the same one I attend every month.\u00a0 At this particular meeting, we began talking about networking events, asking one another what events we attend, which ones produce useful referrals, which ones do not, and so forth.\u00a0 In the context of our discussion, a \u201cnetworking event\u201d is<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/networking-is-rubbish-have-friends-instead\/\">Read More\u2026<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[39,22],"tags":[89],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=483"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1189,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/483\/revisions\/1189"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=483"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=483"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rocksolidbizdevelopment.com\/ourblog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=483"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}