chrisbrogan.com - Latest Comments in The Vital Importance of Your Network

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Chris — Thu, 26 Jan 2012 05:54:34 -0000

Just stumbled on your Blog, through an linkedin post and i already like it a lot. I can see why the author claims you to be on the top influencing list! Cheers from Cologne, Germany!

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Lisacarteris — Tue, 06 Dec 2011 09:12:09 -0000

Excellent article. A real nuts a bolts a-z.plan. Great for the beginner and the advanced. I will be sharing this at my network meeting tonight. Thanks for Sharing!!

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

A-k-a-nhelz — Sun, 20 Nov 2011 08:39:18 -0000

please we need a complete answer thank you =)

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Accountants — Fri, 17 Dec 2010 15:32:43 -0000

I think you have to keep working on your network but remember not everything is business be a real person!

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

youtube downloader — Tue, 07 Dec 2010 11:05:10 -0000

Spend 20 minutes a day observing your network. If someone is mostly offline and not a social network user, spend a few minutes sending out a few “checking in” emails to get a read on her world.
Spend 10 minutes a day (I spend a bit more here) cultivating new relationships. This can be through participation on social networks, through reading new blogs and commenting, through, attending face-to-face events, or many other things. If you’re not growing your network, you’re stagnating.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

TimWalker — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 12:22:59 -0000

@Meryn Stol: The problem with "just doing your best . . . and expect other people to value you for this" is that it assumes that others can recognize your best when you do it. It's an easy assumption to make for as long as we're inside our own sphere of activity, but outside polling often reveals that even our good friends aren't really aware of what we're doing.

Mind you, doing your best is WAY more important than networking -- but in many cases it simply doesn't bear fruit to do the work and expect that the world will realize it without some judicious p.r. efforts on your own part.

Maybe the old saw had it right:

Early to bed, early to rise,
work like hell, and ADVERTISE.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

PeopleSearchExpert — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 08:10:10 -0000

Chris,

Spokeo.com can help you understand your network more easily. You can find updates from your friends from _all_ networks in one interface, instead of checking on LinkedIn, Facebook, Friendfeed, etc separately. It will also find activity across networks you probably don't check, since it reaches out to 40 networks.

Your 20 minutes a day observing your personal network will be utilized much more efficiently with this service. Give it a go and let me know what you think.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Myrne Stol — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 06:56:36 -0000

I read a very fearful undertone in this post. How about just doing your best (quite likely while working with others) and expect other people to value you for this (if not in the short-run, then in the long run)?

I really dislike networking for the sake of networking, keeping friends for the sake of having friends. If you need to go alone at some point in your life, go alone.

Of course, in most countries they let you die on the streets if you don't have money, so it's handy to have some money in the bank for this. But keeping your expenses low helps you remain independent to a large degree.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

mousewords — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 14:36:24 -0000

I've basically got four networks, I think--Art, Writing, Social Media, and Personal (family, friends, neighbors). Some are online or offline more than others; some overlap; but each has its own great personality.

The one thing that stood out with me in this post is *back up the contacts list.* I need to work on that!

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Meg Guiseppi — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 06:36:42 -0000

This post really hit home for me, as so many of yours usually do. I was recently regretting that I let my network slip. So I ramped up efforts and I’m getting back into a regular routine.

One of the great things about reconnecting with my “people” and reaching out to new ones is that it’s so energizing. Every time I dive back into networking, after a lapse, I get all fired up. You’d think I’d remember that feeling, and not be so neglectful.

Thanks for nudging me a little more,

Meg

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

TimWalker — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 22:20:43 -0000

Cheryl -- Let me be quick to acknowledge that adding folks in droves doesn't *necessarily* mean they're looking to switch jobs. I've just seen it happen a number of times: someone who adds a contact now and then suddenly starts adding 10 or 15 contacts every day -- obviously paying far more attention to it, day after day, than they ever have in the past. And then, magically, a few weeks later you find out that they're switching jobs. It's the sudden divergence of pattern that I'm talking about.

And, by the way, I'm a big advocate for "Whatever works" in social media generally. I don't think there's a "right" way to do most things (beyond the basic-basics of "Be yourself" and so on) -- this is just a pattern I and others have noticed.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Cheryl Antier — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:46:19 -0000

Hey Chris and Tim,

I just wanted to inject something about adding people in droves to LinkedIn. I'm pretty busy all the the time, but I know how important it is to network - and living here in France makes it a little difficult to attend many meetings or seminars outside of the EU. So I schedule one day a month for networking. Sometimes for me, that means working on adding new LinkedIn contacts - and so I might add 40 - or more names to my network in that day.

This month it happens to be Twitter and Facebook. Maybe I'm the only one who schedules it this way, but it's got nothing to do with job hunting or "needing" anything from my network. And throughout the rest of the month I schedule in time to keep in touch with people who are already in my network.

Just wanted to add another point of view to how networking can be done...

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

chrisbrogan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 21:12:55 -0000

Great advice, Tim. I like your point of view on seeing people add LinkedIn numbers in droves.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

TimWalker — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 17:10:31 -0000

Good post, Chris, and I especially like what you say about (a) putting in way more than you ever expect to get (this is well in line with Gary Vaynerchuk's approach) and (b) not pounding your network with trivia.

A couple of things I would add here:

1. When you build your network constantly over time, you have it ready for when you really need it (esp. when you're looking for a new job), AND you never give the impression that you're suddenly looking for a new job, because there's no strange blip in your network behavior. The easiest tipoff in the world that someone's looking for a new job is when you see the LinkedIn notifications that they're adding 40 people a day to their contact list.

2. It's easy to get into a rut where you talk a lot with the same few people day in and day out. But by cultivating a network in the way you recommend, you can spread the love (I'm not really being tongue-in-cheek there) over a broader group of people. Sure, we'll always have our inner-circle friends who do, and should, get most of our attention. But we can interact with -- and offer help to -- lots of acquaintances in our network who might benefit from a little bit of encouragement, a helpful piece of knowledge, an introduction to the right person, or whatever.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

chrisbrogan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 16:09:18 -0000

Hi Bigtony-- you've never needed a day to catch up? They're not exclusive. I was being open and honest with my needs.

I'm here today. I've been here for over 10 years. Will be here in the future.

Big networks are great. Do you touch EVERYONE every day? No f-ing way.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Bigtony — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 15:34:13 -0000

This post is confusing to me. Not because of content...but because of context. Perhaps the timing. In this post you discuss the importance of your network and reaching out to and keeping them informed.

However, your post the other day was basically a "leave me alone" post. How is that nurturing or cultivating your network? How is this positive?

I am sure you are drowning in a pool of constant contact with your network or audience. But who opened that door?

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Lewis Green — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 11:01:48 -0000

Chris,

I spend an hour or two a week checking in with my networks. In fact, that is why I am here with you today. Using NewsGator, I recognized it has been a while since I last visited, read and commented. Thank you for the wonderful tips and the reminders we need to continue reaching out.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Todd Albertson — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 10:47:14 -0000

This is a troublesome post. Our network needs to develop organically and not be driven by the same motivation that a direct mail company' uses to keep a clean mailing list. I get tons of folks "checking in" with me regularly to see how things are going. Most are simply checking to see if there are opportunities for any new business. They, like spoiled Kimchi, are very noticeable and avoided. If you want to build a network that matters, then focus on being genuine, transparent, and real.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Mary Anne Davis — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:37:17 -0000

You're like the master gardener, Chris. The tools are all here, like soil. The seeds are being planted and nurtured. I just sent a link of this blog post to the 2 fabulous gals who are helping me in the office and with this networking, which for small business/organization, is no small task. I find staying in touch and blurring boundaries is the name of the game today. Cold, industrialism is on the "out" list. Your work here is slow and meaningful, it seems to me, and I am getting a great deal of value from your passion and hard work. Many thanks, again, for all you do.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

gregdelima — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:33:55 -0000

I work for Hilton, so I meet a lot of people with big corporations,ie: IBM, Harris Corp, AICPA, Fidelity and many others. I have been given many business cards and those lead to new LinkedIn connections as well as follow up emails and other endless possibilities.
Many of these connections I have followed up with and emailed copies of my resume and have corresponded with on a regular basis. These new connections are the ones you describe as the ones that if you were to lose your job tomorrow how would they help you. These people have experienced my work and what I do, if they liked it they will remember who you are and how well you work. Connections matter, and people remember. Using the connections as you say Chris is key.

Good post with very relevant and truthful info!

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

chrisbrogan — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:33:48 -0000

@cody - Thanks so very much. Glad I'm hitting the right note.

@Alanna - I send plenty of personal twitter messages, but at nearly 11,000 followers, I can't do that kind of personal touch all the time (it would drown out actual content). That said, I try to maintain personal touches with the people I know better than not.

@Nicolas - I use BlueSkyFactory to send out more than one email. There are mail merge apps but they don't work on Gmail in the cloud. If you bring gmail down into your desktop mail client you can use templates there.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Nicolas Roberge — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 09:10:04 -0000

I send often follow-up emails to my contacts, but is there a way to sent a a templated email with a personalized greeting (ex: Dear ??????,) to a list of people? Do you know of any good tools? I keep my contact list in Gmail.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Lisa — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:11:25 -0000

Great post, Chris. I am now working diligent ly on maintaining and growing my network. Just found your blog and my daily efforts have already paid off! I like Twitter, also use LInkedIn & Facebook a lot, as well as good old fashioned networking events.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

Alanna — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 08:08:11 -0000

I do send personal messages to my twitter followers...connecting on a more personal level seems to me like it deepens the relationships. Twitter's not my whole network, though, and followers opt-in.

Re: The Vital Importance of Your Network

codytalks — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 07:42:27 -0000

Chris,

I really enjoy your style of writing. Not so techy that I want to make fun of your nerdiness and not some elementary that you are wasting all of our time. I have sent many a Social Media rookie to your site and will send more to this post. Thanks I appreciate it.