Networking for Dollars - How Fast Is Too Fast? 5 Q's

The results of business networking are 10 times greater than any monetary compensation. Friendships are formed and relationships are created that are truly priceless. It's very hard to put a price tag on the countless benefits and blessings that come from business networking.

However, at the end of the day, you are forming alliances with business people which can lead to higher financial rewards. It is actually a keen and strategic business move to use networking for career-business expansion, yet some have a skewed view of how it should work.

Throwing the value of real relationships to the wind, some put money first and expect unrealistic results. Sure, monetary goals are necessary but people have their own unique set of unwritten rules.

Sometimes these rules are unconsciously enforced but if you break them, you'll have to pay the price. The following, are 5 questions to ask yourself as you pursue networking in search of speedy monetary accomplishments;

You have a plan but is it a Business Networking Money Plan? (B.N.M.P.)

As you venture into the world of business networking, you probably have a business and marketing plan. Different plans apply to different measures. The same plan that may work for advertising will not work for direct contact with human beings. You must have a separate plan that is people friendly and people driven. (a BNMP)

Have you given sufficient time for your efforts to compound?

If you have been out and about meeting new people and developing relationships that could prove useful to your business goals, good for you. You are on the right track but if you feel as though it's not working for you, you may just need to stay in the game longer and fine-tune your plan. Any worthwhile achievement requires compounded efforts. I repeat, any worthwhile achievement requires compounded efforts!

Are you assertive or aggressive?

There are clear differences between assertive and aggressive business practices. Being assertive in networking, simply entails being consistent and making a good effort to form alliances which could prove fruitful to all parties.

Aggressive behavior, for example, is when ideas and agendas are forced upon fellow colleagues in a way that offends and disturbs well meaning potential partners.

Are you expecting people to behave like machines.

It was stated earlier, people have their own unwritten rules of conduct and if those rules are broken, there's no turning back. When networking on an aggressive level, one might expect people to respond faster or deliver an anticipated results quickly. These things are usually expected before the foundation has been laid. Big mistake!

Is all of this beginning to make sense?

As you begin to answer the above questions, things may become clearer. If you are using networking to gain monetary results, it can be done.

However, you can't expect to push a button and get results like machines. It simply doesn't work that way. People are much more complicated than that.

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John H. Lee (JohnTheNetworker) is a Lead Generation Specialist, Host, and Consultant, of professional and social events in the Greater Philadelphia Area, Philadelphia Pennsylvania.