Joe recently connected to a sales executive he had never met. He read an article about the company and wanted to hear more. LinkedIn guidelines used to advise that, “Networking doesn’t mean reaching out cold to strangers.”
Wait, isn’t that exactly what networking sometimes means? Surely you wouldn’t shy away from meeting people at a live networking event, a job fair, or a party simply because they’re strangers and you don’t happen to know anyone who can introduce you.
LinkedIn eventually understood that it is perfectly acceptable to say hello and find out more about a stranger virtually, just like it is in person. Here are LinkedIn’s new guidelines.
Networking’s goal is growth through mutual interests, or as Webster’s defines networking, ‘the cultivation of productive relationships for employment or business’. To cultivate is to seek, prepare, plant, acquire, improve, befriend.
Networking is these three activities:
Prospecting: Seeking and preparing to identify potential mutual interests.
Connecting: Planting and acquiring information to discover more about mutual interests.
Relationship Building: Befriending connections and improving bonds to share mutual interests.
Sometimes you have connections who can help you skip the prospecting step, or even take you straight to relationship building. But you’ll often have reach out without being introduced. And that’s okay! Just keep the goal in mind.
Getting back to Joe, he connected – in minutes actually – by reaching out directly to the sales executive he wanted to talk with. The sales executive viewed Joe’s profile and also identified potential mutual interests. Now they share helpful tips, tools, and opportunities with each other.
Joe 1) prospected 2) connected and 3) began relationship building with the goal of sharing mutual interests and growth.
Link in your common interests and share resources for GROWTH – Gaining Rewards, Opportunities, and Well-being Together Holistically!
You can connect live at HOP training, practice, and connection events. Take advantage of free tip sheets and examples. It’s easy to host your own HOP events with the model and tools at hopspeednetworking.com.