Benefits of Networking

ByMike McBride Reading Time: 2 minutes

This holiday weekend has been a little eye-opening for me in terms of how networking works. As I mentioned when I presented at Ignite a few weeks ago, you want to grow a network because asking people you don’t really know to help you can be awkward, at best. Far better to have a network of folks who you know well, and have given of yourself to, before you have to ask for help.

Over the past few days, though, simply getting out, meeting people, and having a group of people you are connected with through various means has paid benefits that I really didn’t expect. My wife hooked me up with a ticket to the Ohio State hockey game, where I ran into an old friend who was using his company’s luxury suite, and had me up there to hang out and eat and drink.I even got to meet a few new people while I was up there, bonus!

On top of that, I was able to get a great deal on a Nikon D70 through an on-line friend who was looking to sell his, and now my wife and I can both have a Nikon model to use that we’re both more comfortable using. 🙂

Like I said, none of this was expected, none of this was planned, but it all came about simply because I know people, and through these connections, opportunities came about.

If you’re not connecting with people, who knows what opportunities, professional or personal, you’re missing out on?

Technorati Tags: Networking
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