4 Networking Tips That Will Make You a Success

Everyone needs to network. And I mean everyone. More Germanwings Co-Pilot Looked Up Suicide Methods Online NBC News 70 Dead in al-Qaeda-Linked College Rampage in Kenya NBC News Televangelist Robert Schuller Dies at 88 NBC News
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Subscribers Star Track: Amy Schumer’s movie Trainwreck Amy Schumer: Class Clown of 2015 Subscribe Cuba Libre Bitter Pill: Why Medical Bills Are Killing Us Networking is one of the 10 things I recommend people do every week. Research shows networking is vital to staying employed, salary growth and job satisfaction. It also makes you more likely to land a job. Via The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference: In his classic 1974 study Getting a Job, Granovetter…found that 56 percent of those he talked to found their job through a personal connection. It makes you more likely to be successful at your job. Via The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and


Performance at Work: MIT researchers…found that the more socially connected the IBM employees were, the better they performed. It makes you more likely to become an expert at your job. Via Achieving Success Through Social Capital: Tapping the Hidden Resources in Your Personal and Business Networks: As much as 70% of learning in the workplace takes place via informal interactions according to a 1998 study by the center for Workforce Development. And it makes you more likely to be creative on the job. Via Imagine:

How Creativity Works: …businesspeople with entropic networks full of weak ties were three times more innovative than people with small networks of close friends… And it makes you more likely to be creative on the job. Via Imagine: How Creativity Works: …businesspeople with entropic networks full of weak ties were three times more innovative than people with small networks of close friends… Having a big network even makes you luckier. Alright, alright… Networking is essential. But how do we do it? I’ve read the books, talked to the experts and I’ve got some answers. And if you’re one of those people who hates the word “networking” because it seems sleazy, rest assured I’ve got that covered too.
Let’s get started:


1) If Connecting Seems Hard, Start By Re-Connecting You hate networking. Or you’re bad at it. Or you’re hopelessly lazy and have the attention span of a gnat. Then just go play on Facebook. I’m being serious. An excellent first step, backed by research, is toreconnect with old friends: These findings suggest that dormant relationships – often overlooked or underutilized – can be a valuable source of knowledge and social capital.

“Give and Take” author Adam Grant points to research showing in many cases friends you haven’t kept up with are even more helpful than current contacts. (For a dead simple way to reconnect with people, click here.) Okay, but this is supposed to be networking, right? How do you meet new people? Well, that can be crazy simple too.

2) Move Your Desk Most people constantly make excuses: “I’m shy. Talking to new people makes me break out with hives, boils and open sores.” It’s really not that hard and it needn’t be awkward. In fact, it can be as simple as moving your desk. Via Achieving Success Through Social Capital: Tapping the Hidden Resources in Your Personal and Business Networks: Jeffrey Pfeffer tells a powerful story of a manager who attributes his success to his decision of where to sit… He noted that during the course of the day, people walked to the cafeteria and to the washrooms. He found where the two paths tended to intersect, near the center of the open plan office layout, and took that position as his work location. He attributes much of his subsequent success to that simple move, since it gave him much better access to what was going on in his department. Not good at going up to new people? Then situate yourself so they’ll come to you.

 Okay, clever tricks. But what if we really want to scale this? And be strategic? Then it’s time to bring out the big guns… 3) Find Your “Superconnectors” A disproportionate number of friends and opportunities came your way through a handful of people.

These are “superconnectors.” Who helped get you your current job? Your previous job? Through whom did you meet the majority of your friends? Seeing any patterns? Brian Uzzi and Sharon Dunlap discussed this in the Harvard Business Review: After you identify your key contacts, think about how you first met them. In the center column of the work sheet, write the name of the person who introduced you to your contact (if you met the person yourself, write “me”).


This column will reveal the brokers in your network and help you see the networking practices you used to connect with them. If you only send a few emails or make a few calls it should be to those people, because a small investment there can pay off big. Who’s an easy first superconnector? Contact your mentor. (Don’t have a mentor? All successful people have mentors. To get the perfect mentor for you, click here.) So you’re starting to build up a healthy network now. But all these meetings might get expensive. And that can lead to second thoughts…


 4) Start An “Interesting People Fund” Set aside money so there’s no reluctance or guilt and you can jump on opportunities to meet new people. Ben Casnocha, bestselling author of The Start-up of You and The Alliance, says designating this money can make networking much less stressful. Pre-committing $100 or $1,000 reduces the likelihood that when it comes time to actually do the thing you know you ought to do, you bail. What about making time? Top networker Keith Ferrazzi sums up the answer with the title of his bestseller: Never Eat Alone.