Marketing for Beginners: Networking Basics

In the simplest terms “Networking is the meeting of new people” and the more new people that you connect with, the larger your network grows. The network that you build can be used to promote your writing, blog or even business to a targeted market. On the other hand, your network could be used to locate something that you might need and someone else in your network might have exactly what you need.

When planning on building a network think about the places and the people that you already know and use what and whom you know to build the foundation of your new network.

Consider the places that you visit; the nightclub, the bowling alley, your college or the office, just for example, and use these opportunities to make new friends and invite them into your network. Don’t forget to get their full name, email address and/or phone number, because this information will become part of the value of your network of friends and potential business partnerships.

Now, consider you friends and family and family friends, because these are people that you know on a personal basis and you know who they really are and what they really do. If you were building a network to exchange information about skilled trades such as; plumbing, painting, roofing, etc., then if you already know the person that you are dealing with, then you would automatically know where this person would fit in best in your network. The same would be true no matter what kind of network that you start.

Some people believe that any good network really needs is the person’s name and a way to reach them and that pretty much sums it up. Whether your communication method is dialing a cell phone or sending an email or airmailing a message on the leg of a carrier pigeon, the object is still the same – make contact at all costs.

On the Internet, there are hundreds of ways to meet new people and make new friends, but when setting up a network you really need to fill it with people that will bring the results that you are expecting. You can always build more than one network with each focused on your other interests.

To setup a network using the Internet, all one really needs is a working email address (it is suggested that you use a secondary email address and avoid using your primary email address for networking purposes). Once you have established an email address to use for your network, then you need to join a forum, social network “MySpace or Facebook” (for example) or start playing live action games, where there are other players that you can communicate with while playing the games together.

You need to locate places where you will be able to meet the type of people that your network needs to have a solid foundation and yield the results that meets or exceeds you’re marketing expectation.

Networking is all about people and any successful Networker will tell you the importance to be where people are and if you are not where people are, then move yourself to the places that they are at. Do not expect people to seek you out to join your network. It’s your network, so you should be the “Seeker”.

If you ever meet a person that you feel uncomfortable being around and no matter how important you think the person, just pass on adding those types of people to any network that you might start. It is always more important that you put your safety first and move yourself to a safe well-lit place. If the person is on the Internet, just change your email or avoid the places where this person knows who you are.

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