Has “networking” become tedious for you? Has “keeping it up” become a tiresome chore?
If so, you may be confusing “networking” with “keeping in touch”.
“Networking” and “keeping in touch” are not the same thing.
You keep in touch with people for a variety of reasons. And networking may be one such reason.
For instance, I keep in touch with some co-workers from a past jobs simply because I like them.
I enjoyed working with them, and have good memories. So I like to look them up when I’m in town, just to say hello and see how they’re doing. Or send them a card for New Year.
And sometimes, I may turn to one of these people for help.
Sometimes, I may ask for help with a networking objective — such as, how best to approach the decision-maker within his or her current organization.
I suppose you can think of “networking” as getting in touch with someone for a specific reason, which usually involves asking for something — such as, asking for advice, asking for a recommendation, making a business proposition and asking for participation, and so on.
So, if your only reason to keep in touch with someone is for “networking” purposes, it can get tedious.
After all, if you have nothing else to talk about (besides asking for something) when you get together to “network” week after week, month after month, it can become awkward, mechanistic, and uninspiring.
This is why “networking” often fails.
To avoid this problem and confusion,
- First clarify why you want to meet and make sure that both sides see the benefit of getting together — or staying in touch. This is one simple way you can identify the “right” people to stay in touch with.
- Then together you can decide how best to keep in touch (e.g. by phone, email, in-person, or a combination), how often to connect with each other, what to talk about when you do connect, and so on.
This allows you to stay in regular contact — with the right people at the right frequency — without it becoming a burden.
