Two things have happened in the last 2 days that prompted this particular post. First I got Susan Morrow’s Networkers’ News in an e-mail where she and others noticed that people are becoming more selective about their networking efforts. Then I read Thom Singer’s most recent blog post about Focus.

 

I’ve been going through this process myself recently. I’m attending substantially fewer networking events than I have in the past. There are 2 reasons for this. One, I’m much more focused on my family and trying to spend more time at home with Emily and Colette. Two, I’m getting far more referrals from my existing relationships by focusing on those who have given me referrals and helping them to be more successful.

 

There may be such a thing as too focused. You’ve probably noticed that it’s been several weeks since my last blog post, and since my last newsletter.

 

In a future blog post I’ll try and talk more about the phases of networking that I’ve noticed. Essentially it seems to be that there’s a cycle that moves from quantity to quality. Initially you spend a lot of time meeting people and growing your network (quantity). You probably attend a larger number of networking events during this phase. Once those relationships begin to produce; you are able to learn who can help you the most, and who you’re able to help the most (quality). Here you are likely busier doing business and will find yourself cutting back to the highest quality networking events that you attend.

 

Focus is what brings about the higher quality. By focusing on relationships you’ll build higher quality relationships. When you focus on networking effectively you’ll find for yourself which events, groups or organizations give you the most bang for your buck (time and money).

 

The more focused you are the more effective your networking efforts will be. What are YOU focused on?

 

Happy networking!

Scott Ingram
NetworkInAustin.com