There are many myths out there about what networking is all about. And, we’ll bust through one of the biggest myths and suggest another concept.

Networking Myth: Networking is Time Consuming.

I hear this frequently as I interact with my clients and potential clients. I agree, networkingcancertainly be time consuming when it is done the way some business owners approach this important business activity – but it doesn’t have to be.

If there happened to be a “who can attend the most networking events in a given week contest”, I definitely would not win.

However, I would often win the most “strategic networking” contest.

The quantity of networking meetings isn’t what the game is about.  It’s about the quality of the relationships that you build. If you take care to plan your business marketing and customer flow, then you will approach your networking activities verydifferently.

Don’t get fooled into thinking that the business owner who shows up at the most networking events wins! Good networking requires some strategic thinking about your target market. Who is your ideal customer? And, the answer isn’t everyone with a wallet!

When there is no definition of a target market and no marketing plan, then it’s true that networking takes up lots of time. And, it’s time that isn’t really revenue generating. When I observe business owners showing up at several networking breakfasts, lunches and mixers every week, I know with certainty that their networking isn’t working – and I can prove it!

If networking is just a social activity, then it’s working…but I guarantee it isn’t producing the kind of revenue that focused networking could be generating. If you prefer to exhaust yourself doing this sort of business busyness, be my guest. But, if you want to experience a great return on your investment of money, time and energy, then take the time to plan your My book Business-Building Referrals is available here.

Did you know???

Ben and Jerry became fast friends after meeting in a grade school gym class, They went to different colleges and reunited after college as roommates. Jerry was a lab technician and Ben taught pottery classes to disturbed youth. Because they wanted more fun than either of their current jobs were providing, they initially decided on the idea of opening a bagel shop. This idea lasted until they learned how much initial outlay it would require to purchase the bagel-making equipment. Their next idea was ice cream. They took a $5 course on ice cream making, and opened their first ice cream shop in Burlington, VT–one of the few college towns without an ice cream parlor already. I grew up in Burlington, VT and Ben and Jerry’s was a favorite and fun destination spot!

The post Does Networking Work? Discover a Truth about Networking in this Article. first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.

According to Barbra Streisand, “People who need people…are the luckiest people in the world.” This is not a new story – or song. Since the dawn of time, people have needed people to survive.

The creation of community for support, sharing of resources and information, socialization and camaraderie that coming together can bring, has been recognized as a human need since our ancestors began to inhabit our planet.

So, networking is not a new phenomenon. Apparently, it is a Neanderthal survival skill!

The practices and actions of networking are geared toward helping others and allowing them to assist you.

Networking is a process and method for developing connections for the purpose of providing mutual assistance.

I am sure you’ve heard of “barn raisings”. Networking is the ‘barn raising’ of today.

My maternal grandparents owned a dairy farm in Vermont. When my mother was about 14, their family home burned to the ground in a matter of minutes on a very cold winter evening. Escaping with the clothes on their backs and little else, the 6 children lived with neighbors until the following summer. My grandparents lived in the barn and tended the animals to keep their farm running.

In the spring, all the neighbors got together and rebuilt the house that I knew as my grandparents’ homestead; it was an amazing house.

This coming together of neighbors to rebuild and reconnect a family is a prime example of what networking is all about.

In that community, neighbors didn’t turn their backs or say, “that’s not my problem”. Everyone in that community cared about the well -being of the others. Their very survival depended on their well- developed network. There were no phones but they knew how to connect!

Isn’t that what networking is all about?-  Making Connections and offering to help when you see that help is needed.

In business it is the same thing! It’s about helping each other, working with other local business owners, focusing attention on “shopping local”.

This is not just a nice slogan.

It is a call to action, a call for attention to our purchasing habits.

Do you support your local businesses first? Do other local businesses support your business?

This is the real networking.

The support of each others’ businesses is our responsibility to our local business community. If we don’t shop local, our community of businesses will suffer. If businesses aren’t thriving, then the local community as a whole isn’t healthy either.

As local business owners, we need to reconnect with the ‘barn raising’ spirit in each of us by reaching out to all local businesses to “shopping local”.  Networking with the attitude of giving is the networking “get it”!

I would love to hear how you support your local businesses and how as a community of local business owners you work together in support of each others’ businesses. If you believe “Shopping Local” would benefit other business owners, please share these thoughts and share this blog post with your friends and colleagues.

The post What Savvy Business Networkers are Doing to “Get It”…Do You? first appeared on Lane Business Consulting.