Networking is one of the tools we use to build community at A Bigger Voice. I’m pleased to introduce Ellen Ingraham as our networking expert. Ellen comes to us after a successful career in building extraordinary sales teams in the pharmaceutical industry and in building businesses as an independent marketing consultant.
I met Ellen when she responded to my email, forwarded from a friend of a friend, asking if anyone knew of a social media guru for the A Bigger Voice team. She didn’t fit the bill. Nevertheless, she emailed me, a complete stranger. Her response included detailed feedback on my website with comments from a few of her friends, as well as an offer to brainstorm on how to find the social media person I was looking for.
One of the things I’ve learned from Ellen is that successful networking starts with an attitude of service and abundance. She’s one of those rare individuals who naturally thinks about how she can be of service to others and then gives from a place of abundance. And for her, it all starts with making connections.
The best experts are the ones who practice their craft innately and that’s what Ellen does with networking. Enjoy getting to know Ellen in her first post.
–Carol Ross
One of my passions is meeting new people, exchanging ideas, finding common ground, seeing if there is any way that I can help others reach their goals. This is what networking is to me—networking is making friends.
When most people hear the word networking, they think of taking a pile of business cards to a meeting where the sole purpose is to give people your cards and get as many cards as you can. Then you take all these business cards home, enter them into some kind of database, and contact all these people hoping to get business from them.
Once after a networking meeting, I got an email from one of the people who had taken my card with a form letter attached. The file was called “Post-Networking Meeting Letter Number One.” The sender had thoughtfully filled my name into the greeting. First I laughed out loud… and then I cried.
One of our colleagues in A Bigger Voice told me that she hated networking. I asked her how she had done it in the past. She said that when she worked for a large law firm, one of the areas on which they were evaluated was networking; this consisted of attending a networking event, gathering as many cards as possible, and reporting back on the number of cards obtained and the number of people she met from whom the firm could potentially get business. It was the only part of her job at which she failed miserably.
Is it any wonder, with scenarios like these, that the word “networking” evokes dread in so many people?
Photo by Shashi Bellamkonda
Instead of focusing on how many business cards you collect, or how many people you could potentially do business with, ask yourself these questions:
- Did you meet one person that you enjoyed?
- Did you have a meaningful conversation with her?
- Can you imagine staying in touch with her?
- Might you, sometime in the future, find a way to connect her to someone else who could help her?
If so, you win!
Starting small, networking is making one-to-one connections—making new friends. Thinking big, networking can change the way the world operates—if we become more conscious of how we connect to other people every day, and if we pay attention to connecting people to one another.
Networking is not a straight line; it’s a circle, or a web of connections. In Simon’s words, it is one part of the “eco-system of building community.” When we start intentionally connecting people (or introducing our friends to one another) to further what’s important to each of us, we all contribute to the vision of making the world a better place. Everyone finds a bigger voice. Everyone wins.
What’s your definition of networking?
How Networking Helps Build Community and Friendships
Networking is one of the tools we use to build community at A Bigger Voice. I’m pleased to introduce Ellen Ingraham as our networking expert. Ellen comes to us after a successful career in building extraordinary sales teams in the pharmaceutical industry and in building businesses as an independent marketing consultant.
I met Ellen when she responded to my email, forwarded from a friend of a friend, asking if anyone knew of a social media guru for the A Bigger Voice team. She didn’t fit the bill. Nevertheless, she emailed me, a complete stranger. Her response included detailed feedback on my website with comments from a few of her friends, as well as an offer to brainstorm on how to find the social media person I was looking for.
One of the things I’ve learned from Ellen is that successful networking starts with an attitude of service and abundance. She’s one of those rare individuals who naturally thinks about how she can be of service to others and then gives from a place of abundance. And for her, it all starts with making connections.
The best experts are the ones who practice their craft innately and that’s what Ellen does with networking. Enjoy getting to know Ellen in her first post.
–Carol Ross
One of my passions is meeting new people, exchanging ideas, finding common ground, seeing if there is any way that I can help others reach their goals. This is what networking is to me—networking is making friends.
When most people hear the word networking, they think of taking a pile of business cards to a meeting where the sole purpose is to give people your cards and get as many cards as you can. Then you take all these business cards home, enter them into some kind of database, and contact all these people hoping to get business from them.
Once after a networking meeting, I got an email from one of the people who had taken my card with a form letter attached. The file was called “Post-Networking Meeting Letter Number One.” The sender had thoughtfully filled my name into the greeting. First I laughed out loud… and then I cried.
One of our colleagues in A Bigger Voice told me that she hated networking. I asked her how she had done it in the past. She said that when she worked for a large law firm, one of the areas on which they were evaluated was networking; this consisted of attending a networking event, gathering as many cards as possible, and reporting back on the number of cards obtained and the number of people she met from whom the firm could potentially get business. It was the only part of her job at which she failed miserably.
Is it any wonder, with scenarios like these, that the word “networking” evokes dread in so many people?
Photo by Shashi Bellamkonda
Instead of focusing on how many business cards you collect, or how many people you could potentially do business with, ask yourself these questions:
If so, you win!
Starting small, networking is making one-to-one connections—making new friends. Thinking big, networking can change the way the world operates—if we become more conscious of how we connect to other people every day, and if we pay attention to connecting people to one another.
Networking is not a straight line; it’s a circle, or a web of connections. In Simon’s words, it is one part of the “eco-system of building community.” When we start intentionally connecting people (or introducing our friends to one another) to further what’s important to each of us, we all contribute to the vision of making the world a better place. Everyone finds a bigger voice. Everyone wins.
What’s your definition of networking?