Lapaas Digital

Tag: networking

  • Professional Networking- Building Relationship for Mutual Benefits

    Professional Networking- Building Relationship for Mutual Benefits

    To get success for a certain level you can achieve it by your sheer hard work, but if you want to take your success rate to the next level, then you need to have an understanding of the benefits of networking in business. 

    Networking can bring you in touch with highly influential people, which could happen to be the turning point for a business owner.

    Most of the success of any field or profession is dependent on the relationship you make. Like-if you have a start-up & you have a big stack of the task, then you can only achieve that if you have a team who has a strong bond & relationship with each other.

    Suppose one person has a specific skill-set or they are working on a project, if no one knows about it, then how can anyone help you to take it to the next level? 

    If you know networking benefits & how to make secure networking connections with others, then you can learn so much from different influential people. And you can grow your career with their help also in the positive direction & you help them as well. This is how networking benefits users.

    To have the skill of networking with top business professional people is very important for anyone’s career growth in any field of life.

    Many people think like to derive networking benefits. A person needs to be an extrovert person. But it’s not the reality & anyone can learn it. But before learning how to network with business professionals, you must need to know about networking more.

    WHAT’S IN IT

    What is Networking?

    Networking is not just about shaking hands, exchanging business cards, but it’s all about forming or maintaining a relationship with other business professionals, entrepreneurs.

    Networking is always a two-way process. It’s not just about forming a relationship & take advantage of that professional relationship to advance your career. It’s about helping to grow each other at the same time.

    While networking many professionals, business professionals, entrepreneurs (especially those who just started their venture) exchange ideas about their businesses & see if there is an opportunity for mutual benefit.

    And if they found it they form a professional relationship & work together.

    What are the Benefits of Networking?

    benefits-of-networking

    Networking allows those especially those who’ve recently started their venture & everyone to get more exposure, knowing about business opportunities, to find like-minded business partners.

    Below I’ve listed some importance of networking in the professional world:

    1. Like-minded people:

    One of the most significant benefits of networking in the business world is that it gives everyone the same opportunity to find like-minded people. Finding a person who just has the same kind of ambitions, goals can ultimately lead to the business partner as well, if they want to grow together. And if you find a business partner through networking, then it can lead towards friendship as well.

    2. Opportunities in Abundance:

    The benefits of networking are limitless. There is no doubt that from networking, there’s an infinite amount of opportunities, especially just starting their ventures or for every business professional in general.

    The abundance of opportunity is the only reason that people network. And for everyone, the opportunity is different during networking. For some it’s business sales, showcasing their skill-set to some company’s CEO just to get hired, partnership or joint venture, client, leads etc.

    You just need to be selective & smart while networking to choose the right opportunity so that your business could grow, instead of just adding some name as a business partner.

    3. Making Connections:

    The benefits of networking in the business allow you to meet with every level of business professionals from young entrepreneurs to business tycoons. So if you want to take your business to the next level, then you must have a no. of reliable connections from the industry, because in trouble you can expect help from them.

    Not only this, but there are also so many influential people to network with during networking. And if you play your card right in front of them & you impressed them, then you may unlock the doors of more opportunities. If you impress one influential person, then chances are they’ll introduce you to their group of influential people. 

    4. Your Reputation will increase:

    If you’re in every social event & business event, it’s quite natural you become a known face to the other because you show up. By networking, it’s a great way to become known & visible to other business professionals & influential people.

    When you show up at events, make sure you’re not just there to take advantage of others to grow your business, you contribute as well. You can build a reputation for yourself by sharing your ideology, being supportive, reliable & your knowledge with the others who need it. By providing values to everyone, you will gain respect & make a name of yourself which will help you to get more & more referrals from them.

    5. Networking helps you to be confident:

    When you do something repetitively & regularly, you become a pro at it. When you network with different business professionals regularly, it eventually increases your confidence.

    The growth of your business is entirely dependent on the fact of how you make a connection & talk to people. And if you become a confident speaker, it eventually helps you in the growth of your business as well.

    When a person feels confident, it will benefit them in every field. When a business owner is confident, the outflow of new thoughts, ideas, and action could lead the company to grow at a higher rate.

    You’ve known what the benefits & importance of networking are, now I’m sharing some tips on how to network effectively.

    Tips For Networking:

    tips-for-networking

    1. Know your Networking goals:

    Have the intention clear why you want to network in the very first place. Do you want to network because you want to gain knowledge, tips & insight into how to take your business to the next level? Or you want to introduce your business & want exposure in front of an influential business individual? Or are you in need of business favor from others? Whatever it is, have your intentions clear.

    2. Understand the Opportunity of Networking:

    We should consider ourselves fortunate to live in this era because wherever you see, you see lots of opportunities everywhere.

    Especially Businessperson, the opportunity to network with a highly influential person is much more than in the past. 

    Nowadays networking happens in every city, platform & venue. The way to have networking not only limited to industrial fares, conferences, it also stretches its reaches to the internet as well. You can do networking through social media platforms as well, online forums. Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn is providing ample opportunities for business owners because it eases the process to find people of similar industries & those who share the same interest & build networks according to it.

    3. Whom to Network with?

    Before going to network, have a clear list of individuals or communities with whom you want to network. They might be the CEO of the company, other company former clients, former colleagues, other professional groups of organizations, a local group of organizations etc.

    And to get any kind of help from a different set of people, understand what value you can provide to them, so they get interested in helping you.

    4. Breaking the ice:

    When you are in a place where every professional is networking with each other, don’t expect that others will approach you first. 

    You have to make the first move. You can start the conversation with a friendly approach & can show your interest in what they’re doing currently in their business 

    And if you find the opportunity for being helpful or you can share some value from which they can get benefitted, then do share it.

    This will help to form some relationships with professionals.

    5. Networking isn’t a waste of time:

    why-networking

    Many business owners think that networking is a total waste of time. It doesn’t add up any value to their business. They think that instead of wasting their time doing networking, why not work which will benefit their business more.

    As I said earlier if you want to get a certain level of success, then work alone, but if you want to go far ahead, then you must work with a group of people.

    Don’t take networking as a waste of time, to grow your business networking is an absolute necessity. Understand the benefits of networking in business, embrace it & it’ll reward you.

    As I said earlier, networking is not only about getting help from other business influentials, it’s about mutual benefit. If you provide others value, they’ll eventually help you without even thinking twice.

    6. Give value:

    When you help someone, you earn respect from the other party, which will help you to bag many referrals. 

    It also helps you to make new connections & friendships. And the most important thing is that it will give the satisfaction of helping others.

    Conclusion:

    Networking is a great way to take your business growth to the next level, networking with the right professionals. But Networking is not just for just taking advantage; it is also about giving as well. 

    Try to provide value to other business professionals as much as you can, because if you’re not providing any value, why would they?

    Also Read: Everything you need to know about Transformational Leadership

    Frequently Asked Questions: 

  • Working with Powerful People- Relationship Management Skills

    Working with Powerful People- Relationship Management Skills

    To achieve a certain level of success, you need to be good at your work. But if you want to achieve limitless success in your life, you need to have good relationship management skills to create a bond with powerful & influential people around you.

    Influential people have the experience, the exposure which could uplift your career to the next level. But to get their attention, you need to be good at relationship building.

    Not everyone knows the importance of a relationship with influential people. Those who know they have an abundance of opportunities.

    And those who don’t know just complain there’s no opportunity left in the market.

    Those who’re not good at relationship management skills don’t understand one simple fact that any talent can be learned by doing it repetitively. And networking is also a skill that anybody can acquire.

    Below I’ve mentioned some steps which will surely help you to become a master at building relationships.

    WHAT’S IN IT

    1. Don’t Overthink it; just do it:

    When is anyone trying to start or even think about building a good relationship with powerful & influential people? In the beginning, they all have this feeling, Who am I? Why they even spent a minute with me? I’m nobody.

    Just do it - relationship management skill

    One fact is actually that you’re nobody, but the exciting thing is that influential people don’t care about this fact.

    Influential people love to help people, those who ask the right questions in the small interim & who knows how to build relationships the right way.

    2. Just Be Yourself:

    When you’re trying to build a relationship with influential people, just remember one thing, “Be Yourself.” Those who know the importance of relationships know that they can’t make a lasting relationship with influential people by faking.

    Influential people know who’s faking & who’s not because they have the experience; they also made it through building relationships with the right person & hard work.

    “When you are authentic, you create a certain energy; people want to be around you because you are unique.” Andie MacDowell”.

    3. Focus On the Person Whom you’re talking to:

    Those who have a proper understanding of the importance of relationship building will never commit the mistake of losing focus with whom they’re interacting.

    We all don’t like when someone’s talking to you, but his/her attention is somewhere else, their eyes just fluttering around the surrounding except you.

    The same thing will be applied when you’re trying to network with influential peoples. This gives a wrong impression of yours if you being caught doing this because it implies that something is more important than talking to that influential person & you are not good at relationship management skills.

    The most important aspect of building a solid & robust relationship with influential people is never moving your focus from them.

    When you’re communicating with them, no matter what’s happening in the surrounding, people are chattering, or the room is full of bustle. You always need to be present in that conversation, not just physically but mentally also.

    It shows to others that the person is interested in this conversation. Opportunity can come from anywhere; you never know one full-hearted conversation with the higher authoritative person could lead you to your dream job.

    focus listening is a relationship management skill

    So from the next time, whenever you strike a conversation with influential people, be genuinely present at that moment.

    4. First listen & then Speak:

    Nowadays, it’s widespread that when a person communicates with anyone, they always start the conversation by talking about themselves. But if you want to excel at relationship management skills, then you must master the art of listening.

    Don’t rush with your agenda to influential people; they hate it.

    Like if they ask- What are you working on nowadays? And you start your trying to impress speech. Hold on a bit, start your conversation with interesting questions like, whatever you are doing, why do you do it every day? How you got into a position where you’re right now.

    And now listen patiently to what they have to say, you’ll get to know about their interest, passion & their struggles.

    If you ask these types of questions which they very rarely heard of, they’ll get a feeling that this guy wanted to learn & they’ll eventually ask about what you do too.

    And now the time comes where you can seize the moment by talking according to their likes, passion & interest.

    Always try to connect with any influential people humanly, not just professionally. If you’d be able to do this, you’ll go way up top in your life by building a good relationship with them.

    5. Do some Research:

    First, learn & do some research on that influential & powerful person with whom you wanted to work for in the future.

    In this colonial era, knowing about famous individuals or anyone is not a big deal. There are so many platforms like- Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube, podcasts from which you can keep track of what’s will be their next move or in which city they are coming in next week’s or they’re in a hunt for a digital marketer.

    And if you could provide the value which they’re looking for, then Bingo! Because that’s what you want.

    Start writing an email saying like-

    Dear Mr Xyz,

    I heard that you’re looking for a Digital marketing expert for your organisation. And I’ve worked with Xyz comp. For x years & I would love to add value for you.

    You got the gist, right! Research that influential person you wanted to work for & who knows, the opportunity comes to your door anytime.

    6. Be Honest:

    Do you know what strength is? When you open up to the world that you have weaknesses. We live in a society where it’s a norm that those who have disadvantages & if they share with anyone, then everyone will judge them based on their weakness.

    Honesty is a good relationship management skill

    But the reality is quite the opposite; when we open up about our weakness to others, we can only connect to the deeper level & create a deeper relationship.

    Because everyone has some kind of weakness like some have insecurities about something, some don’t do something due to fear, someone struggled in their life, due to lack of skill in the early days & we all have been in this kind of situation.

    When you open up with your weaknesses, people also find you credible because of your honesty & this will create a common ground for others to connect with you. So don’t try to be “Mr. knows it all” because you’ll get exposed if you fake it. Instead of this, try to become honest about your weakness & it’ll help you create strong bonds with essential people in your life.

    Those who know the importance of relationship-building never shy away from opening up because it’s crucial for good relationship building.

    7. Provide value to others:

    Those who know the importance of a relationship know a straightforward fact that you can’t get from anyone without giving. Nobody has time for anyone until & unless that person has some kind of value to add. Now you know how to reach out to influential people; now you just need to reach out to them & give what they want, like creating content for them, they are looking to expand their marketing team, then send them an email & become a worthy candidate for that.

    It’s not about what you can get from them; it’s about how much value you can give to others—any kind of good relationship built on trust. And one can gain confidence only when they others without any hidden motive or reason behind helping someone.

    And good deeds always pay you back in one way or the other.

    8. Work for Influential Person:

    Suppose you get a chance of working for the most powerful & influential people of your industry & did a great job there. Then one thing is for sure that you’ve opened the gate for being more successful. Why? Because an influential people group also happened to be full of influential people.

    More influential & powerful people constantly surround successful people.

    So if you are good at what you do & if you have worked for one powerful individual, chances are they will take your name whenever other influential individuals compliment or talk about your work.

    Due to this, you will get more exposure & you may even get the opportunity for your dream company.

    9. Believe in your ideas:

    Just building a good relationship with influential people isn’t enough. If you want to make others believe in your work or ideas, then you first need to consider your work more than anyone in the world.

    Just think about it, if you don’t believe that your work or ideas are great, then how could anyone believe in your career or ideas.

    People are intuitive creature, so if you are confident about your work, it will come out to the other person that this person knows what he is talking about & the same thing applies with faking & show-off.

    If you try to lie about your work or ideas, they will instantly know because they become successful with experiences.

    Conclusion:

    To reach a great height, you must involve yourself with more powerful & influential people. There’s a saying- “You are the average of five people you spend the most time with”-Jim John.

    To find influential people in your industry, gather every kind of knowledge about them, try to provide value to them & if they found some spark within you. You’ll find yourself working for them, or they will refer to other influential people.

    So, now you know the importance of relationship-building with influential people can do for you. Apply all the suggestions in your life & soon, you’ll master the art of relationship management skill.

    Also, you can read our blog on How to use Cause and Effect Analysis to Easily Solve any Problem

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