Networking is a great way to stay in touch. Maybe you attend professional referral meetings (you know the ones where everyone stands up and talks about themselves all in the pursuit of clients) or maybe you are social and go to lots of cocktail parties, or just maybe you simply like to spark up conversations with the person sitting next to you at your child’s baseball game. Whatever it is you are doing, if it involves a conversation, it probably also involves networking. I know when I need something, I tap into my network – be they friends, colleagues, family or facebook friends, I turn to them for the most meaningless to the most meaningful of things – plumbers, doctors, manicurist – name it and I’ve probably asked around about it. Yes, this is also a word of mouth process, but it only happens because I have a network! So, next time you’re at that cocktail party and you think you may just be there for a glass of wine and a fun time, take a look around. I’m sure you’ll notice networking at its best – either really subtly or very obviously (like the time I insisted my real estate agent friend meet my mortgage broker friend). Most importantly, networking keeps you in touch, be it to your industry, your hobby or some other passion, enjoy and partake because you never know when you’ll need that network!
