| Does Your Networking Have a Half-Life? |
 Traditional networking involves going to a predetermined location with a group of like-minded professionals, sporting a welcoming smile and a pocket full of business cards. It’s a little different for online social networks, but a plan is required or you’ll quickly
Traditional networking involves going to a predetermined location with a group of like-minded professionals, sporting a welcoming smile and a pocket full of business cards. It’s a little different for online social networks, but a plan is required or you’ll quickly become trivial. The success of any formal networking organization is consistent participation from its members. Often, there are dues and attendance rules to enforce this. However, at what point does your membership not meet your needs? This depends on your reasons for networking in the first place. But, I think every networking group and even online platform has a half-life for each individual. According to Wikipedia: It usually pertains to unstable atomic molecules, but I think there is a similarity to our enthusiasm for networking. We join and participate in social networks for a number of reasons. Newer businesses want to “get out there” for the world to meet; new-to-the-area want to get to know who else is out there; solo-preneurs need to get out of the office; single individuals have mixed social agendas; mature businesses need to get their feet wet online; having a philanthropic heart draws many; but, the most common reason is to generate leads. Have You Peaked? To have a half-life we would need to accept that we have peaked in some part of our networking. Depending on your reason for taking part in a certain network your half-life is often directly related to your enthusiasm for participating. If you find yourself saying to yourself, “Rats, its Tuesday; I need to go to that meeting,” or “I can’t remember the last time I updated my status on Facebook,” you are at the very least experiencing decay. Snap Out of It! Get yourself a fresh perspective. If you regularly attend a traditional networking group, bring a guest each time. You’ll find their questions about the group refreshing your enthusiasm or at least amusing you during the event. Online, look for features you haven’t tried before. Each of these sites adds new tools regularly. Try something different and see what you get. If you find yourself slipping into inconsistent patterns, automate as much as you can by linking your networks. Ping.fm is a great tool to update multiple networks at once. Try not to let evolution of the group or site get you down. It happens to every organization as they try to reach a larger audience. Be happy for the changes. They will connect you to that many more people who are brand new and enthusiastic, like you when you began. Don’t stick with all the same people in your group. Reach out to the new ones. Their energy can be contagious.
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