Would you recognize opportunity knocking? (Saturated Market)

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Would you recognize opportunity knocking?

Personal strategy Networking is king. I've said it before, and others with more expertise than I have said it before me. There's a lot of material out there on "how" to network, and network effectively. Qualify the connection, don't dilute yourself, etc. But running on the theme of one of my earlier posts, I contend that effective networking follows from being social. Mostly because you don't necessarily know where a contact is going to come from or lead you. You may be pleasantly surprised. I know I was.

A few weeks ago, I was handed a client who needed computer and internet training. He was a senior, and just couldn't get the hang of his new computer. Since one of our mandates at SC is computer training, I was glad to help out. At first I was a little annoyed; I preferred the business side of things. But I went, and I trained him. I must say I enjoyed our sessions; the best way I could describe this gentleman would be to say he's a character. So naturally, when we waited for something to load or before and after our sessions, we were able to shoot the breeze about things other than the task at hand.

Eventually, the topic of my goals came around. I told him that I liked writing, and wanted to write for advertisements or PR some day. I didn't think much of it. The next session, he told me that he had passed my name on to his son, who works in investor relations and had worked in PR. I was able to set up an informal meeting with him to ask his advice and learn a few things. I came away with some great advice, some concrete tips on how to improve my resumé, and most importantly, the name of an executive at a large PR firm and the instructions to let her know that he had passed her name on to me.

Really, if you want to network, then just be social. Talk to people, learn from them, and stay in touch. Because they might know someone. And at the very least, you get a good conversation out of them.

Until next time,