Life is a chain of meetings. The modern way of meeting people is ONLINE NETWORKING. People come along in our life for some reason. Turn an online contact into a useful relationship. However do it the right way.
Our greetings to everyone!
Our life is a chain of meetings. It is a well-known postulate that people come along in our life for some reason. The modern way of meeting people is ONLINE NETWORKING. How to turn an online contact into a useful relationship?
Building long-term mutually beneficial relationships is not an easy task. It requires a lot of your time and effort. If we could offer some recommendations that might help you in it they would be as follows:
Be reciprocal. If you address a person with any request – asking for recommendations, an advice, etc. - be ready to pay back with the same coin, or even more, in response - recommend this person to influential friends from your network or, at least, send a greeting card for the New Year! Do as much as possible in return.
Share information. Find a way to help your friends solve their problems if you can. Send them links to useful articles, offer the book you possess that matter to them. Be the sharing center of information they need and the point for connecting with the right contacts out of your own list. This is an inexpensive way to maintain relationships, but it has a huge impact.
Be authentic. If you are open and sincere, people would feel like getting to know you better. If they like what they see, they will be ready to help you or do you a favor, if necessary. If you do not know the answer to the question, just say so. However later on try to find the information he/she was looking for and share it. Be a part of the group, but always remain yourself. People like to communicate when they feel comfortable and safe in your society.
Stay in touch. Meet a person interesting for you on the Internet (on LinkedIn, FB, etc) and stay connected. Even if you have nothing to ask, let your contacts know how you are doing, what interesting things you are planning and what you could offer them if they need your help. You can make your update on LinkedIn or Facebook so that your contacts know what is happening in your business or in your life. As a rule, people turn to others when they are in need of something (work, advice, place to live). Be an exception - become a person to share your good news with them.
Respect the feelings of others. While you might think that this is a funny post on Facebook, it can be perceived negatively by someone from the network of your contacts, hurt someone's feelings and even spoil your relationship - think twice before posting it. In addition, do not disclose confidential or private information, do not give details if you are not 100% sure that they are true. Reciprocity means respecting the feelings and needs of others.
Respect boundaries in your relationships. Always mind the borders within which a person from your network of contacts may be ready to support you. If you ask for a favor or to recommend you to an influential person, (even if you are ready to reciprocate) and your friend does not dare or does not want to do this, learn to accept it normally. Not everyone feels comfortable opening their network of contacts to others or telling everyone about their connections. Reciprocity means that we can perceive with respect when we are told “no”.
Having a clear strategy and focusing your attention on the principle of reciprocity in building your relationships, also means taking responsibility for it. At all stages of the relationship building process, it is important that you maintain your reputation and adhere to your life principles. Such an approach will allow you to always act nobly and with respect to people. You will create a reliable foundation for promoting your personal brand.
We at LSCE hope that the information we share might be useful for you. On our workshops we talk a lot about building your personal brand applying ONLINE NETWORKING as a tool to find the right people at the right moment to reach your goals.
Look forward to seeing you at our events!
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