THE POWER OF NETWORKING

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INTRODUCTION

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Everything on earth today happened because of an entity called man. The wealth and abundance of any nation is being engineered by men. Suffice to say that everything revolves around men. Hence; building a formidable relationship with people is a viable tool to attaining success in every aspects of life. These relationships are key to your business, academics, project plans and what have you. Let's briefly talk about the power of networking and it's benefits.

WHAT IS NETWORKING?

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Networking goes beyond exchange of information or sharing of contacts with others or going about begging people to do you a favor. It is rather geared toward establishing a long term relationship tied on beneficial mutuality with each other's interest at heart. Networking takes time, commitment and consistency. it's all about building trust. Hence; it comes in three (3) phases and they includes;

1. Process
2. Engaging and
3. Follow-up

Let's discuss them briefly:

Process:

Networking demands that you prepare and plan ahead. This is important because you need to know what you want and identify with the right kind of persons.

Engaging:

The next phase is the implementation stage. This stage is where you get to engage, approach and hook up with your people of interest.

Follow-up:

The last phase is where consistency and commitment comes in to play. In this stage, you've got to take up the responsibility of nurturing the relationship you've built with people or else it will yield little or nothing.

BENEFITS OF NETWORKING

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CREATION OF IDEAS:

Men are conveyors of ideas and wisdom. So when you network with people it could be a source of new perspectives and ideas to help advance your career or profession. Men are solution in disguised. Effective communication and dialogue with people provides one with new insight to having a problem solved.

REINFORCES BUSINESS CONNECTION:

As stated earlier, networking is not just about sharing helpful or useful information with people it goes beyond that. Trust me, when you build this strong relationship with people, it gives your business a new shape. The greater the number of contacts, the more deals that could come your way.

ACCESS TO JOB OPPORTUNITIES

When you network with relevant people and create a healthy relationship with them, they tend to share every business plans, ideas and opportunities with you. You might even have a referral from them.

IT INCREASES YOUR NET-WORTH:

The more you network, the greater your profit in business. When you get connected or reach out to more people, you are in a way expanding your business and that would automatically cause a shift in your financial life.

HOW TO START NETWORKING

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You can network with colleagues at your place of work, family members, neighbors and friends. However, the first key to networking is building a strong and healthy relationships with people of similar or complementary interest. Look at for those in your field of specialization, get to hook-up with them, exchange contacts, book appointments with them, buy them launch and spend quality time with them.

When you travel for summer, vacation or conferences get to meet with new people. Reach out to as many as you can and follow them up. The social media undoubtedly, is a great platform to aid networking. You don't have to move around talking to someone about your business plans and ideas, certainly no! just at the comfort of your home you can have that done.

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CONCLUSION:

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In this 21st century, for any business to thrive and scale through then the place of networking should not be underestimated. People are great assets that can be used to cause a noticeable and long life change in every sphere of life if properly harnessed. Building a healthy relationship cannot be overemphasized when we talk about networking. Hence; we should learn to focus our attention on the major and not the minor.