Last week I read an article somewhere about how entrepreneurs talk up their networking efforts but rarely live up to it. We all preach about never losing a contact no matter how big or small. However I was thinking about how I definitely don’t live up that.
I think I do a good job with my contacts and networking but nowhere near a great job. I mean its hard as hell to keep up with how many people I meet. With things like twitter I meet probably 50+ new people everyday…or at least I have the opportunity to meet them. Something like twitter is so powerful in providing all of us with a seemingly endless list of people to meet. But do we really take advantage of it as best we could? I mean I think a full day (12hrs) could be spent just @replying people on twitter and striking up conversations with people you don’t know. Sounds a little brutal but but if you want to get known you have to get out there right?
I feel like a huge part of my job description as an entrepreneur is simply network. Meet everyone. You never know who you might get introduced to or who might be the next big fan of your work.
Of course there are a million other opportunities beyond twitter. I could easily know my facebook friends better or simply engage that handful of business cards I have from an event 6 months ago.
But do we really live up to what we say when it comes to networking. Are you really putting forth that huge effort to meet as many people as possible? When you meet them do you stay in touch or do %80 of those people fall through the cracks never to be heard from again?
