Sorry, Your New Year’s Resolution Really Was to Network

Your New Year’s resolution may have included hiring a new employee, getting yourself promoted, increasing monthly’s sales or meeting prospective new clients…in other words…NETWORKING!

I know, I said the dreaded word, again.

A confession I share early on in Build Your Dream Network (it’s in the introductory chapter to be exact), I’m a reluctant networker. Yes, me, the networking guru who just published a book on the very subject. I also hate “lists” that simplify the art of networking (i.e. “10 things successful networkers do before they finish reading a newsletter”). Lists like these make you feel, well, stupid if you still don’t get what networking is or the importance it plays in your career or success of your business venture.

You’re not alone if you dread networking! You, like a lot of people, need to re-examine WHAT networking really is.

As I share in #BYDN…networking is this:

• It is an essential and continual activity.
• You control the effort — but not the outcome.
• Networking is everywhere.

And a top 10 list….yes, IMHO all of these are networking activities:

1. Your e-mail signature line
2. The wording of your out-of-office auto-responder
3. Your voice-mail message
4. Your profile on a website
5. An update posted on your LinkedIn profile (or the headline you use on LinkedIn)
6. Your headshot on a social media profile
7. Your bio as a speaker or award recipient or board appointee
8. Your invoice
9. The music that plays when a customer is on hold
10. Participating in a Twitter chat

How you present yourself in any of these “networking en-counters” is as important as a VIP invitation, a solid handshake, or a slick elevator pitch.

Next week! #BYDN is on the calendar: January 25 at the New York City Bar Association. A fireside chat with me plus networking reception and a complimentary signed copy of my book Build Your Dream Network: Forging Powerful Relationships In A Hyper-Connected World. How’s that for networking your ambitions this year? Details and link to RSVP.

Interested in planning a #BYDN network book event with me? Fire me an email or tweet — and let’s connect to get it on the calendar.

This post originally appeared in Innovator Insights, Kelly Hoey’s weekly newsletter. To get insights in your inbox, sign up here.