I thought I couldn’t say anything more about networking.

I was wrong. 

That’s because you really need networking now more than ever.  The economy has stalled and so many folks are out of work.  Ask yourself, what makes you different than the other guy?  Relationships! 

I hope you have been cultivating good relationships and building a great network.  This is the time to use them to your advantage.  Start by making calls to touch base with your contacts.  Meet for coffee and ask them how they are doing and if there is anything you can do for them.  Remember, it’s not about you! 

You can help them find a client, a new employee, a sale or a job.  This is no time to be a slacker.  Slackers are the first to go and when there is quality out there in the market, it may be the time for your boss to upgrade. If you haven’t been working on it previously, now is when you should become invaluable.

Speaking of value, let’s address an issue that seems to be a no-brainer to me but needs to be spelled out for some.  So many companies, and most non-profits, try to work with a barter system of perceived value.  As in: “If you do this work for me at a very deflated cost, I will give you exposure on my…” web site, give sponsorship credit at events, or whatever is negotiated. 

This is actually a pretty reasonable way to potentially get great exposure for your company. It presents a perhaps untapped market, an expandable customer base, a way to showcase your work and free advertisement on the World Wide Web that maybe hadn’t been available to you.  Depending on the exposure, your company could definitely be getting more than it’s “money’s” worth.

Then why do you produce work that is “Free?”  You know what I am talking about. “It’s better than what they had to begin with…” “What do they want for free?” “What are they going to do, fire us?” And my favorite “When they pay us, we’ll do more”  

Seriously? 

How many people see your work and DO NOT know you did it for free?  Now all you have to show the world, the board, the volunteers or employees is mediocre, sub-par work and that’s what represents you or your company’s work!  Trust me, you should have saved yourself and the business and not taken the job if you thought it had no value.

REMEMBER THIS: regardless of whether you’re working for “free,” work just as hard or harder. Work like you’re making a million bucks because people notice. 

If you work this hard for free… imagine what you would do for money!!!!! I have said it before and I haven’t changed my mind. Whether you are trading work, volunteering on a board or committee or just doing a friend a favor remember those words. Because people remember you and the work you have done.

I’ll step down from my high horse now and return to networking in this environment. 

Be strategic. Call and set up coffees, at least three per week and bring a notebook to take notes. Ask, “What do you need? Leads? What type?” Be specific. “Who’s your most sought after meeting”…maybe you know that person and can make the introduction. 

It’s called networking and what goes around comes around.  If you help someone get what he or she needs, someone will help you – trust me.  Think outside the box, sometimes having coffee with someone else may make you look at your business and your approach in a different way.  It is guerilla time and networking should be part of your warfare against the economy. 

I hope you have been laying the relationship groundwork.  If not, there is no time like the present.  So get yourself out there and make this your best year ever!