You may have noticed that my blog has been quiet for almost a week. There’s a reason. Last weekend I was at a funeral and right after we got back from that, we had to put down my dog. It’s been a rough week.
But when I was out of town, I realized I had a good blog topic. I’ve always said you can network anywhere, even at a funeral, and last weekend I had an opportunity to prove it.
No, I didn’t network at the actual service, but there were lots of family gatherings that weekend, and I managed some good networking there.
One of the cousins needs to learn more about blogging and social media, and he wanted my website so he could start reading my blog.
One of the uncles just started a real estate business and had come back from a three-day workshop on branding and marketing. One of the topics had been social media, and he wanted to pick my brain. I gave him some ideas of social media outlets that hadn’t been covered at the workshop.
And finally, one of the aunts is looking for a job. She has an offer, but it’s not something she is passionate about. I asked her a couple of coaching-style questions and gave her some ideas of how to find her passion.
That’s networking! You’ll notice I didn’t “get” anything from the exchanges. But I certainly gave some things of value. And giving is the most important part of networking. I even had an opportunity to give out my card to the real estate agent. I wanted him to be able to easily contact me if he needed support or a sounding board.
As long as you remember to honor the occasion and focus on giving before receiving, you really can network anywhere. Even at a funeral!
Anyone else have any stories of oddball places you’ve successfully networked?
Tags: communication, Giving, Networking, networking on the go, Relationship building
Nice post, thanks!