Excerpted from an email I received on my Linkedin account…………
I have 1,500 connections in my networks first tier. My next milestone is 10,000 connections. One of you asked if I know all my connections in my first tier. I know a lot of them but not all of them. Last Friday I met a man from the UK who now has 10,000 people in his first tier and 250,000 in the 2nd and 3rd. He knows most people in his 1st tier due to the fact, that he travels the world and visits local networking meetings.
When I read this email, I was amazed that someone would have 10,000 people in their network. Then I thought about the value of having a network with 10,000 people in it. Here is my list and I am open to your suggestions.
1. I could send all of them my email Tip of the Week and because of the numbers I had, I would be able to get some good advertisers on my newsletter.
2. I could promote my products or services to them.
3. I could sell them something.
4. I could ask them for something, like donations to my charity.
5. I could invite them to participate in passing along a chain letter.
6. I could ask them for information.
If you look at the list, it is all about me, what value they have to me, not what value I could bring to them.
I guess there are the rare people in the world who really know 10,000 people. I know that I am not one of them, while I would like to have 10,000 people on my mailing list to send all of my insightful ideas to; I am not sure that I want or need 10,000 people in my Network.
So, ask yourself, when you are out there networking, “What am I trying to build, a mailing list or a solid network of people whom I can add value to?” A strong network not only helps you build your business, they will add value to your life.
Hazel M Walker, owns three award winning franchise’s. She is a 10 year owner of two BNI Franchises where she teaches members how to leverage their time and network to build each others businesses. She is also a Referral Institute franchise owner and teaches Business Owners how to harness the Science of Referrals to develop Referrals for Life. Hazel is a published author in New York Times best sellers Masters of Networking and Masters of Sales. As a member of the National Speakers Association she travels the world speaking to businesses and women’s organizations on the topics of networking to create a life you love.
