How long does it take to REALLY see results with networking.

I had a friend come to one of my networking groups today, only to tell us that she's changing positions at work and will no longer be networking in her new position. Her logic was that she's been doing this for almost 18 months, spent a lot of money doing her various networking activities and she's only just started to see the results coming in. Ugghh... So frustrating because if she could only hang in there, I think she'd see the pay off. However, I'm not in her financial shoes, so I can't make her decisions.

Here's the thing about networking. You can't give up! I hear about people giving up all the time.

We live in a world of instant gratification and that's just not how networking works.

Building relationships takes time. Be yourself, get to know people and build those relationships.

I also believe you need to stay in a networking group for longer than a couple of months. I don't understand why people change their networking groups every 2-6 months. I can see moving on if your not getting any referrals and/or you haven't built any strong relationships. However many people just flit from group to group. And honestly only giving a group 2, 6, or 12 months isn't enough time to know see the results you're looking for. Now that I've networked with my groups for 2+ years, there is no question that I am their insurance agent and the only one they'll refer others to. The time I've spent getting to know them, has made us loyal friends.

I started networking in January of 2014. I got referrals all throughout, maybe 10 per month. By January of 2016 my referrals became a constant flow and have only picked up as the months go by. Networking works, just don't give up.

If your in a place where you're trying to figure out whether networking is working for you or whether or not you should quit, feel free to comment below and I will give you my honest feedback.

If you're looking for more information on networking. Check out my blog post from April, "The Ins and Outs of Networking." Winging it! : The Ins and Outs of Networking

Until next time...

MW
Copyright 2016

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