They say “It’s all about who you know!” Yes, this is true. But have you ever thought about who YOU really need to know?
Your ability to grow your company, make better decisions, learn from leading experts, and have access to the right resources at the right times, can make all the difference in whether you struggle to survive or thrive.
First you need to build a FOUNDATION of contacts – your arsenal of people most critical to your life and work. This includes:
- Mentors/Advisors: Seasoned people who can guide you though your most critical decisions, and can play a critical, external role in your business. Having a good mix of these people is essential to you in growing your business.
- Peers: Other entrepreneurs and professionals in the trenches who have the best understanding of what you’re setting out to accomplish and what you’re going through on a day-to-day basis.
- Contacts: The bulk of the people you know in life and business. Casual relationships and acquaintances, whether purely social or connected in some way to your work.
- Confidants: People you can trust with your life and tell practically anything to regardless of how high you fly or hard you fall. They’re the ones who pick you up and dust you off or tell it to you get your act together when you get of track.
Friends: Those you socialize with, hang out with, share common experiences with. The people who love and support you for you, not your business, but can also be among the most critical of your decisions and lifestyle.
Beyond those who make up your foundational support system, you always want to be building your network of people who are making an impact in your community, your circle, your industry, and the greater world at large. Not only does your knowing about certain people show you know the business you’re in, but having access to them can help in a myriad of ways you can only begin to imagine – from raising money, to staffing, landing new clients, opening new doors, meeting great people, going to fabulous events, etc.
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Thanks for sharing the article. Among all of the above, friends are the most important one in my view because they work for you without any greed.
Yes, we all need to invest carefully in our networks, as they take real maintenance to get from just a way to distribute and collect info to having true relationships with trust, where participants give and give … not operate to give and take. Consider changing the question, however, to not “who do you know?”, but “who knows you?” to get the opportunities to COME to you based on your planting the right seeds and investing vs. your having to fight to them. Think social capital, not just social networks.
Nice piece of advice, to know or to be known really makes a big big fortune! The broblem with networks, however, is their maintenance. Surely before the fortune!!