With all of the ways to communicate, the type of person you are as a communicator and can impact how successful you are at growing your network.
What grade would you give yourself? Let’s look at the different type of networkers according to this scale…
FF – Frightened Freeloader – the FF networker meets as many people as can as much as they can, collects business cards, makes promises, yet fails to make any or many strong relationships. They often are afraid of any competitor coming in to take what limited business they have and have a scarcity mentality
DD – Doutbful Dominator – the DD networker doubts their own abilities, but finds it necessary to dominate every conversation they are involved in. They don’t find time for others but always seem to dominate the circles they are in
CC – Consistent Connector – the CC understands the value of connecting, but doesn’t follow up quite enough to make network effective. However, they do spend a great deal of time out in public and on the scene so people know who they are.
BB – The Brave Businessperson – the BB uses tools like LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook to find others who have unique complementary skills and abilities, and seeks contact in between network events. They reach out to competitors to establish rapport and referrals. They realize not every contact they meet is worth following up on.
AA – The Alliance Athlete – the AA does everything the BB does, but does it better. They form strategic alliances with competitors, follow through on every person they meet, subtracts contacts with those that aren’t a good fit, and strengthens contacts with the core people they already have a relationship with.
Where do you fit on this spectrum? What would you add to these descriptors?
