There is a famous term in China and everybody knows it, GUAN XI. What is GUAN XI? The most appropriate word to represent it would be relationship. This means that whom you know is probably more important than what you know. So, Networking becomes very popular in current situation even though networking is not a new word for all of us. The difference is that networking today has taken on a professional importance. It is no longer just a business lunch or exchange of business card.
Some people find networking very easy. William Harvard is one of the most tireless networkers in the media world. A maverick marketing director, William has a quite extraordinary set of friends. He has extrovert tendencies, and he is constantly widening his circle of acquaintances "not because I think the relationships I built would be useful some day, but because these people truly interest me". And herein is the attraction of networking, the empowerment of the individual to use himself, rather than his position, to increase his overall prosperity in the world. You can network your way to success no matter who you are, where you are, and what your job is.
It is the modern term for making lots of business acquaintances. Here is where networking becomes an art, understood by a new breed of professionals with databases who have the credentials to represent the industry of the truly connected. They are on the lookout for useful advice, if not capital, from the few investors present. With such a concentration of talent in the same room, it's not surprising that those invited study the list beforehand to make sure they extract value from the occasion.
But the most desirable outcome of an evening spent at the club is the promise of a cooperation with another skilled creative. If you want your career to thrive, you really have no option but to continually extend your range of contacts, whether you like talking to strangers or not. Some people approach networking as they would hunting. They beguile their way into their prey's company, stalk them until the perfect moment, then pounce. I prefer a horticultural analogy: cultivate a wide variety of plants, and the chances are some will bloom or bear fruit when it matters. The good news is that you don't have to get to know anyone very well. If, like me, you're convinced that networking is a necessary, if somewhat painful, activity, which may just reap unknown benefits in the future, then it helps to be familiar with some of the techniques employed by the experts.
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