Archive for July 21st, 2009

I’d like to toss out a few definitions, if you don’t mind.

When it comes to networking, I have personal definitions of three different kinds:

• Social Networking: Using social-networking sites like Facebook and Twitter for mainly social (read: personal) reasons
• Professional Networking: Using either social-networking sites that have more of a professional bent (I’m thinking LinkedIn and others of its kind here; Twitter counts here, too), as well as professional networks (like Sibdu, one of my clients, that does commercial real-estate professional networking)
• Handshake Networking: Getting out to events (whether they be local meetings or chamber gatherings, mixers at conventions, etc.) and “pressing the flesh,” as it were

I’m building my business on the first two points. After a BNI meeting I had today, though, I realize that there’s still a lot of value in this kind of networking — even with the rush to use the online varieties. Since I’m an old salt at the handshake variety, I’m hoping I can convince you that the third can be just as important as the first two.

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