Networking for Dummies - Lessons from Barack Obama and Other Guidelines

By John Radcliff


In 2008, a junior senator from the state of Illinois did something that was fairly offbeat in the game of politics-- in the United States and anywhere else. Using a network of buddies, union employees, contacts he 'd made during his days as a community organizer, and the machinery of the Democratic Party organization, he compiled a database of over 13 million e-mail addresses. Today, many of us describe this man who made history by one name: Mr. President.

13 million e-mail addresses! Whether you agree with his politics or not, you have got to admit how impressive that is! Obama certainly doesn't have to figure out networking for dummies, but you, my networking-dummy friend, can certainly learn a thing or two from this historical accomplishment of networking.

As numerous analysts agree today, there are lots of factors to explain the President's 2008 triumph, of course, but the ability for his campaign to create such an insanely huge network of ( primarily young) Americans who had come to establish great trust and loyalty in their leader with e-mail correspondence was one of the main ones.

Networking for Dummies - 2 Vital Tenets of Networking for Any Novice

So what's the lesson here for networking dummies you ask? Well, it's this: Networking is not only a critical part of building wealth as Kiyosaki states, but, when done right, it can also get you elected president of the United States of America! That's just how effective it can be.

It's this massive capacity to reach people and expand your company from leveraging the power of networking, that got all the big names in business -- like Donald Trump, Warren Buffet, and Kiyosaki-- speaking and writing about network marketing as the perfect business model for anybody with the need to succeed in business; the perfect model to get started in business and actually have high chances of attaining that success.

I understand that networking can be a little challenging and complicated to the unaware that's just starting out. So here are 2 things that I think are absolutely crucial for you to comprehend and constantly remember because they'll take you a long way. These are not simply "tips" -- everybody else offers those! These are more like tenets which will constantly work as a safe place to resort to for guidance on any of your network marketing ventures -- especially in this fast-paced world of dizzying technological change.

Tenet One

Networking is not Twitter or Facebook: Social networks are a huge thing these days, and the reality that they have changed our world in the way that they have is a good thing. Nonetheless, because we as people -- particularly for the generation that has grown up in this age of "social networking" -- are a mere extension of the broader society, it's really easy to get ingrained with the thought that this kind of networking operates the same way as the kind that benefits a long-term, sustainable business.

Let's face it; most of the connections in these social networks are shallow at best. They are filled with individuals who go around collecting "likes" and competing on who gets the most "re-tweets"! In these networks, the world generally focuses on me and me and me alone! While it can be enjoyable to have tons of sunny-day pals, such are not the kinds of relationships that are significant to build a network marketing business upon.

This is all to dramatize one critical point: Real networking that benefits your business, which suggests developing mutually valuable, give-and-take, win-win relationships with people who genuinely look after one another and have a stake in each other. The end result will be a huge and diverse network of people who would happily and frequently refer business to you, while you do the same for them. John D. Rockefeller probably stated it best:

"A friendship founded on business is better than a business founded on friendship."

Tenet 2

Continue to grow and expand your network marketing business: Like anything else in life, the first few steps when creating your network are going to be the hardest. Not necessarily due to the fact that network marketing itself is inherently challenging -- it's not! It's normally because this is the time when you have to learn a lot of new skills like communication skills and general people skills; but most of all, because it's also the time when you have to overcome many of your long-established anxieties.

William James, probably the finest mind in human psychology that Harvard has ever produced, once wrote, "Fear is misbegotten of ignorance and uncertainty." So, the most effective means to handle both of these issues -- of learning new skills and overcoming your worries -- is to grow! Grow out of your lack of knowledge, grow your horizons and you will grow your business.




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