And in the midst of all this, I have to wonder whether most people are populating their online networks with people they already know off-line, but not really having an existing off-line network is my problem in the first place. I also wonder about my own motives in networking; I'm always open to helping people if I can, but I've gotten every job I've ever had without connections, and I'm not marketing a business of my own. Is it coming from that fear of rejection and its flip side, wanting to feel (and see, on my computer screen) that I'm included?
Maybe I need to internalize another lesson - that networking takes time and patience, let this evolve more organically, and just relax (and not feel so needy). Or maybe there are other people who are just as ambivalent and afraid of rejection as I am, and we'll end up being part of each other's networks eventually.
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It's done two things for me: 1) the more I say "I'm researching a new career option - I want to be a writer", the more real it becomes to me, and 2) twice now, people have offered to put me in touch with someone who might have information for me.
Also, given that I know it's supposed to be a two-way street, I am including in the "five people a day" those times when I initiate something for someone - send them a link they might find useful/interesting, for example. Since I'm the type who LIKES to do nice things for other people (even though, in my general absent-minded disregard of the passage of time, I may not do it as often as I should) this aspect of networking is intrinsically rewarding. It also minimizes the feeling you mention, of neediness.
Flag as inappropriate Posted by MaryP on 23rd August 2007