Trade Tips: Sometimes Less is More

Trade Tips: Sometimes Less is More

By Nicole Hayes

Can one have too many “friends”? When is networking ineffective? We’ve all been to social events, “meet-and-greets,” with plate and beverage in one hand and business card in the other. Handshakes and smiles are exchanged followed by the infamous, “What do you do?,” then surfaces the business card. Each card representing a person’s livelihood or passion—is stuffed into pockets, purses and wallets, maybe never receiving further study. We may later “friend” the person on Facebook, add them to our Linked In, Twitter and monthly mailing lists. It may temporarily boost our ego that our “contacts,” “connections” and “friends” numbers have increased—but what sustaining value has been deposited with the increase? This May 30, 2010 New York Times article suggests that “friending sustains an illusion of closeness in a complex world of continuous partial attention.”

In a business world that demands everything happen faster, the best relationships require an investment of our time. Most of us have a select number of people in our lives who because of a developed closeness and trust,  will move mountains to support our efforts and goals. The worth of these trusted few will productively grow your efforts. Networking is good when there is a genuine interest in supporting the other person’s goals.  Otherwise, it results in the collection of forgotten business cards and Facebook “friends” of whose status you’re unaware.