Making the best of online networking

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FEXFREE
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Making the best of online networking
For a long time the best way of making new
business contacts was walking with a wallet half
filled with business cards that you could hand
over to the next person you met not anymore, all
you need today is to master the art of business
social networking. There are professional
business networking sites through which you can
make business contacts and expand your
professional network. We all know how these
networking sites work someone invites you to
join the network, you visit the site and sign up
after you create a profile where you describe
your interests. After that you connect with your
friends and colleagues thereby expanding your own
network. When you are new to a business social
network platform you can easily make mistakes
that will work against you try the following
tips to make the best of your experience.
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Making the best of online networking
Choose carefully Avoid joining every online
networking site you are invited to. There are
many sites which focus on different industries
and are more tailored toward you experiences
within that industry You dont want to find
yourself in a networking site where 90 of the
members are 20 years younger than you who may not
have any interest in enterprise
networking. Understand the culture and rules
Social network sites for business professionals
can be compared to high school there are
different rules and customs. Take time to clearly
understand the culture of any site before you
sign up. All you need is a simple email
introduction before you gauge the site.
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Making the best of online networking
Keep it professional You will be surprised to
learn that some social network sites that are
used to keep in touch with friends can easily be
accessed by career and business related
connections. When creating your profile, you want
to make sure that you dont include anything you
would be embarrassed to share with your boss. You
dont know when your potential employer will
stumble on your profile on that professional
social network or any social network and what
judgments they will make about you based on that.
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Making the best of online networking
Try to be gentle A majority of members that are
apart of online networking sites will tell you
about their bad experiences with some arrogant
pushy members. You must avoid trying to look
pushy at all costs in trying to get into someone
elses networking circles you dont want to be
known to be too persistent because this can be
annoying and it will damage your reputation.
Keep your word If you are going to preserve
your reputation in any social network site for
business people, you must be known to fulfill any
promises that you make. Whether you promised to
facilitate an introduction or give somebody a
telephone or email contact, make sure that you
follow through to the end. The most important
thing you want to remember about online
networking is that this is a reciprocal game the
more you help others, the more likely that
someone else will help you.