Posted on by Rugged Troubador · 1 Comment

Pierson’s Six-Week Networking Goals

Pre-Preface: I’m about to repost this blog. It’s 9:05 in the morning on Thursday, March 6. I posted it last night, only to find that I had not included a header. Oops. The following preface was written last night just before posting.

Preface: It is 11:41 pm as I finish this post. I really should have finished and posted it more than 12 hours ago, and this directly has to do with the topic, which is really managing time. I really do apologize for not posting this this morning, as I promised. Obviously, the steps outlined below are of the utmost importance for my future accountability!

In my Monday post, I said that I would list some ways I would balance networking with everything else in my life. Here they are, in no particular order:

1) Not drink or smoke cigarettes for six weeks, starting today. This should ensure that I get to bed on time and use those five-minute pockets for five-minute tasks.

2) Only go out for no more than an hour or two at a time. Be smart with how I make connections, and with whom I make them.

3) Have a clear idea of what I need to accomplish the next day, the night before.

4) Always be conscious of each and every decision I make, as they all tie elaborately into each and every other decision I make.

5) Go out with the primary goal of helping people be more successful! The more I help others be successful, however I can, the more success I will have myself.

That’s about it. For me, these goals are good to implement what I seek to accomplish in connection-making.

Interestingly enough, they all involve austerity on some level.

What are some ways that you intend to manage that fine line between sociopathy and social excess?

Posted on by Rugged Troubador · 1 Comment

Connections: Now, It’s Personal

I mentioned briefly in my last blog, “A Day In The Life” about networking. I kind of shed networking in a… more cynical light, depicting it as somewhat of a “necessary evil,” much like I often see social media, as per the spirit of the post.

Actually, with proper focus, networking can serve as great vehicle to make progress in both the social and business worlds. Networking is absolutely not optional. It is a tool that is used to make connections, personal ones, that can be the defining bridge to someone’s next place in life. I believe the same is true for social media.

I had never heard the term “networking” so much until I moved to Nashville. When I first considered moving here, I even started hearing the word a lot. “So many opportunities with all of the networking you do!” “There’s so much networking going on!” And they weren’t lyin’.

Nashville may very well be the top networking town in the country. OK, maybe LA or New York, because of their size. But Nashville could very well contain the biggest hub of music networks. Wherever you go, dive bars, cafes, and even churches, people are unavoidably connecting, or building on past connections.

These connections form the framework of the modern business model. They are what is driving us. It used to be “them, and maybe us,” now it’s all of us. The true relationships are made from these kinds of encounters, which always start as personal.

Is networking a “necessary evil”? Yes and no. You want to network, you need to network. The times are a-changin’. You could also network until you’re blue in the face and still have nothing to show for it except a hangover. Perhaps better not to think of it as “evil” and more as “necessary.”

How do you, or how would you like to start, incorporate networking or social media into your daily life in a timely fashion? On Wednesday, I’ll show some ways I intend to tackle this opportunity.