A while back I was interviewed for a book on networking. My first response was, “Hey, I don’t network. I hate that stuff.”
In other words, you won’t catch me dead shaking hands and passing out business cards at a local Chamber of Commerce breakfast meeting. Nor do I cold call. Nor do I wander around conferences with my hand thrust out saying, “Hi, my name is Nick Usborne.” It’s just not part of my character.
I guess that was my view of “networking”.
But as I started writing, answering each of the interview questions, I realized that I network as much as the next person. I just go about it a different way.
The more I think about it, we all network, one way or another. If you think this doesn’t apply to you, just make a quick mental tally of the people you know in your industry. People you have worked with, exchanged emails with, met somewhere.
One of my Christmas gifts this year was a hand coffee grinder. This is a great little device for grinding coffee beans by hand.