Which types of networking are most successful? A recent survey of 12,000 business people around the world confirmed some of my hunches but produced some surprising results, as well.
As part of research for the book, Business Networking and Sex: Not What You Think (Entrepreneur Press, 2012), my co-authors and I asked people what types of organizations they belong to and whether networking played a role in their success. We cross-tabulated the results to determine how effective different types of networking are.
As we had expected, people who get the most results from networking efforts seem to participate in face-to-face casual-contact networks like chambers of commerce, referral networks, and to a lesser extent, professional associations.
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We were surprised, however, that only 27 percent of the respondents said online networking has played a role in their success. Networking through women's business organizations and through service clubs fared even worse, with only 17.7 percent and 17.2 percent of respondents, respectively, giving them credit for playing a part in their success.
Even though they didn't do well in this survey, I'm quite an advocate of online networks, women's business organizations and service clubs. I did some thinking about why these groups received such low-success ratings.
I'm inclined to believe women's organizations and service clubs didn't do well because they have other important purposes that take precedence over networking. Women's business groups often provide a place where members both support and educate each other, while service clubs focus primarily on providing service to the community. People, therefore, may not experience as much tangible success in networking efforts in these groups.
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The survey results for online networks made me think of a comment I hear quite often from business owners who want to market their products and services on social and business networking sites: "I've got a profile page and a thousand connections…now what?" Many entrepreneurs spend a lot of time and effort building their online social capital through LinkedIn "connections," Facebook "friends" and "likes," and Twitter "followers," but lack an actual plan for turning the growing number of contacts into customers.
Another issue for online networking: the exponential increase in marketing and social messages and the competition for people's attention. In the course of a typical day, we might be chatting on Google Talk, looking at friends' photos on Facebook, watching a celebrity's Twitter feed, learning about a connection's promotion on LinkedIn, reading a blog for business or pleasure, and doing an Internet search. We are inundated and easily distracted by these entreaties: Read this! Buy this! Try this! Connect with me! Like my business!
I certainly don't think entrepreneurs should stop finding ways to improve their success in the online networking arena. But the results are the results, and -- still a surprise to me -- they're not very good.
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Comments:
networking is for positive people.
I do not think it is an either /or. To me it is a both / and. LinkedIn allows you to meet and build a network outside your physical area. The Chamber is in your physical area, two different type of networking. Before I add someone to my LinkedIn network who is local, we will have a face to face meeting. If they are out side of my area then there needs to be a common interest that we have had a discussion about. Just having a LinkedIn network is not really to me networking, that is just collecting names. Your network needs to mean something to you. You need to both in person and online networking to be successful.
I think part of the problem so to speak with many women's networking groups is that you get a number of women who are involved with Mary Kay, Scentsy, etc. and if you're a copywriter, business coach, consultant, or run a brick-and-mortar business it can be hard to actually do business with these people. Making new friends, yes, but not necessarily advancing your business. Please don't take this as a knock on women's networking groups; like anything else YMMV.
Ivan, as someone who educates business leaders in how to integrate online and offline communications, your research does not surprise me - especially if you asked SME's and business owners as part of your research. A common mistake that many people make is not to be clear about their goals for networking - online or offline - and especially when it comes to networking online, being clear about how they will track their success. Thank you for sharing the research - it is a good reminder at the start of the year to review what our goals are for networking and ensuring that we develop a plan to support our success.
It makes perfect sense that the Chamber would see better results than LinkedIn because LinkedIn is a conduit to personal connections whereas the Chamber is where the personal connections are. That does not mean that LinkedIn does not play a significant role in business development, but that it takes longer to develop trust when you are not face to face. As an Internet Marketing & Social Media consultant, I would still much rather meet you face to face because I know we will decide whether we will do business much faster than via an online connection.
I may be a bit biased as i have been with the Thames Valley Chamber for 6 months, but I do find that the level of businessmen that the meetings attract and their frequency certainly work for most members. I am also a big fan of LinkedIn and use it to prospect to good effect,as well as making people aware of events and the like, so I would say a combination of both is the best strategy. Just a footnote to say that i spent nearly a year networking as an unemployed person and it was through networking at the chamber i got my break.
Hi Ivan! Nice information has been posted. I like your way of presentation. Thanks for sharing this post.
Here in Montana a chamber meeting is a place where you get ultra conservative religious values jammed down your throat by a bunch of preachy old men trying to create a dystopian Ayn Rand society to protect their small town monopolies. So, if you want that, Chamber meeting all the way. If you want real entrepreneurs doing real inovation, network elsewhere.