| An important thing to keep in mind is that people are busy. That doesn't mean they're anti-social or stuck-up if they're not just completely open with their networking.
When you first start networking online, there's a tendency to get "immersed" very quickly. It's exciting to find all these new and interesting people who are so easy to meet and talk to.
Most people tend to get heavily involved when they have "a little too much time on their hands", i.e., they're looking for work or business is slow.
This is an important point...
If the networking works, that condition doesn't last very long -- you get a job, you get new clients, you find some joint venture partners and undertake a new project, etc. You get busy again, and you don't have as much time for networking online as when you first started. I've seen this pattern hundreds and hundreds of times -- it's normal. (As an aside, consider this... if you don't get busy, maybe you need to rethink your networking approach!)
So when you contact someone, whether it's through "Network with Me", a guestbook entry, or a private message, if you expect a response, then a) be very specific about what you want to talk to them about, and b) let them know what's in it for them.
It's neither selfish nor anti-social for me to acknowledge that I can't adequately respond to a dozen new people a day and still get my work done that pays my bills. So sometimes new contacts to me don't get a reply at all, or it takes a while. I'm not being rude -- I'm being respectful of the other people who want my time too.
For some more thoughts on this, see: I’m not rude, I’m not mad, I’m not disorganized — I’m just very, very busy
It may make you feel better if you're in that position, and may help give you some understanding if you're trying to reach someone who's in that position.
Private Reply to Scott Allen (new win) |
