How and Why Virtual Networking Works

How and Why Virtual Networking WorksBy Susan Baroncini-Moe – CEO of the digital marketing firm, Business in Blue Jeans.

Networking…how many ways there are to do it. Today I’m going to make the case for virtual networking, or “virtual coffee,” as I’ve been calling it.  The original idea for mass networking over coffee came from my friend Jason Elkins, but because I specialize in turning face-to-face experiences into virtual ones, I turned “coffee” into “virtual coffee.”
I’ve certainly made no secret of my thinking about how people are doing business networking wrong, but here’s another way to think about networking.
The Stages of Traditional Networking  – Networking, Stage One:
You go out to a networking meeting. You spend a half hour driving to the event, the meeting takes an hour, people throw business cards at you and try to impress you, but if you’re lucky you meet one person you want to have an in-depth business-y conversation with. You schedule another time to meet that person at Starbucks, and you drive home, another half hour.
Time in: 2 hours.
 
 Hope you like this thought provoking article on other ways to network!  Hope you are having a great summer!  

  
Debi
CEO, Tigard Chamber