Networking has always been an important skill for job seekers, but like everything else, it has now become more reliant on social media than ever before. Some 70% of Fortune 500 CEOs use LinkedIn as their only social network and nearly half of new hires come from networking sites.
Here are quick some tips on how to use your online presence to build more effective business relationships:
- Personalize everything – Make sure your profile is completely filled out and personalized. Keeping your online profiles up-to-date, and changing your profile picture periodically, can help drive more traffic to your account.
- Stay professional – When interacting online, it can be easy to blur the line between professional and personal. Always interact with the same courtesy as in face-to-face meetings.
- Build relationships – Networking is always about relationships, and online is no different. Never ask for a favor before you get to know someone, and look to build quality relationships and keep up with your contacts, rather than making a lot of contacts you don’t really know.
- Move offline – Online networking doesn’t replace the older ways of doing things, it simply adds to them. You should also continue to attend networking events, have business cards handy, and always follow-up with online interactions face-to-face, or over the phone.
For more insights on the evolving art and science of networking, check out this infographic.
