Jason Mollring

The best connection I have made is one I made for myself. I moved to the UK from California and hardly knew anyone. I wanted to get involved in the social enterprise world and found Community Action Network (CAN) and asked their Chief Exec if they needed a volunteer. Fortunately they did and later they hired me. After 3 years I left to be a freelance consultant and took on several projects from contacts I had met during my time as part of CAN’s Membership team.

Networking is a way to achieve goals by connecting with people, resources and ideas not previously available. Going it alone may have certain benefits but gaining access to customers, suppliers, supporters and even competitors increases the chances of success

Be interested and interesting. Really listen to those you network with and put yourself in their shoes. How can you help them? Who could you connect them with that would make a difference? Also, share what you know, including your passion. Tell people about your challenges and successes.

The best tools are the ones we use all the time – phone, email and face to face get meetings. Get in touch soon after meeting a key contact and suggest a meeting (either formal or informal…whatever is appropriate) to better understand each other’s needs and make a strong connection.