We all know by now that networks are critical to our business success and that the web has made our networking more dynamic. But the basics still apply, even as we are experiencing instant gratification — like when we reach out to contacts on LinkedIn and we are instantly linked to former colleagues and new contacts when they accept our request to connect.
What are the basics? One of them is, don’t abandon your network. If you are on a site like LinkedIn for example, it’s unwise to assume that just because you have a hefty roster in your network, it means much.
Networks need to be nurtured. So just like the things that hopefully we learned as kids, we need to be gracious and communicative or our networks can languish.