Dig your well before you’re thirsty.
Harvey Mackay coined that phrase in his best-selling book by the same title. He also taught us how to swim with the sharks without getting eaten alive. But that is a lesson for a later blog post.
Are you connected to people on LinkedIn? How about Twitter and Facebook? Do you attend events with local leaders? If you’re not connected then why aren’t you connected? Okay, maybe you have all the business that you can handle and your plate is just too full. You have been blessed. What about your clients, customers, and friends? Are they just as blessed? What if you could connect two of your great clients and they find that they can solve a business need for each other? Think of the potential benefits for them. And how might they view you afterward? This is the power of networking–the power of digging that well long before you need the water. Or, maybe, just digging the well because you can and others can benefit from your efforts.
Make a commitment over the next month to introduce two of your friends, colleagues, clients, or customers where you see a potential for a business relationship to bloom. As the late Steven Covey put it, you will make an emotional deposit in their “bank accounts”–and someday you just might need to make a withdrawal.
