How to build and make use of connections. | Hacker News Reader

How to build and make use of connections.

startupworks.co

30 pointsEwkuKonewku7 comments

Honestly it's not that simple. I'm pretty introverted and just talking to people can be hard sometimes (especially if I'm trying to provide proper social listen-and-talk).

I go out to the community events and I know a handful of people, but I don't really know them. I recognize their face and I might remember their name, but I would not be comfortable asking them for advice or prying into their professional lives.

This is one of the reasons I believe I would not be successful at startups.

Don't be so pessimistic! :)

The problem why you don't really know those people is you probably don't try to maintain new contacts. Making new ones you're only half way there. Pick one or two and try to make them more friends than just people on the list.

The other issue is if you feel any pressure about this networking thing probably you should focus on sth else. It won't work if you treat it as a must not an experiment or hobby. That's why I'll never be a programmer :)

Hope it helps.

But do I really want to be friends with people whom I only have "somewhat" a connection with?

Like with somebody I call a friend, I try meet at least let's say once a month. It is going to be quite a logistical thing to coordinate only 15-20 meetings a month just to maintain the friend status...

You don't have to meet in-person to remain friends. Dropping few lines on FB/email every couple weeks will make big difference.

Try it and you will be surprised how positively people react to simple "Hey, how are you doing?".

It is a tricky business, esp. when you are not that well versed into that whole social "stuff", e.g. finding the border between being awkward/clingy and having a "normal" interaction. Like I do this stuff what you are describing maybe once a year for the holidays. It always feels creepy to me approaching people without having some concrete "issue". I am at the moment pondering about creating a birthday database and sending out a handwritten note to anyone in my contacts for their birthday via snail mail. Again very tricky to figure out if this is "awkward" with people where I have not that much contact with, or if it comes across as classy.

That adding just two contacts each day for a year leads to 730 new contacts might seem obvious, but sounds pretty motivational. (I personally don't have any more takeaways from this article, though.)

Thanks for your feedback! This is just a short post about how simple networking is. I'm happy you find it motivational :)

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