Networking is one and done. It’s where you shake someone’s hand and give them a business card. Where does that leave you? With a stack of business cards on your desk. A relationship, on the other hand, touches your heart and creates an everlasting partnership.
Maya Angelou said, “People will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” A business owner may meet dozens of people during the day, but if you can make yourself memorable by finding a way to connect on a personal level, you won’t be forgotten.
What Is Relationship Networking?
Relationship networking is simply the art of meeting people and benefiting from those relationships. Often the benefit of these relationships is to obtain information and leads to further the growth of you business. Any successful relationship, whether a personal or business relationship, is unique to every pair of individuals, and it evolves over time. Effective relationship networking is all about building those relationships and maintaining long lasting connections with other professionals.
The Power of Relationships
There is power in relationships that extends beyond a generic introduction. When you create connections based on shared interests and goals, you’ll be more successful in your business, because people want to work with people they know and like.
Having joined the Greater Seminole Chamber of Commerce and served on their Executive Committee years ago, there are members that still visit Eye Associates of Winter Park for their yearly exams!
Access To Opportunities
Expanding your contacts can open doors to new opportunities for business, career advancement, personal growth, or simply new knowledge. Active networking helps to keep you in mind when opportunities arise and increases your likelihood of receiving introductions to potentially relevant people or even a referral.
Serving on the Greater Seminole Chamber of Commerce led to an opportunity of being on the board of the Private Industry Council and serving the Business Excels, a program that teaches underprivileged students about business.
Dr. Sandra Barker, O.D., F.A.A.O.
Dr. Sandra Barker is a Board-Certified Optometric Physician. She received her Bachelor’s degree in Biology with Honors from the University of Texas at Austin. She received her Doctor of Optometry degree from the University of Houston College of Optometry. After completing her internship in the Optometry/Ophthalmology Service at Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., Dr. Barker practiced for two years in Houston prior to co-founding Eye Associates of Winter Park with her husband, Dr. Gary Barker, in 1985.
