Network With People that Want to Network, Forget the Rest

Monday, April 30, 2007 at 11:29am by David Askaripour in Life

Not too long ago I gave a speech at a college here in the city. One component of my speech dealt with networking and maintaining relationships with people that you meet.

After the speech someone asked me: �I�m always trying to network with people, but many times when I get someone�s number or email and I try to reach out to them, they never respond. What should I do, keep on trying or just forget about it?�

That�s an excellent question and a situation that I�d bet many of us have experienced throughout our entrepreneurial journeys. There isn�t a simple answer to the question, because, really, it can go both ways.

It depends on two factors:

How badly you want to connect with this person
How much can your business/life benefit from actually getting to know this person

There have been numerous occasions when I have met someone at a party, event, or social gathering and exchanged contact information, usually business cards. And when I tried reaching out with a friendly email or phone call to chat, they simply didn�t care to respond�no matter if I followed-up with another series of calls or emails.

When that happens, personally, I�m done with that person. I value my time too much to be trying and trying to get in contact with a person that, seemingly, doesn�t want anything to do with me.

Sure, maybe they went on vacation or a family issue arose. If that�s the case, and they have heard your messages and read your emails, then it�s their responsibility to get in touch with you at this point, not yours.

Now, here�s the flipside: If you can really see your business benefiting from knowing this person and maybe even your life changing, then you should stay on it. When you only have time to lose and the world to gain by knowing this person, then just go for it!

After the first few calls and emails, to which he/she didn�t respond to, begin shooting off quarterly emails — once every 3 months. Remind him/her of who you are, where you met (the occasion) and a reason as to why the two of you should meet-up again.

Keep your name fresh in their minds and don�t let up. Sometimes people (re: entrepreneurs) will ignore you because they feel that you can�t offer them anything (lame…) or because they don�t see a way that they can help you. So they lock you out, go figure. But, if you stay persistent and show them that you are busting your ass to reach out to them, a wise entrepreneur will respect your persistence and extend some time to you, eventually.

But at the end of the day, your most important asset as an entrepreneur is your time. Respect your time. Cherish your time. And know that your time should be valued. If someone doesn�t value you, then you shouldn�t value them. Don�t waste your time chasing a person who isn�t worth it.

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