Western Montana InBusiness March 2009

Power of networking stands test of time

I’m pretty sure my grandparents "networked" out along the fence row, and in their Sunday School classes and service club meetings. I’m also pretty sure they never used the verb "network" or any of its tenses.

By SHERRY DEVLIN

They just got to know their neighbors and fellow citizens, and put that familiarity to good use both personally and professionally. It all just came naturally.

Nowadays, it seems, networking is much more consciously undertaken – and its forms are much more numerous and diverse. In person. Online. In formal and informal guises. During the workday. At night and on weekends.

It can be a bit overwhelming.

Thus this month’s edition of Western Montana InBusiness, and its focus on networking.

Betsy Cohen, the Missoulian’s business reporter, leads things off with a primer provided by folks at the University of Montana School of Business Administration. It’s practical and positive.

From UM marketing professor Jakki Mohr comes this advice: "Anyone can engage in networking, but for it to be beneficial to them, they have to be really clear about what they value, what they offer, who are they and what do they stand for."

And from Scott Douglas, director of UM’s entertainment management program: "If this were a fad, we wouldn’t see the major changes in infrastructure, and the youth growing up in today’s world are very adept with these new developments. It’s at the point where older people see new media as a choice to engage in, and younger people see it as a way of life."

Simply put, networking works.

Consider the four friends and business colleagues who help one another tend four successful Hip Strip enterprises: a brewery, a bakery, a bike shop and an ice creamery.

"Without these guys and our friendship, I don’t know where we would be," said Tim O’Leary, owner of Missoula’s Kettlehouse Brewing.

"I know I couldn’t have done as well," said Charlie Beaton, owner of nearby Big Dipper Ice Cream.

The Internet has delivered an explosion of networking opportunities as well. So we asked Mark Ratledge, an information consultant, to provide InBusiness readers with a guide to the Web’s many business and social networks.

And we’ve got a great Q&A with Mario Schulzke, UM grad, former custodian and pizza cook, founder of Quillion, a successful digital performance marketing agency, and the blogger behind scrappymarketing.com.

Finally, from Blackfoot Telecommunications Group, comes the model of networking as an essential part of the work week. Blackfoot has an internal networking calendar that lists monthly events in Missoula. Members of the company’s marketing team sign up to attend the various functions, and reinforce the company’s local presence.

"It’s cliche, but most business is won because people like to pass business on to people they see regularly," said Elissa Shefrin, senior marketing communications specialist at Blackfoot.

And that is something my grandparents could and would have told you, too. Over the fence row, out behind the house. With a smile and a handshake.

Reach editor Sherry Devlin at (406) 523-5250 or by e-mail at [email protected].

SHERRY DEVLIN Is editor of the Missoulian and Western Montana InBusiness Monthly.

Full Publication: http://www.mtinbusiness.com/inbiz-0903/