Ever wonder what the difference is between marketing professionals who always seem to land on their feet after a layoff or career change, and marketing professionals who struggle and scratch and claw to take the next step in their careers?
It’s actually quite simple: Relationships.
Having strong personal and professional relationships can significantly help you transform your career, continuously take the next step, and help you find work when things don’t go your way.
Tips to Grow Strong Relationships
Building strong relationships as your marketing career progresses is not that difficult, although it will take some time and effort on your part. But if you are willing to put in the time, you can reap the rewards of having an extensive network, something that comes in particularly handy when looking to make a career move.
1. Treat networking as relationship building
Many people dread networking for many reasons – the time, effort, and some people just are not people persons. Networking is not just handing out business cards, either. It’s about establishing a connection that you can grow into a beneficial relationship for both parties.
2. It’s more than connections on social media
Sure, social media has made it easier to connect with people from all over the world, but how many of these people are real connections? How many of them do you engage on a regular basis? How many of them have you actually met? Making connections online is not real relationship building – these people are just another one of your hundreds of online connections.
3. Find ways to stay connected
Relationships take work. You cannot just connect and expect the relationship to grow. Therefore, it’s important to look for ways to keep connected with your network. Sending a text message every now and again, or sharing an article a connection would find interesting are effective ways to keep the connection alive and create ongoing dialogue.
4. Make time to communicate
Communicating with people is part of any marketing career. You have to make calls, answer emails, and reply to social media messages. So make time to communicate effectively with your network.
5. Prioritize networking
If you want to build strong relationships, then you need to make it a priority. One of the most effective ways to do this is to schedule it into your work day. Set aside some time each day to foster the relationships in your life – whether personal or professional.
More Marketing Career Advice
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