According to ABC News, genealogy is the second most popular hobby in the U.S. after gardening, and the second most visited category of websites, after pornography. The desire to search for your ancestors and build a family tree is something that a lot of people take seriously. The desire to connect your network links goes beyond the grave.

We see our living connections as part of various networks. Personal and professional groups of people are important to us through our association with them or the influence we feel from them.

Often, we don’t even think about our professional network until it becomes time to look for a job. People no longer work for one company for their whole career, retiring after 50 years with a pension and a gold watch. In today's world, the US Department of Labor Bureau of Labor Statistics says that an individual may change jobs 12 times in their career.

Since 85% of jobs are found through networking, sooner or later, we will begin the process of developing a professional network. Forward-thinking employees will keep track of their coworkers, supervisors, senior managers, and people who have made an impression on them throughout their careers. We can find these names and contacts in our Rolodex, address books, and day planners. Once we have a list, we should actively decide who we want to invest in to build a long-term relationship. All relationships must be developed and maintained, especially professional relationships.

How do we Organize our Network? We can organize our network by dividing our contact names into groups. The most influential group, often our Professional Network, is for those we have decided to make our top 10. We contact these people a few times a year in person, by email, or in other ways. When we invest in them, we ensure our contacts are not forgotten. Co-Workers, supervisors, customers, suppliers, and competitors are important names for your Professional Network.

As we go through the day and some interesting fact or observation comes to our attention that makes us think of one of these contacts, we can send an email or give them a call. Your professional contact is reminded of your personality and skills by following up and reaching out. Ask about them and commit to your investment in the professional relationship. Be a contact worth having for those you value.

Acquaintances and Friends are in the second group. Some from this group may even be on the Christmas Card list. Nevertheless, they are important contacts and are maintained at a different level. Pick a top 10 or 20 and hold a contact frequency. This list could include family, friends, neighbors, church friends, and coworkers, past and present.

Past work experience. Unless you’re at entry level, your work value is related to your experience. If you’re busy wishing you could start your career in a different direction, you’re likely in for some disappointments. The work-related network contacts will see you best about what you have done.

Pick people who inspire you and that you admire. Even in a professional network where we have chosen the people we want to stay in touch with over the years; it is possible to have unhealthy relationships that hurt us. Our lives are happier and healthier, and we even live longer when we have close, solid, positive relationships. Pick people who inspire you and that you admire. People you have learned from, and if you’re reaching out to those you knew and are not part of the network, be positive and don’t invite negativity. Everyone you contact deserves a thank you and some feedback. Some first-time contacts will be ones your want to add to your permanent professional network.

Face-to-face old-fashioned networking is better! Voice to Voice! LinkedIn can help. That said, networking is critical in finding a new job and even a new boss.

If you genuinely like people and the feeling comes naturally to you, then you already know how to network and are most likely already a part of a network. Win Friends and Influence People back in October 1936. He included a list of “Six Ways to Make People Like You.” Becoming genuinely interested in other people is key to his statement: “You can make more friends in two months by being interested in them than in two years by making them interested in you.”

In addition, I would add that you ought to value and even treasure those relationships while being interested. If you believe, as I do, that the only thing you will take with you or at least have at the end of your life is your knowledge and your relationships, then it will be easy. Carnegie’s other five suggestions were to smile, remember the person’s name, be a good listener, talk about the other person’s interest, and make the other person feel important. When we are both excellent listeners and genuinely like people, others respond better to us.

Sooner or later, we will need to reach out to our professional network, and these thoughts are not intended to suggest that the process is a manipulation process. Trust won’t exist if your motives are suspect and not sincere. If you don’t value the relationships, it can backfire on you instead. Everyone we meet is part of our life network, but the professional network I refer to here are those we turn to when we make a job change or seek information about our professional interests.

Article on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/brent-m-jones/detail/recent-activity/posts/