It Doesn't Really Matter How Big Your Network Is

 

Picture courtesy of Dominick Ménard 

(BTW, pictured FB account not his)

Having 10 000 friends on Facebook, 25 000 followers on Twitter and 3 000 connections on LinkedIn might seem like the ultimate networking achievement (especially to younger folks who don’t know what a Rolodex is), but it’s too easy to connect online with anybody, including a majority of people you don’t really know.

This is especially true as your network gets bigger and/or more valuable. Lots of vultures, leeches and suckers will try to piggy back on you like remoras on a great white shark. 

A friend of mine was recently asked if he knew Mr X. His answer: The name sounds familiar, let me check on Facebook…

For him, it’s OK to have 2 500 online “friends” he doesn’t really know as his job is to drive traffic to nightclubs and he uses Facebook merely as a promotion platform.

However if, like most people, your business requires a higher trust level, you might want to pay less attention to the size of your network (spread) and a lot more to its strength (depth).

Here’s the first test of your network’s depth: To how many people can you easily borrow 500$ ?

All of a sudden, your network is a bit smaller, isn’t it?

Now, think of all the doors in the World where you can go knocking uninvited and crash on a sofa for the night.

This is the heart of your network. These are the people worth fighting for. These are the friends that make life worth living.

Don't rely too much on the others.

True wealth you see, is not measured in dollars or in absolute numbers.