Are you leveraging the right networking ties to help your business grow?
There’s a theory going back to the early 1970’s from Nick Granovetter’s 1973 article “The Strength of Weak Ties” that demonstrates the value of who you’re tied to in your network.
Most of us work to create strong ties with people as that is how we develop a sense of community. Of course, the absence of ties means no connections.
Bridging the gap between absence and strong ties are the weak ties. Your weak ties are largely where the most opportunity for growth exist. These weak ties are acquaintances that may serve you well in connecting you to someone that you should be tied to, but aren’t.
Your Linkedin social media marketing can be a valuable marketing channel for this. I saw a really cool thing on Linkedin this week. A man said “I know many of you are out of work. If there’s a connection of mine that I can introduce you to, please let me know.” That’s a pretty cool thing to do. Helping people leverage their weak ties to get connected and help someone get back in the game.
Here’s a link to my Linkedin account. If we’re not connected, please connect with me and let me know if I can connect you to the right people.
Depending on you or your business, you have the opportunity to leverage your weak ties to help someone else and help yourself. Relying on close relationships is important for support, but leveraging acquaintances or “weak ties” could be where you see the best opportunities for growth.
Here’s hoping I “kinda” know you.
Greg Davis
Azola Creative