5 Social Factors that people forget when building quality networks

With so many ways to connect and build a networks, people are sharing stories, ideas, and many other interesting things online.

You can build large networks quicker than before the problem is the quality of the networks.

I interact online with many awesome individuals. I usually try to connect with people in a way that I can learn something from them and with the hope that I can also be helpful.

After spending a good amount of time online, I have identified five factors that I look at when wanting to collaborate or bring someone into my network of trust.

1.  Transparency

When you are transparent you allow others to accept you for who you are. It also allows others to understand what they can expect from you. By being transparent you are able to build a communities that might not even agree with each other but respect each other. If you are someone that constantly contradicts what you write or say, that will automatically make me stay away from you.

2.  Helping Others

Some people are so into themselves they forget that being online is good place to helpful. Some of my most profitable business deals have been the product of being helpful. I helped someone out and that person later referred me to someone else for a potential project. I do things out of the kindness of my heart and later those people reciprocate without even asking. Connecting with others has grown my business and I am thankful to those who have contributed to my successes along the way.

3. Being Faithful to Your Value System and Respecting Others

Along the same line of transparency, I respect others that have a different value system than mine. The online global community is so diverse you have to be extremely careful when you write or comment on something. On occasion, I  have made written something that has made someone uncomfortable. If they call me out, I learn from that situation, apologize, and move on. Make sure before you are judging others to be faithful to your beliefs. When you are online and looking for business opportunities, it is easy for one to sell out. Keep in mind that your long-term reputation is more important than benefiting from others short-term.

4.  Sharing what others Create

This one is the one I have the most trouble with. I have such great contacts on Twitter, Facebook, and Google Plus that it makes it difficult for me to be online all day to make sure I don’t miss out on anything. Lately I have been focusing a bit more on my business and I have missed out on many blog posts. I have to work on sharing the great work of others a lot more. For some strange reason every time I share someone’s work I get a business deal indirectly or the positive vibes I guess get me closer to my goals. Do you have a blog you want to share with me? Have you written a book let me know so I can take a look and share with my close community.

5.  Being responsive

This one I think I do fairly well. Sometimes it causes many distractions and throws me back a few hours a day but at the end I see great value from always responding to others in a timely way. On some occasions I have to respond to things that might not be as comfortable because we all make mistakes but showing people you truly care about their thoughts, even if you disagree, is something that brings a lot of value online.

What other factors do you use to build a quality network around you?

Did I miss any? Feel free to share in the comments area.

photo credit by WagsomeDog