Once your net worth was a single network.

No more.

Now it is up to three with another on the way.

Yes, there are overlaps, but each is distinct in how it contributes to your life.

Personal Network

These are people close to you.

These are the people in your inner circle.

These are the people you want to stay connected to no matter what.

It starts with family. Add friends of long standing, trusted advisors, all the men and women you count on to tell you the truth and make life more worth living.

Their worth to you can’t be accounted in dollars and cents. These are the people that ‘get” you, ones that have your back and are there for you, no matter what.

Social Network

Formerly, this was the domain of clubs, membership organizations and volunteer groups. It still is, but the opportunities have exploded due to the internet. You can be friended for any reason or none at all. There’s a group for every interest. Can’t find one that suits you? Start one of your own.

People seldom move from the Social Network to the personal but it is not unknown. Men and women try out dating sites. Some wind up getting married. People write articles and viewpoint posts in beBee hives, agree to meet in person and SHAZAM! their relationship ratchets up.

The worth?

• Finding your mate is a value most of us seek assiduously.
• Establishing an intellectual relationship is never easy. The net of the Social Network is that it allows you to do so faster.
• All of us profit from sharing with like minds. Here we can be sure that we are not alone and that we do, indeed, have a “tribe.”

Business Network

Customer or clients, referral sources, folks you can refer and specialists you recommend without reservation fall into this category.

Every business must, in the beginning, rely on networking to raise capital, make a sale or just be allowed to make a presentation. If your business is product based, sales determine whether the company lives or dies. Service company? Long term your reputation will determine your fate. And as you become better known, others will ask your opinion about the folks that help you build your business, the advisors you listen to and the professionals you would use to solve a specific problem.

Dollars and Cents Net Worth

If you keep track you can chart a profit or loss to the relationships. You meet someone at a networking event, hit it off and soon you find that you are working with them. You note the income and the profit. That client/customer refers a friend who declines but suggests you talk to his mastermind group. You do and find yourself with two new clients. The income and profit from them can be attributed to that chance meeting but too often we don’t track this sort of thing.

Your mission, should you choose to accept it is to track of those contacts, the results they produce and repeat them. If you’d like to learn how, e-mail me and ask about Nonstop Referrals TM.

Block Chain Network

Technology refuses to stand still. This is the “leapfrog” technology in networking in my view. It was originally developed to make cryptocurrencies like bit coin possible. Block chain technology gives internet users the ability to create value and authenticate digital information with greater security than ever before by distributing the files to multiple computers.

What is the payoff?

What new business applications will result? Those distributed ledgers enable the coding of simple contracts that will execute when specified conditions are met. Imagine how that would work if you are wanting to be sure your intellectual property is secured and can’t be copied if you want to share it or sell it. Think about how your profile can only be changed by you. Consider another level of security to any digital network you involve yourself in. It is well worth watching for the new networking capabilities that are sure to come.

Stay Tuned.

Jerry Fletcher is a beBee ambassador, founder and Grand Poobah of www.BrandBrainTrust.com

His consulting practice, founded in 1990, is known for Trust-based Brand development, Positioning and business development on and off-line. He is also a sought-after International Speaker.

Consulting: www.JerryFletcher.com Speaking: www.NetworkingNinja.com