The Advantages of Networking in Your Nursing Career

You've chosen your nursing career. Now you want to grow your business. This is where the advantages of networking come in.

Build a network of other nurses and business professionals and you will be able to tap into joint experiences and knowledge, share resources, and gain encouragement and confidence.

Tips For Effective Networking

Prepare a 2 to 3 sentence blurb on your nursing career/business. Practice it on a friend and make it a part of your vocabulary.

Decide who your target network will be. Look for other nurses in your area (or related areas) of expertise. This will help you focus your search.

Find them when you:

• Read articles and do website searches to find experts you want to contact.
• Attend professional association meetings.
• Ask friends and associates who they know and ask for an introduction.
• Attend conferences and workshops on related topics. Speak to as many attendees as possible. Ask what they're doing and give them your 2 to 3 sentence blurb.
• Hand out professional business cards with contact info. Gather business cards from others. Write a brief note on the back to remind yourself who they are and why you want to follow-up with them.
• Become a frequent visitor to forums, blogs and other social networking websites. Reply to questions or problems with helpful comments. Start your own thread on an issue that is covered in your website. Become known as the expert on a topic without selling yourself. Post links to your site if it has helpful information related to the thread.

Go out of your comfort zone. Make contact with as many people as possible.

Effective networking will expand your options and grow your nursing business.

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