(Good Badger Note: Today’s guest post is written by Justin Kownacki, the self proclaimed “Armchair Sociologist and Perpetual Contrarian”.  I stumbled upon Justin’s blog during one of my innumerable conquests through the Interweb, and have made his site part of my regular rotation ever since.  If you’re a fan of witty insights and sarcastic humor, I strongly encourage you to check it out. [Since you’re here, I’m guessing you prefer mediocrity?]

In the past I’ve hinted toward my disdain with the concept of “networking”.  Since The Good Badger spends most of his time 4,000 yards under a bunker anticipating the impending apocalypse, I went in search of a more qualified candidate to tackle the topic.  Justin was nice enough to comply.  Without further ado, Justin Kownacki now presents you the “5 Ways to Network Without Feeling Dirty.”)

When The Good Badger asked me to write a guest post about building relationships, he mentioned his aversion to the word “networking.” To him, “networking” has a selfish, impersonal connotation.

And I agree. But that’s probably because the people most likely to use the word “networking” in a sentence are the same people who have a webinar or a time-share scheme that they can’t wait to sell you.

At its core, networking is impersonal. It’s a strategic expansion of the people you know well enough to ask for favors. And if that’s not selfish and impersonal, I don’t know what is.

The real problem is that we have our priorities backwards. Read more →