Branson on Networking - he kinda likes it!

I read loads of articles on networking and it's nice to find I'm in good company when I recommend networking as the twenty-first Century way to find business success...

Here's a promising looking chap called RIchard Branson explaining his enthusiasm for networking on Entrepreneur.com...

"Q: How much of an impact does a really effective networker have on a company's success? Does it ever make sense to hire someone whose only function is to make connections internally and externally? - Christine Rozman, Entrepreneur reader

Succeeding in business is all about making connections. While we at the Virgin Group have never hired anybody whose job description was limited to making internal and external contacts, it is implicit that almost everyone on staff has these skills. This has helped Virgin to expand into so many different industries, from music to mobile phone services: As we build connections in other areas, we have been able to grow our expertise and multiply our reach.

For an entrepreneur, the ability to forge connections is a great asset. When you're conducting business in a field where you don't have specialist expertise, it's often the only way to get a job done right. When our team at Virgin wanted to go to space, I looked for the best engineer in the world to help us build a spaceship. Once we'd connected with Burt Rutan, creator of the revolutionary SpaceShipOne, we were able to get to work on creating Virgin Galactic. Read more here...

Read more: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/229741#ixzz2kjug7dIF