Lately, I’ve been planning 2011. One of the things I have decided to do is more marketing and branding. Today, that typically means having a social media presence and blogging. This is my 4th straight week writing, which is pretty good since I have blogged about once every 3 months for the previous three years. Then I wonder why I have no followers. At first I had no idea what to write about this week, then after a rather positive networking call I was writing a thank you email to the person who made the connection for me, Fred Klein. I had referred to his introduction as being generous.

I first heard the term generosity used this way by Keith Ferrazi, in his book Who’s Got Your Back? In the book, Keith teaches how to build what he calls “life line relationships” and explains that the currency in these relationships is generosity. This is very similar to the motto of the networking group I belong to, Gotham City networking. The aforementioned Fred Klein happens to be the co-founder. The motto of Gotham is that it is better to give than to receive.

Give what, you may ask. Give whatever you can, and that doesn’t mean that you need to share your rolodex with everyone you meet or donate whatever is in your pocket for every cause. Being generous means getting to know what’s important to people, how you could help them, and offering whatever you can to help make that a reality. Maybe you tell someone about a website, or refer them to a person or service that you know of which could help them. There’s just so much more to a relationship or networking than referrals and asking for referrals; it’s about helping one another grow. The more generous you are, the more you’ll help others, and they’ll be inclined to help you. To learn more about building lifeline relationships pick up Keith’s book. If you are interested in learning more about Gotham City networking you could check them out at www.gothamnetworking.com and/or write me.