Can Non-Networkers Be Successful, Part 2

As I said on Monday, everyone I know does at least a little bit of networking. They want to network because they know it's useful and important to their business growth. But I started wondering how people who adamantly think they don't need networking grow their business. I posted the question here and there are some great responses, all of them worth reading.

I also asked this question on LinkedIn. You can read all the thoughtful answers I've received here. I've had a variety of responses, all of which made me really think. But here's the most important thing I've realized from their comments is this:

EVERYBODY networks.
Everyone has to develop some kind of relationship with at least a few people in order to survive.

But I'm not talking about people who have accidentally or incidentally developed some relationships that work for them. If you're in business and you're not a complete a--hole, you'll build a rudimentary network.

I'm talking about strategic networking. The deliberate cultivation of a wide variety of relationships for the specific purpose of reaching goals quicker, faster, and easier.

It seems like you can build a certain level of success with hard work, lots of cold-calling and a careful advertising campaign. But it seems to me that strategic networking would make it all happen faster, quicker, and easier.

Over the next few days, I'll see if I can get permission to quote the who answered my LinkedIn question and I'll summarize them here.