How important is Networking for your job?

I would confidently say that most of us are knowledgable and competant in our field of work.
I would like to argue that, the only difference between a sucessful person and some not so, is how good he/she is in networking.

In this highly compitative world, how you present yourself, makes the difference.

Yesterday, I attended a Networking session and I would like to share what I learnt there.

1. There should be a GOAL for anything we do. Doing something just because someone else is doing will not be effective. A football game with just passing the ball around is not going to get any crowd in. How many Goals a team takes is what classifies a good team from another.
Similarly, Networking with the right group is very important.

2. Learn to tell what you do instead of telling what you are. I am a teacher, I am an advisor, I am an accountant doesnt tell anything about you. I teach children on Money management, I help clients grow their wealth says a lot more about me than just the title financial advisor.

3. Meet as many people as you can and remember to stay in touch after the meeting. Email, telephone calls are the fastest way to stay in touch.

In any industry, knowing people and to be known is important and hence, Networking is a key to success. I hope these tips are useful to you and do send me your views

Quote for this weekend is

Diamonds are nothing but a chunk of coal that stuck to their jobs.... M.S Forbes

Starting the new dacade...Year 2010

Time really flies... its so recent in memory when there was so much of talk about the Millennium bug and all the problems we could have because of the date formats...

Today is technically the first working day of this dacade..

& I wish all the very best.

To start of with... I plan to have quotes for the beginning and ending of every week.. to keep us all going.....and here's my first selection....


Believe in yourself, and the rest will fall into place. Have faith
in your own abilities, work hard, and there is nothing you cannot
accomplish.- Brad Henry


Have a great week,,, Swarna

Protect your home

In the first 11 months statistics show that fire in homes has increased considerably. There are many reasons but most common one is Electrical overload and carelessness. Now with festive season around, almost all houses have electrical decorations, christmas trees etc.

The fact to note when there is a fire in one apt, it can cause external & internal damage to apartments above and below.

HDB/ Private property management and even Banks who offer the loan, makes it compulsory for all to take basic fire insurance. This covers the external walls and common area.

However, if there is a fire upstairs and your ceiling is damaged, this will not be covered by the HDB. You have to bare the costs of repairing the ceiling or false ceiling. If you are going to sue your neighbor upstairs, you will have to sort it out legally, which can be very cumbersome.

An easy way to handle such situations is to have a home content plan. This plans will cover the renovations & home content and much more. These types of plans also cover public liability, example should there be fire in your place and causes damage to your neighbors home, the cost of repair, legal cahrges etc, will be borne by the insurer.

There are always add-ons to Home content insurance. You will be covered for theft, loss of valuables, personal accident, and home protection when you are traveling overseas.

Again, the home content insurance has a range of premiums from different insurers.

In this high paced lifestyle we live in, we cant take anything for granted. Its always best to transfer RISK to someone who can handle it better.