We’ve always made a point to loosely define the “optimal size business network“. After all, every small business owner has a unique network with different qualities. However, in an age of massive social media networks and micro-stardom, it has become increasingly important to reevaluate the size of our network. To effectively generate sales leads can directly correlate with our ability to manage our referral relationships.
We can certainly identify two extremes. It’s safe to say if you have 3 people in your referral network, you aren’t likely to get a ton of new leads. Conversely, if you have 300 people in your network, each individual relationship may not be mutually beneficial.
Dunbar’s Number*
For those of you who are unfamiliar, “Dunbar’s Number” is a theoretical cognitive limit to the number of people with whom one can maintain stable social relationships. It is widely interpreted that this number is around 150. Dunbar’s Number has been increasingly revisited due to the explosion of social media sites and the vast number of “friends” people are accumulating. The theory even appeared in the bestselling book, “The Tipping Point”.
What does Dunbar’s Theory Reveal About Referral Networking?
While 150 is not an absolute number, the idea is that once your business network exceeds a certain number, it is unlikely that you will be successful in managing those relationships or involved in them at all. Striking a balance is extremely important and there is always a give and take.
In theory, the more connections you have, the more networking opportunities you have. Conversely, the less connections you have the higher the quality per connection.
The Graph Below:
Assuming 2 professionals have an equitable amount of time to spend networking, one with 150 connections and one with 20 connections, in theory the networker with 20 connections will score lower in “networking opportunities” but inversely higher in “quality of networking opportunities”.
The graph demonstrates the intangible, and often overlooked, benefits of a smaller network.
*To learn more about Robin Dunbar and the details of this theory you can read the full study at CO-EVOLUTION OF NEOCORTEX SIZE, GROUP SIZE AND LANGUAGE IN HUMANS.
Tags: business networking clubs, Generate sales leds
Indicates your referral relationship is balanced,
Indicates an imbalance.
In theory the networker with 20 connections will score lower in “networking opportunities” but inversely higher in “quality of networking opportunities.”
True, someone with a small number of contacts is going to be able to spend more quality time with all their connections. But it’s likely that this person’s small group is tightly knit. They probably all know each other and spend time at the same networking events.
Mark Granovetter wrote about “weak ties” which is where most of our results come from because our closest, strong ties tend to have similar networks.
Your post says to me that we need a smaller group of people we are close to, as well as a much larger group of people we know more casually.
Wouldn’t it also be more ‘effective’ not to just have a smaller group of people we are close to, but more groups (clusters) of these?
It is a fact that you are normally closer to people with the same interest/location etc who will all have access to the same information.
If you would have more small groups in different ‘clusters’ your chances of new information - networking - would increase too.
Karin H (Keep It Simple Sweetheart, specially in business)
@Beth
Thanks for being such an avid contributor to our blog. We actually had a chance to look at your blog too.
Hopefully there will be an opportunity for collaboration!
@Karin
Good idea about the cluster. Maybe you’d like to write up an article on how this would work and we can possibly post it.
Hi Admin
I read about this in “The Anatomy of Buzz Revisited” by Emanuel Rosen. In there it is used to generate buzz in more than one group of ‘connectors’ but IMHO there wouldn’t a difference in using this idea for networking.
http://www.amazon.com/Anatomy-Buzz-Revisited-Word-Mouth/dp/0385526326/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1239890483&sr=8-1
Karin H.
[...] optimal size of a referral network is a hotly debated subject. In our blog, What is the Ideal Size for Business Networking Clubs? we took a look at Dunbar’s [...]
In theory the networker with 20 connections will score lower in “networking opportunities” but inversely higher in “quality of networking opportunities.”
True, someone with a small number of contacts is going to be able to spend more quality time with all their connections.It is a fact that you are normally closer to people with the same interest/location etc who will all have access to the same information.