How do members of a network gain the most out of being in a network? The type of network doesn’t matter. X2 Elite is a logistics network, one of many logistics networks really. However, it’s perhaps the most professional and of a higher standard than others. Facebook, LinkedIn, and Twitter are also networks. A different type, but still a network at their core. The same goes for a Rotary Club or Freemasons, they’re networks.

What is the element that allows for networks to flourish? What makes a network truly a network? A network is more than a group of people. To truly be a network, the members of the network must communicate and interact with each other. Without communication, a network is merely a collection of isolated individuals sharing only a common banner, but with no personal connection to one another.

X2 would like to see increased member interaction. We offer the tools for it to happen. We provide an interactive Community area on each of our network websites, we ask for commentary on our Network Blog and receive none. We have put out more than a few surveys to study member interaction, and we receive a number of replies stating that the company the message is about is virtually unknown. In a network, how can you be unknown? It should be a collective of individuals with shared ambitions and shared goals.

I invite all of the X2 Elite members to take advantage of chat like some of you have, engage in the Community section of the site and share your news or share your thoughts on what some of your colleagues in the freight forwarding field are doing, discuss current topics in the field. There is an abundance of methods to interact with the other members of a network. Plus, for those that see no profit in interaction, please realize that a simple interaction can be the key to opening an entirely new revenue stream or instilling some new life in an old one.

I know many of our members do regularly  interact with the membership and understand the positive results that can come from it. However, for those members that prefer to not interact with fellow members, I must ask, how do you expect for anyone within the network to know you? A simple interaction, saying hello even, can go a long way in securing business and building a reputation within the market that you represent.