I think it’s the second law of economics, or maybe the first, but it’s true as the law of gravity: there’s no such thing as a free lunch.

A few days ago, news broke out that a particular person in a networking group received a call from someone requesting for a meeting, supposedly being referred by a member of another group. Fair enough?

Here’s my view, and reading the book Networking Like a Pro, is helping me to make the distinctions.

An amateur will probably drool at the prospect of being referred by a member of another group to provide services. Networking for business is paying off.

However, as a pro, we need to realize that there is no such thing as a referral from someone you don’t know, or even if you know the person, a referral will only materialize if indeed you have invested in the relationship professionally.

Investment of time, understanding each other and building trust. It can also be termed as building and investing in your social capital.

Only when this process is accomplished, is when true and genuine as well as high quality referrals will come your way. And this is beefed up further with a relationship behind the entire process. At the end, what would matter? It is the relationship between two trusting business individual which will deepen even further.

So, there’s no such thing as a free lunch: all referrals that come your way are an indication of the investment you put in. If anyone rings you out of the blue, and you don’t know the person, then be wary. Very rarely are those good referrals. In some cases, it could be a ploy to deceive and in some extreme cases, even criminal in nature.