I have to admit I like Ashton Kutcher.  I guess it is OK, given that I am part of Demi Moore’s generation.

In some ways, he reminds me of this guy I used to date, and subsequently married.

Ashton and my husband John have some things in common, like… they both went to the University of Iowa, they both are members of the Delta Chi fraternity and they both have a sense of humour that is a bit off-centre.

The fact that he reminds me of my husband is the backdrop for my interest in him.  I follow him on Twitter.  I read what he tweets, even if they are not all that profound.  Once in a while I retweet or reply to what he has tweeted.

Establishing commonality is so important in the networking process.  For Ashton, I’m sure me telling him of the things we have in common isn’t going to turn us into BFFs because the connections aren’t very deep.  For most business relationships however, finding and reinforcing those common threads is really helpful in establishing lasting relationships.

If you’re having trouble networking, you may want to think about ahead of time what questions you can ask someone that will help establish those commonalities.  After all, we tend to like things that feel familiar to us.

Recently someone in the #TEPHR group mentioned that they were struggling with interacting on Twitter.  She was able to tweet, but found that she wasn’t getting many retweets or responses.  My suggestion to her was to “spicy-it-up a bit”.  This included reading the tweets of those she followed and retweeting things she found interesting, participating in Follow Friday #ff, and participating in some of the less formal hashtag connections such as #hrpuckheads, #hrmusicshare and #hrfoodie.  I also suggested that she respond to tweets of those who participate in #TEPHR.

With that in mind though, remember that an over-fixation with commonalities can be construed as stalking, so ultimately, it is about finding that balance.

Gotta run, Two and a Half Men is on.