Yes, if I need an accountant or doctor or housekeeper or... I might ask people for advice. ("Might" because I did pretty well once choosing a dentist based on "I have a toothache and I noticed his office is near where I work.") But I would ask people whose judgment I have some reason to trust.
Hiring someone because they're walking around with a t-shirt that says "accountant" or "housekeeper" has all the disadvantages of googling the job title and calling whoever is first on the list, without the advantages. If I actually google, the contact information will be there when I need it, and I can open another tab and google something like "john doe plumber complaints."
This person hasn't invented a new way of networking, he has reinvented the classified ads or Yellow Pages, urging would-be advertisers to name their company AAAAAAcme so it will be at beginning of the list. But I can't use that t=shirt as a footrest. (Lacking a 1980s Manhattan phone book, I have propped my feet up on a shoebox.)
no subject
Hiring someone because they're walking around with a t-shirt that says "accountant" or "housekeeper" has all the disadvantages of googling the job title and calling whoever is first on the list, without the advantages. If I actually google, the contact information will be there when I need it, and I can open another tab and google something like "john doe plumber complaints."
This person hasn't invented a new way of networking, he has reinvented the classified ads or Yellow Pages, urging would-be advertisers to name their company AAAAAAcme so it will be at beginning of the list. But I can't use that t=shirt as a footrest. (Lacking a 1980s Manhattan phone book, I have propped my feet up on a shoebox.)