For some it’s second nature, for some individuals it’s a daunting, uncomfortable challenge. But networking makes the business community go round, and you are a lot more planning to finish the same job if you’re able to call in a favor from someone or make contact with an acquaintance that can assist.
And, based on Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals: Network Your Everyday Contacts, “Because the normal person knows about 250 other folks, whenever you cultivate one new relationship in which this new person “knows you, likes you, and trusts you”, you’ve just increased your private sphere of influence by a potential 250 people . . . every . . . single . . . time.”
Get Going Now
Here’s my survival to help guide successful networking. Try to attend a few events month after month to help you gain from your little black book at the earliest opportunity. Invite people for lunch or possibly a drink after class or work. Particularly an important individual who is well connected. Arrive early for an event. This way you can sit at the front of the conference where many of the top dogs are. Let them mention themselves. Introduce yourself as well as your position, but initially get them to feel better about themselves by getting them to reveal all. Use questions like, ‘How do you get going in your business?’ ‘What do you like most with what you do?’ Hook them with others.
Seem as a Valuable Resource
You’ll be seen as a valuable resource if you manage to show them, individuals, to some with the movers and shakers with an event. Remember what you let you know. Do they go for weekend drives in the country on the motorbike? Holiday in the south of France or have a very daughter attending Hult International Business School? You can pass information to them relating to any of these random details, or any issues regarding their business. They’ll be very grateful you’ve remembered to think about them. Refer them home-based business. This is an important one plus a dead cert way to prove your value to them. Keep questioning if you are speaking to the best people and that they could offer good prospects – don’t network for the sake of it.
