Category Archives: Networking

Good Networkers Always Have Jobs

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People that are good at building and maintaining a strong professional network are rarely unemployed for long; and it’s not just because they know a lot of people who can hire them. It’s because the competencies that are necessary for successful networking are highly sought after in the job market. When you are actively networking, you are both a) continually honing these skills and more importantly, b) proving that you have them!

Here are a few of the intangible skills involved in successful networking:

Interpersonal Communication Skills – Networking is communicating. If you are a good networker you are adept at one of the most important business skills around: engaging with another human being. You can talk to people, ask questions, listen to their responses; in other words, you know how to build relationships. This is not a universal skill, and it’s highly prized by employers.

Self-Confidence – Reaching out to someone new is hard, and building new relationships is tough; that’s why we usually just stick to our own small social group. By networking, you are proving that you have the confidence to approach new people, and that if things don’t go great, it won’t discourage you. Self-worth is an attribute that can’t be taught and is in high demand (and not just in the sales department).

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Relationships Are the New Job Security

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If you haven’t noticed, the way the world works has changed a lot. Daily life is going to be a lot different for my children than it was for my parents. In times of change, we yearn for security. Unfortunately, the places that we’ve traditionally found security – career, families, culture – are where most of the changes are happening. One area this is obvious is the lack of traditional job security.

From a historical perspective, it was way easier when you knew that someday you would take your parent’s job. Millers milled, Porters ported, Smiths smithed (I’m pretty sure I know what my forefathers did for a living…). Even during most of the twentieth century, stable employment was the cultural norm – you worked for the same company until they gave you a gold watch and (hopefully) a pension.

These days, long-term stays with the same employer aren’t expected – by the employer or the employee. Needless to say, this has caused a lot of stress as we bounce from position to position through periods of “career transition”, trying to find a stable paycheck in an unstable world. Even if you are highly skilled at your trade, outside variables have a profound impact on your employment.

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Where Business Networking and Dating Collide

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If you have ever stepped back and watched the action at a business networking event, the resemblance to a singles bar is uncanny (and slightly unnerving). Think about it, there’s a bunch of people wandering around, nervously approaching people they don’t know because they’re hoping to meet that special someone that will make their life better. And most prefer to stay with the group of people they already know (or by the bar) because it’s more comfortable.

Professional networking has a lot of similarities to dating – which shows you why a lot of people don’t like networking, because let’s face it, dating is hard. But if we look at the similarities, we can also see how to make our networking more effective and ultimately, more fun.

  1. You have to go where the prospects are. – Single people hang out at bars and parties for a reason – that’s where the other single people are. In the same way, you should go where your ideal business connections are spending time. Whether it’s a Chamber of Commerce event, an association mixer, or an entrepreneur’s club, put yourself in close contact with the people you want to meet.

  1. The best introductions come from friends. – If you want to grow your network, start with your friends. A lot of first dates come from, “Introduce me to your cute friend…”. Start building your business network by asking your friends and close colleagues: “Who else should I know?” and “Can you introduce us?”. And then follow up on those introductions

  1. You’re going to have a lot of first dates. – Just like finding a significant other, when you are looking for clients, employers, vendors, or whomever, it’s a numbers game. You aren’t going to have a strong personal or professional with everyone you meet, so you have to meet a lot of people to construct a vibrant network. It helps to “play the field” as much as possible. The good thing, though, unlike dating, the more relationships you develop, the better.
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The Best Way to Host a Very Successful Networking Event In 5 Clear Steps

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Really worthy projects generally require several steps for successful completion. Things with any complexness take various steps that will take some time to complete. It is just inherent in the nature of things that significant projects usually aren’t accomplished overnight. To have success you should ready yourself well, set clear objectives, work hard and persevere. Whatever the project or challenge you undertake, there aren’t likely to be exceptions to these rules.

But it is actually not so difficult. You just break it down into simple steps and take them one at a time…

Here is the best way to host a very successful networking event just by using five simple steps:

Step 1. Choose a location that is professional or at least relevant to your type of business.. The key reason why this is very important is That you will want your surroundings to represent yourself and your business sufficiently.. This will be a major point and should be taken very seriously since many people are visual and the last thing you would want to do is to let your surroundings dictate the quality of your business..

Step 2. Once you have your location, you will want to plan your day at least 1 month in advance.. You will want to concentrate on this step while giving it full attention. This is how to do it the best way, for the best results. Plan at least one month in advance in order to compensate for any delays as well as sufficient time to spread the word.. The reason this is important is that you never know what can come up in your personal life or business to hinder you from being consistent with your schedule. Also, a lot of people plan ahead and you want to give a heads up well in advance..

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