Seven Tips for Developing a Solid Networking Strategy; From the Book - Cracking the Networking CODE

Let's start with a quick reminder:

Networking is NOT forcing yourself or your products on someone.

Networking IS getting to know people, their lives, and their needs.

Networking is NOT selling your products and services at every moment.

Networking IS being progress for the people you connect with.

Networking is nothing new. Most of our relationships began through networking and referrals. Heck, Paul McCartney met John Lennon through networking.

One of the steps in effective networking is to Open Face-to-Face Relationships. This involves creating and sticking to a networking strategy.

Here are seven tips to consider:

1. Proactively seek the right new contacts.

Develop your plan of action and get started without delay. Identify who you want to meet, where you are likely to meet them, and how you will follow up. Invest quality time thinking about the people who can best offer you the right information, contacts, and opportunities. Build relationships with these people by understanding what you have to offer them.

Start by asking yourself: Where are the best places to make face-to-face contact with them? Answering this question will help you decide which organizations you should belong to and which events you should attend. Important point: The organizations that are the best fit will change over time as your business grows and your career develops.

2. Go with realistic expectations.

You are (probably) not going to land a big account or forge an automatic strong link from a five-minute encounter. Networking takes patience! Networking takes persistence! Come to terms with the fact that it is probably going to take more than one meeting for folks to come to the conclusion that you are amazingly with -it and that you offer progress for their lives.

In fact, it has been proven that it takes most people six to eight progress-based impressions to remember and begin to trust a new person.

Keep firmly in your mind that networking may not provide immediate benefits. It may take years to see the results of your networking efforts, or you could open your e-mail in the morning and have a cool opportunity from someone you connected with the day before.

3. Start with people you know and trust.

Shy? Nervous? That