It seems that there is a lot of misconception about networking. As I engage in networking I see and hear many people making mistakes that can easily be avoided and remedied by simply knowing what networking isn’t and what it truly is.
Once you know what you should and shouldn’t be doing with your networking, you’ll start to change the way you approach people and you’ll start to make networking work for you.
Networking isn’t:
About on the spot sales conversion
About passing out as many business cards as you can
About getting as many business cards as you can and spamming all those contacts later
Networking is:
Getting to know people through genuine and authentic conversation
Connecting with a few select individuals, sometimes even just one person
Being a resource and connector for others
Knowing who you should be connecting with, why you should be connecting with them, and how you can benefit them
There are three essential components to networking that you’ll want to strive toward
Being visible
Being credible
Becoming profitable
People do business with people they know, like and trust. And when you are networking, whether it’s a one to one coffee date, a structured meeting like BNI, a chamber mixer or even a speed networking event; the key is to get to know people.
You will connect with those who you mutually like and you will want to get to know one another further.
Visibility is important because others start to see you as a familiar face. They start to recognize you and look forward to catching up with you and in time they’ll want to know more about what you do and the conversation will shift from the ordinary “what do you do?” to a place where they truly want to get to know you more.
As a result of being visible and getting to know people, the “like” and “trust” factors start to fall into place and you begin to establish some credibility. You’re consistently showing up and others realize they can rely on seeing you on a regular basis.
A good sign of being seen as credible is when others introduce you to their contacts and edify you as being knowledgeable in your industry and as someone they should know.
When you start to get more inquiries about what you do and how you help people get the results they’re looking for, you’ll start to receive genuine interest for your business card and even get asked what the next steps are toward investing their time and money in you.
As you become known for what you do and success stories are shared, you’ll start to make connections with potential referral partners and referral sources and this is the point where you begin to monetize your connections; meaning, you start to profit from your connections.
The important thing to remember is that monetizing, or making profits, from your connections is not an overnight transition.
Getting to this place of profit through your network is a result of spending time being visible, earning the trust of others, establishing credibility and building quality win-win relationships.
The mistake many entrepreneurs and professionals make is that they try to use their networking activities to jump straight into making profit, as in making a sale.
So as you think about your networking and the results you want to get from your networking efforts, it’s imperative that you know what the natural process is.
So to wrap it up the process of networking:
Be consistent with your networking activities so that you are regularly visible
Be a reliable participant, follow up and follow through with commitments you make to others
With trust building, and time invested, you will be on your way to monetizing your connections
Remember that networking is a process that when done well, has truly rewarding results that are win-win relationships, and building relationships is truly what networking is about.