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Last Updated on June 20, 2018 by Work In My Pajamas
Many entrepreneurs, both established and aspiring as well as professionals are looking for ways to make progress in their fields. One of the secrets to success that they’ve likely heard time and time again is the need to network like their lives depend on it. You may be here because you’ve learned the importance of networking and are looking for tips regarding how you can master it. As with every other skill, networking is something that you have to practice to get better at. The fundamentals, however, require effective communication as well as people skills. This article is going to go into a little more detail by giving you three useful networking tips you may need as an aspiring or established entrepreneur.
In This Post:
Be Yourself
One of the greatest tips that you’re likely to get when it comes to networking is learning to be your authentic self. This is so essential as you have unique characteristics as well as qualities that will make you stand out when you meet people. One of the things you should aim at when networking is being memorable and being yourself is one of the easiest ways to be just that. Being yourself is also key as it can help you build genuine connections which are equally important for initial interactions. Tips for helping you make a good first impression include smiling, not selling, showing you’re listening, doing homework on the people you want to connect with, and casually sharing information about yourself and your business.
Go to Key Events
It can be easy to mistake networking for being everywhere all the time, but this isn’t necessarily the case. It may be a better idea to choose key events to attend in which you can meet the right connections as well as benefit from. This may require that you do research beforehand to find out which events are best suited for your networking objectives. If, for instance, you wanted to meet leaders in anesthesiology and pain medicine such as Rishin Patel Insight, then attending the Jalen Rose Leadership Academy Celebrity Golf Classic would be ideal. The idea is to target events that you will get something out of as opposed to being busy networking and unproductive at the end of it all.
Build Relationships
It is likely that when you’re trying to network for the sole purpose of using people, others can sense it from a mile away. On that note, it’s important that outside of trying to collect contact details and request favors that you find a way to build meaningful and genuine relationships with the people you meet. Often times, this requires that you follow up after an event whether it be via email, social networks, or phone. This could mean sending them well wishes on holidays, finding out their interests, and even more importantly, looking for little ways that you can add value to their lives.
As an entrepreneur, you usually get most of your business by word of mouth as it’s said to be the best form of marketing. This essentially means that you need people in order to grow, so meeting as many as you can as often as you can is key. By applying some of the tips above, you should find your network and net worth expanding with time.
