Networking is the action or process of interacting with others to exchange information and develop professional or social contacts.
Effective networking is the ability to create opportunities with anyone you meet for the first time.
We had a two years break to pause our live networking meeting, now it’s time to get back in shape.
Where could we create networking?
Everywhere.
Party, wedding, exhibition, trip, supermarket, hairdressing salon.
MeetUps, Business events, Community meetings, Conferences, Courses, Networking events.
What should we do during the meetings to create successful connections?
Be conspicuous and clearly visible.
Talk with your mouth (not inside your head).
When you are silent, no one will know who you are, what you do and how you can be useful and what kind of connections you have.
Similar people create connections.
Remember that people with similar values are attracted to you, and here it is very important to be honest, to show what is important to you. Share victories and failures. Be yourself. People are ready to open up whenever you are open.
Share with passion what you do and what you are looking for.
Tell stories, not theory. Facts are not always interesting and memorable.
Support yourself:
Go with a friend/friend/colleague.
Set up a competition with a colleague.
Set a goal - minimum - maximum contacts.
Create a game and add playfulness and remove the importance.
Courage is not the absence of fear, but rather the judgment that something else is more important than one’s fear. – Ambrose Hollingworth Redmoon
Prepare your own presentation / elevator pitch
Approximately 30 seconds in which you can briefly describe yourself.
Use vivid images and stories.
Speak in a way that reflects the pain of potential customers.
Presentation / elevator pitch structure:
Who am I - 1 sentence + pepper*
I you - how can I help you
Together we will make such a process
You yourself - then you can
Call to action
Beliefs that will support you:
“NO” is already in your pocket, there is nothing to lose to receive “YES”!
Opportunities are all around you - the world is full of perfect collaborations.
It doesn't matter how your networking was, the results need to be analysed!
Build a goal that you would like to achieve with each interaction. At the same time, be open to new breakthroughs and unknown targets that you still have not thought about.
Build hypotheses / scenarios of successful communication - analyse, change and improve!
Remember - networking is about building relationships!
How you build relationships is how you build successful collaborations.
One of the main aspects of building a successful relationship is an interest in another person, their needs, pains, opinions.
* A little bit of spicy ingredients at the end, please use it with as a chef please :)
When you present yourself - add an interesting fact about yourself or an interesting title.
Colleagues are calling me -
In professional communities people know me as -
Nicknames: Iron Man, Py the Panda, Queen of promotions, Smart Cookie, Google, Coded, Einstein, Beethoven, Sheldon, Retro Geek, iGeek.
Additional tip can help you when you are a junior and you don’t have experience or significant achievements in this area - remind yourself any extraordinary things you did in life and share it in 1 sentence.
"Networking is an investment in your business. It takes time and when done correctly can yield great results for years to come." -- Diane Helbig
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