Posted by Raphael on Jul 12, 2011 in How To, Marketing, My Business Adventures | 0 comments

My brother overseas got a good promotion recently where he’s now in charge of business outreach for the company he’s been working for. Problem is this is the highest position he’s held yet and requires him to jump into the deep end of business networking.

So naturally he calls me…

Whodathunk I’d be any authority in the matter? I used to HATE networking. Standing in a crowd full of strangers trying to get anything accomplished was about as fun as tossing myself into a pond of tiger sharks in my opinion.

But now…about 6 years after doing my own business, I actually enjoy it. So I thought about it for a minute and gave him some advice on how to start. Here are some quick tips of my own for any of you feeling too intimidated by the situation:

1. First and foremost you have to love what you do. Speaking about the job you love becomes MUCH easier if you truly think it’s the best thing in the world. If  you have to pretend like it’s the best, I think people see right through it.
2. Join a networking group; or any group where business people convene regularly (e.g., BNI, Toastmasters, Chamber of Commerce, etc.); often there are random groups formed all the time by business people who are just interested in networking routinely for referrals. But joining a group that has a networking system makes it easier to walk up and meet people because everyone knows that’s what’s expected of them. Personality matters…look for groups where you find compatible personalities there. Not all groups are built the same.
3. Bring business cards. LOTs and LOTs of business cards. Otherwise, what’s the point of introducing yourself to someone only to have them forget you later because they don’t have any card? Forget the folks who tell you that e-Cards are the way to go. At least here in my city, I haven’t been at one networking event where I’ve been asked to share an e-Card….people couldn’t be bothered to spend the 20 seconds (if you’re lucky; half of the business people I meet aren’t that tech savvy) setting that up when a simple pass of a card could take care of the situation.
4. When you’re at a networking event. Look for isolated individuals or those occasional pair of people that look uncomfortable. Typically, you’re not the only one uncomfortable in networking events. Learn to recognize others who are just as uncomfortable as you are and then just walk up and introduce yourself. You might make a new friend in the process. I once met a stranger like this in a meeting and by the next event he was letting me borrow his nearby parking stall.
5. Learn to small talk. It is unavoidable that sometimes there’s just nothing to talk about. Standing next to another business individual that has nothing to say is awkward to say the least. “How’s the weather?” starts sounding really stupid. That’s where you have to dig deep into the repertoire — talk about something unusual that happened to you that day? do you share something in common with this person? Worse case scenario the fall-back to any situation is to talk about the event you’re at.