Networking should not be approached as a selling activity, but rather as a way of building new contacts, nurturing long-term relationships, and helping others while generating new opportunities for you and your business.

One of the most important things to remember regarding business networking is “People don’t generally marry on the first date!”, so don’t go thinking you will get instant business results i.e. immediate income from going to a function and giving your business card to the people you met there. Instead if you go to a function with the view of meeting interesting people and starting new relationships that will hold a world of new possibilities you can’t even begin to realise yet...then the time you spend on this particular business activity is well worth it, and worth doing regularly.

It really doesn’t matter what type of business you are in, if you use this general networking philosophy you will eventually develop a very large network and this can be of huge value as you move through life. Remember it takes time to build relationships and there needs to be plenty of give and take along the way, but if you have this philosophy with everyone you meet then you’re always networking aren’t you?

There is often a perception that women are better networkers than men as they tend to have a natural appreciation of the value of a relationship and put this before the business transaction. Whereas many men tend to instinctively have more of a typical “hunter” nature, and are often “transaction focused” from the start. No matter which category you fit into, effective networking is an art that can be learnt even if it doesn’t come naturally to you.

In its simplest form, networking is about meeting people, having conversations, listening to others and building relationships. The more you do it, the wider and more useful your personal and business network will be. The more you network, the more you will learn who’s who around you, and the more people will know about you and what you can do for them. It’s all about raising your profile, as having the best product or service in the world is of no use if no one knows about it.

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