How to Build Your Business Networking Skills | Share The Road

Feel jealous of people who work a room with ease? Think the secret to the ?natural? networker?s performance is being extroverted? Relax. They?ve worked hard to seem so at ease. Their talent isn?t inborn. You can develop the same business networking skills with the right preparation.

There are nine steps to building your networking skills. If you are shy, good news! Talking to other people isn?t even in the first half of the process. If you start with these simple steps you?ll feel much more confident when it comes time for meeting and greeting.

1. Prepare Your Mind

Know why you are networking. Have a specific purpose. Are you looking for prospects, getting exposure in your market, or positioning for a promotion? Keep your purpose clear to overcome obstacles and excuses.

2. Know Yourself

?What do you do?? is the first question asked at business events.

Yet it?s amazing how many people fumble for an answer. The question is about the one subject on which you are the final expert. Write a short self-introduction and practice out loud until it sounds natural.

3. Know Your Market

Believing that ?everyone is my target market? makes your networking vague and inefficient. List the characteristics of your most ideal client and focus on events that attract these people.

4. Have Materials Ready

It?s embarrassing to come up empty-handed when asked for your card. Have business cards, a small notepad, and a pen with you at all times. Keep emergency stashes of cards at home, in your office, and even in your car.

5. Choose Your Event

A phone call to the host will tell you who is attending, if it?s strictly business or more social, and if it?s informal or has an agenda.

You?ll be more confident in knowing the event is right for you.

6. Make Small Talk

Without ?small? talk, networking would be people asking, ?Do you want to do business or not?? Unless you?re not afraid to burn bridges, it?s important to build rapport. Relationships are based on common interests and shared experiences. Small talk is how you discover them.

7. Follow Up

We say we?re ?too busy?. But more likely we?re not organized, we don?t think anyone is interested, or we don?t know what to say. To be effective, eliminate your excuses. Get organized, focus on relationships (not selling), and get to know people better so you have more to say.

8. Keep Track

A shoebox full of business cards is not a system! To be effective, the information has to be accessible. Find an online service, hire a teenager, buy a card scanner ? whatever it takes to keep track of whom you know.

9. Deepen Relationships

The easiest way to strengthen a new connection? Give first. Send them an invitation to an event, a magazine article about their industry, a hot lead, or even a word of encouragement. Simple, consistent gestures will create trust and build a valuable relationship.

Networking is an ongoing cycle of preparing yourself, meeting people, getting to know them, and finding ways to create a deeper bond. Any new task is going to feel awkward at first. Practice and repetition of these nine steps will help your networking skills grow. Someday your ?natural? ability will make someone else jealous.

Source: http://sharetheroadcolumbus.org/how-to-build-your-business-networking-skills

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