When did you learn to network effectively?

Elementary school? High school? College? Chances are you probably didn’t receive much networking education.

Most schools will tell you that networking is the most effective activity you can do for your business and career. And then they’ll tell you to go out and network. No wonder most people become disillusioned with networking quickly. It’s lie being to told here is a rope, here are some climbing shoes, now go climb that mountain.

I network. I network a lot. I meet people through my I go to very structured networking meetings that have the sole purpose of generating high quality business referrals. I attend conferences. I’m by no means an expert, but my networking is effective, because I have a plan, I have a strategy, and most importantly, I execute.

1. Research who you’d like to meet at the networking event that you are attending, and ask to be introduced to them. Prior preparation prevents poor performance.
2. Find out how you can help others. Listen to their concerns and needs when you are out networking. Don’t dominate the conversation.
3. Follow up. Collecting a bunch of business cards, wrapping them up in an elastic band and throwing them in the drawer the next morning is not networking. This is called wasting everybody’s time. Fortune is in the follow up. Follow up with those who yo had a genuine connection with.

Like most things in life, the more you network effectively, the better you will get at it, and the more you will generate the results you desire. For a more in-depth plan on how to network, check out my book that I wrote with an introduction from the “Father f Modern Networking Dr Ivan Misner. It’s called “Word Of Mouth” and is crammed with ideas to make your networking more effective.