Business and Finance

No man is an island, an as mercenary as it sounds you do need people to move up the corporate ladder. The corporate world is all about building and maintaining relationships and that is the true secret to success.

We meet people every day and every day is a good day to network and build your Rolodex of contacts.

Tips for Successful networking

• Networking is not a chore- It should come naturally and sometimes you need to kick start it but it should never be forced. Try to make genuine friendships with people and maintain it
• Develop your personality- It pays to be an interesting personable individual. People are genuinely interested in meeting such people and talking to them. No one wants to hang around a boring person much less inform them of career opportunities or offer them a job.
• Develop your knowledge base and intelligence- No one wants to talk to an airhead. Develop your knowledge base about your work industry and develop your general knowledge as well. When people talk to you, leave them with an impression that you are smart.
• Don’ leave your complimentary cards at home!- Your complementary card completes the process, you’ve grabbed attention with your personality and intelligence, you need to put the icing on the cake by leaving some contact details about yourself.
• Follow up calls- On the flip side you may be the one who needs to follow up and call back an interesting prospect.
• Don’t be afraid to speak up and be up front- People genuinely appreciate a frank straight talking person, just remember not to be too forward or too personal. Making lewd jokes with new contacts is a no- no at least until you’ve known them quite well and for a while.

Hosting a networking event can be a challenge. Not only do you have to organize a great affair but it is also important to make your attendees feel welcome and at ease. Within a networking event you have you have experts and your novices. It is vital that you help the novices feel like this is a place where they can grow and expand their network and convince the experts that this is a place where they can thrive.

Part of conducting a great event is being a great host and treating all attendees, new and seasoned, accordingly. You can make a great impression by simply following a few good measures.

You should always arrive early and be ready to shake hands and greet all who come through the door. Of course, as the event progresses, you won’t be able to greet everyone but if you were there from the beginning until it fills up, you would be able to guide and help those who enter, up to a certain point. A good host also makes it a point to utilize the assistance of his own ambassadors. These are friends of the host that assist in greeting those who enter the event once it becomes too many people for one person to handle.

If you’re looking to score points as a good host, as your greeting people, take note to what they do and what their networking goals are. For example, who did they come to meet and who are there likely clients? After you take note of this, you can introduce these people to each other as the event goes on.

It’s also a good idea to do spot checks as you make your way through your event. Look around to see if anyone is not speaking to anyone and help to encourage them to talk to people and make the right connections. As you are doing this, you are building rapport and helping your own relationship to develop.

And lastly, a great host must have a solid follow-up system to make sure that people got what they came for. It’s a good idea to contact your guests and have them rate your event and offer suggestions. This can help them to feel involved and encourage them to come to future events. It’s rare that a networking event host makes a personal connection with his/her guests. This is a great way to make an impression as well as solidify stronger connections.