First Commandment of Networking

I was at a Networking event recently. Who am I kidding I am at networking events all the time and the truth of the matter is I am going to be writing about my experience’s; The good, bad and the ugly. Networking is the one of the life lines of a company. It is free advertisement, okay not free but dollar for dollar one of the least expensive. We go out meet, greet, and shake hands. We talk about ourselves and what we do for a living and hopefully at the end of it all we have a client.

At this particular networking event the speaker Lee Knapp of Knapp Consultants talked about the 10 commandments of Networking. As she spoke I started thinking about the principals of networking. As I stated earlier we go to these event and we meet people and shake a few hands and then what? I started wondering if people actually had a plan? Do they have goals? Are there a certain number of people that they have told themselves they will meet? After the meeting I asked Lee if she would mind if I used her 10 commandments of networking. I wanted to look at each one of them and write about them. She was wonderful enough to give me her heart felt encouragement. So I thought I would start with the first one, not a big leap there, and expand upon it. So here we go….

Commandment number one: Your business networking tools reflect you, your business, and your professionalism. What are your tools saying about you? So what are your tools? As Lee say’s the most important tool you have is yourself and what does that mean. I know for myself that when I go to a networking event I always put my best foot forward. I present myself in the best possible light. I dress appropriately for the occasion, I am in a good mood, and if I am in a bad mood I don’t go. Not only is it a waste of time but I may end up presenting myself in a way that could be harmful to my business. I don’t know about you but when I am in a bad mood I can be somewhat shot tempered. I make sure that I have a large supply of business cards on hand. I do that before I walk out of my office door. There is nothing like talking with someone and exchanging business card only to realize you don’t have any, been there done that. Know your industry. Not just what your company dose, produces, sells but also how your industry is doing as a whole. Be informative. Bring along added information, a brochure or maybe an article that is informative about your industry, not a book please just a few short paragraphs. Better yet write it yourself. It will impress people. But most importantly have a good time. If you are so will the people around you. Happy Hunting.