{"id":1155,"date":"2010-08-26T12:15:58","date_gmt":"2010-08-26T02:15:58","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wordconstructions.com.au\/blog\/?p=1155"},"modified":"2012-10-22T10:34:50","modified_gmt":"2012-10-21T23:34:50","slug":"bring-wine-when-networking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.wordconstructions.com.au\/blog\/2010\/08\/bring-wine-when-networking\/","title":{"rendered":"Bring wine when networking"},"content":{"rendered":"

Would you really take wine to every networking event? Probably not so let me explain…<\/p>\n

Chris Brogan wrote a story in his blog about social media and not being ‘that guy’<\/a>. In short, the story is that if you’re going on a picnic with friends take a bottle of wine rather than just coming along and eating everyone else’s food. Sounds obvious in that context doesn’t it?<\/p>\n

The same principle applies in networking (Chris was specifically referring to social media but I am putting it together with all networking). People will respond better if you give something of value rather than if you just try taking.<\/p>\n

So if someone at an event or on a forum says “I’m having trouble writing some promotional articles<\/a>“, I could answer with “What questions do people often ask about your industry? Answering those questions is a good place to start your articles. Here are some tips in my blog<\/a>.”<\/p>\n

Or I could be that guy and answer with “I write articles – you should pay me. Did you know I could also write your website and I …”<\/p>\n

Effective networking is about building relationships rather than selling yourself.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Here are some networking tips off the top of my head:<\/p>\n

    \n
  1. hand out business cards to selected people<\/a> rather than everyone in reach<\/li>\n
  2. remember things about people you network with – jotting down some notes soon after helps – to show you are interested<\/li>\n
  3. be generous<\/a>\u00a0and show an abundant mentality – tell others about great promotional opportunities, give your opinion and expertise, link to other blogs\/websites whether or not they link back, and so on<\/li>\n
  4. smile! It’s much more inviting than a scowl, and it can even change your voice if you are on the phone<\/li>\n
  5. introduce people to each other. For example, a friend mentions needing a plumber and you met one last week at a networking event – give your friend those contact details. It also means introducing people looking alone at an event too<\/li>\n
  6. use people’s names – it means a lot to them and using it soon after hearing it helps you to remember it, too<\/li>\n
  7. don’t be afraid to ask for help (not for business mind you) as it shows you are human and you give people a chance to help. Maybe you ask for referrals to a service, opinions on a decision you need to make or for understanding a technical issue.\u00a0\u00a0Pretending to know everything and be perfect is likely to alienate people than attract them<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    What other tips do you have for effective networking?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Would you really take wine to every networking event? Probably not so let me explain… Chris Brogan wrote a story in his blog about social media and not being ‘that guy’. In short, the story is that if you’re going on a picnic with friends take a bottle of wine rather than just coming along […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[53],"tags":[97,118,1089],"class_list":["post-1155","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-business-info-tools","tag-networking","tag-value","tag-wine"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t