Making your Networking more Effective

By admin • September 21st, 2009

As business owners we are all looking to make the our time at Networking Evetns more effective. Why else would you attend, right?

I recently came accross the following tips from Women Promoting Women Blog written by Tracie Harvie, a fellow Virtual Assistant here in London, Ontario from notes that she took from the “Power of the Purse” event held at the Hilton on June 4th.

Give more than you receive.
Don’t have a microwave mentality about Networking (it takes time and trust to form a relationship).
Smart networkers stay in touch with internal customers and suppliers (you never know who people know).
Strong networkers create a personal safety net.
Networking is not chit chat (networking is about the other person, always ask for someone else’s card first, build the relationship with conversation and then ask for the business card).
Start networking before you have to.
Learn what people in your network know and who they know.
Make real contact (look people in the eye and shake hand with two shakes).
Be interested in others and offer something of yourself.
Set goals when you attend networking functions.
Another tip one of the speakers mentioned was to staple all the business cards you received at an event to a peice of paper and label it with the event name and date. That way it’s easy to refer to.