The Ground Rules for Professional Networking

One of the most crucial relationship-building tools you can employ in any profession, networking allows you to build a rapport with other professionals. It allows you to forge successful partnerships, and create a visible presence in an individual or business capacity.

The first thing you need to do is make yourself valuable. Do some research. If you pan to meet people at professional conferences, come ready to present information. Even if you are a member of a local B2B group, present occasional seminars to your group. This shows that you are working to keep yourself updated and that you can be a valuable asset.

From a business perspective, it is important to connect to and seek out other professionals involved in your field, or in your town. This is in no way to suggest that you forge friendships solely to further your business interests. Only that meeting relevant people is part of your professional networking plan.

You would do this because you see the merits of mutual interest in a liaison with a relevant person, in view of the way your professional environment works. If it is on a national level, your approach is naturally different than it were if you intended to establish and expand your contact base only in your chosen area of expertise.

Few of the ways to find these relevant people involve religiously looking through the newspapers to identify the key players. Be on an alert during conversations, as a name that could be of use might just crop up. You might just also ask people who you think can help you with these names.

The next step is to contact relevant persons individually. This is usually best done in writing. Send a brief letter about your company or your work, and ask for suggestions. Make sure you can express specifically what you liked about something you saw from this person, and let her or him know you would be interested in meeting at a specific conference or group meeting.

Never ever flatter, gush, or extol their greatness, or put yourself down or be cute. Your letter should be concise, yet communicative, and very professional, and written in a way that doesn't demand response. Instead, try to word in a manner that communicates you would appreciate an insight, or a meeting at some convenient time. And don't worry if a response is not forthcoming, usually, your contact is swamped with work. But you can courteously introduce yourself when you meet your contact at conference or meeting in the future.

One-on-one meetings are a great way to get the ball rolling. When you're next at a conference, just go up and introduce yourself to a relevant contact. If you send your introductory letter first, it will make talking that much easier. Meeting people in these face-to-face encounters helps you in your network-building, and puts you in the public eye. So people always remember you, what you do and who you are. Especially when you follow up, when you connect to keep communications open with others, they will respond. And help you build a rich and successful network.

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