<ol><li>Be prepared&nbsp; -There are certain tools you need to have with you:&nbsp;&nbsp;Professional&nbsp;Looking business cards (homemade is only okay if they look professionally done);&nbsp; Pen and note pad in your purse, or for the guys 3x5 business cards in your pocket;&nbsp; An idea of who will be there and what they do.&nbsp; (we'll get back to that).<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Be prompt - I understand that things come up now and again.&nbsp; Trust me, I use to be the queen of fashionably late.&nbsp; That is until a friend told me &quot;being late is nothing more than a statement that your time is much more valuable to yourself than the person you leave waiting&quot;.&nbsp; Ouch!&nbsp; So if you are late and cause disruption, that can easily be translated by the entire table that you find your time more important than theirs.&nbsp; That is not a good thing.<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Dress for success - Never, never, never wear jeans to an event.&nbsp; I always say if you do not know how formal the others will be dressed, business casual is usually pretty safe.&nbsp; If I am going to&nbsp;an event where a lot of the attendees are going to be business professional, I am wearing no less than a jacket and slacks.&nbsp; Remember you only have opportunity to make a first impression.&nbsp; I never want to feel outclassed as soon as I walk in the door.&nbsp; How will I come accross confident if I am self-concious about what I have on.&nbsp;<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Have a &quot;How can I help you&quot; attitude.&nbsp; I don't know about you, but when someone hits me with the hard sell the wall goes up.&nbsp; I remember going to a meeting once and someone said to me, &quot;You know I can help you lose weight&quot;.&nbsp; Wow, are you kidding me?&nbsp; I wanted to say to her, yeah but there is no cure for ugly!!!&nbsp; I also went through a period of time where I was stalked by a make-up consultant.&nbsp; If people are interested in working with you, they will let you know.&nbsp; I like to look at the list of attendees, and have good marketing ideas for them.&nbsp; People always love new ideas.&nbsp; If you show an interest in their business, they may reciperocate that.&nbsp; If not don't worry about it.&nbsp; Kindness has it's own rewards.<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Be considerate of others - Now I don't know about you, but I love to joke around.&nbsp; In the past I&nbsp;would found myself in many situations where I realized what I said was offensive to someone, only after it was too late.&nbsp; The damage was done.&nbsp; Although&nbsp; it was very embarassing at the time, I learned a&nbsp;valuable lesson. &nbsp; When we joke around we are only trying to be funny. But if you are offensive, people might be afraid to refer business to you because they are unsure what you might say to the referral.&nbsp; The other thing I have seen is when someone is trying to speak and someone is constantly interrupting.&nbsp; If you do that the message you might be sending is &quot;what I have to say is much more important.&quot;&nbsp; On that same note, be a better listener than you are a talker.&nbsp; You will leave a much better impression if people come away feeling like you care about what they had to say.<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Be upbeat - No one likes a sour puss.&nbsp; Never never never start spilling out your heartaches and trials in life.&nbsp; The key is making people feel like they are happy when they are around you, not depressed.&nbsp; Sarcasm can also send a negative vibe.&nbsp; We all need a shoulder to cry on from time to time, but not at a networking event.<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Follow-up - It is amazing to me how many times I have gone to an event and told someone I was in need of their services.&nbsp; Then I never hear from them.&nbsp; Why are you even there if you are not going to follow-up with&nbsp; people?&nbsp; You do not want people to feel like it is a chore doing business with&nbsp; you.<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Do what you say you will do - If you say you are going to call someone, call them.&nbsp; If you say you are going to email them something, do it.&nbsp; Otherwise&nbsp; people will feel forgotten.<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Be a connector.&nbsp; You should never say &quot;I am not going to connect them with anyone, because they have not connected me.&quot;&nbsp; Play a little game with yourself.&nbsp; See if you can send someone else a referral before they send one to you.&nbsp; In the same token, if someone is constantly sending you business, you&nbsp;have an obligation to reciprocate.&nbsp; If they are not someone you are confident in referring clients to, then find another way to help them build their buisiness.<br /><br />&nbsp;</li><li>Be confident - If you can not be confident in who you are and what you do, why should anyone else?</li></ol><p>None of us are ever going to be perfect.&nbsp; We should never try to be phony, but we might have some areas where we either need to tone it down or step it up.&nbsp; The important thing is that we are striving toward perfection, that way we will always be bettering ourselves instead of the opposite.</p> 2008-05-03T05:16:23Z -22.5032 1235 853 true 4 11198 ten-things-to-make-you-a-successful-networker 24 2008-05-05T23:54:07Z 2008-05-05T23:54:07Z

<p>Networking can be&nbsp;an effective tool&nbsp;&nbsp;when done properly.&nbsp; As I have gone to several marketing events I&nbsp;have&nbsp;noticed&nbsp;what causes people&nbsp;to gravitate towards others.&nbsp; Follow these tips and your networking will be a success!</p>

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