Melanie, thank you for your input. THIS is what networking is about - collaboration!

I made a few changes to avoid any further confusion.

To keep congruent with the title and thesis, I have maintained the what NOT to do tips at the end.

I stand by them - do these things and your network will not grow! :D

Thanks again to all of you who have taken the time to read and comment. VK

Wow, thanks for all these great comments! I had no idea this would strike such a chord.

To those folks who asked about the "tips", these are what NOT to do if you want to succeed in creating a network. I wrote that as a bit of a tongue in cheek example of a few other Networking No-No's I have been exposed to (some quite recently).

My overall point is this; regardless of whether you can immediately do business with someone or not, the whole point of networking is to create a relationship.

You NEVER know what that relationship will yield. It may not convert to dollars in your pocket, but you will never be harmed in business by having too many relationships - and that means more than just a Rolodex full of cards.

You may only have a core group that you refer from, but why not have options? Just because you know one person with a particular expertise that you refer, they may NOT be a fit for all of your contacts - personality enters the equation. It pays to have an additional trusted resource.

If you can successfully refer your client to someone they are happy with (whether it generates immediate profit for you or not), it can make you their hero!

If nothing else, there may come a time when you have a question for someone outside your core group - and having a trusted professional who will let you pick their brain has an immeasurable value in itself.

To sum up this manifesto, I think networking is about what I can do for YOU first, as well as how we can help each other. And if you have read this far, I commend and thank you!

Thanks, Dan and Lisa! I could feel the love immediately.

You know, I was insulted for a nano-second, but a marketing coach I really admire and respect (Ronnie Noize) talked about a similar event happening to her once.

She is the one who encouraged me to write about this! She's good at helping people turn challenges into advantages - and I have already gotten a lot of mileage out of a potentially soul crushing business rejection story!

:D