Effective Strategies To Networking

Motivational speakers often say that the easiest way to move up in your career is through networking. They often back it up with the cliche; “your network determines your net worth” or this other interesting one; “nobody cares about your certificate or what you graduated with, what matters is who you know and not what you know”. 

While all these are interesting theories and some have proven them to be true, what these folks always forget or intentionally ignore to tell you is that networking itself is an art and an expensive one that requires strategies to execute. 

I will tell you for free that networking itself is very expensive and it is an art that has to be mastered or else you will be seen as a hustler or a pest and people will tend to avoid you. Learn the strategies before you engage. 

The most important thing about effective networking is that for you to properly network, you need to learn to have an open budget, hence why it is expensive. For instance, most of the events or meetings where you expect your prospects to be are paid events; Some of their starting price is over 100k and there is no guarantee that the person you are hoping to meet there will even grant you the audience; if they are not paid events, you will definitely spend money to get yourself there.

I have hosted prospects and treated some to a nice dinner in expensive restaurants and years down the line I can tell you that it was a wasted investment. Not just me, if other business owners tell you how much they have invested in networking alone you will be amused. I remember someone I flew in from Lagos to Abuja and took him to nice spots with the hope that a business relationship would come out of it but nothing came out of it. The funny thing is some folks you hope to network with the thought that they are the right persons who make decisions in their organization will sometimes start asking you for help. 

One thing I have found out is that for you to network very well and for your networking to bear positive fruits you need some strategies and here are some strategies I know of that may be of help to you. 

1. Be ready to spend money; be ready to attend events, especially paid events. Be ready to host your prospect for treats, it works magic. 
2. If you are an introvert, you will need to come out of your shell. Networking is not for introverted persons. Learn to start a conversation and sustain a conversation, learn to compliment extravagantly and learn to take compliments with grace. 
3. You need to have some values you are adding because nobody wants to associate with a parasite, there must be something valuable you should be bringing to the table before people will grant you an audience. 
4. Research the prospect before you meet with the person. Find out what the person fancies; find out what helps the person to unwind; if it is football talk, politics or whatnot and gear your conversation starter towards that direction to get the prospect feel comfortable. 
5. Finally, look for a connector. It is always easier when someone introduces you to the other person that you have been looking forward to connecting with. I remember someone who had been sending me a bunch of emails and messages on LinkedIn on how he has been looking forward to meeting with me and working with me, I saw all of it but ignored them because I get tons of similar messages on a daily basis and I usually don’t make much of them but the guy found out that that we share a mutual friend together, he told the mutual friend how he’s been trying to connect with me but it has not been working, the lady who is the mutual friend sent me a message on WhatsApp and asked me to grant him an audience and I immediately did because there was a connector who made the introduction. It is always easier when someone else who is close to that prospect links you both up. 

All these are not guarantees that your networking will click or bear positive results but it will get you started on something.