Networking: More than the Business Cards

A great source of a lot of opportunities, whether for your business or for career development, is your own network. And the best time to build your network is long before you actually need it. A network is not something that you build and then leave after a while; it is something that you need to nurture for as long as you need it - which might be forever. But what is the best way to do that? Simply collecting and exchanging print business cards and attending every possible event may in fact expand your number of contacts but there is no guarantee that those contacts will benefit you in the future. To reap the purported benefits of networking, you must know how to make your network work for you, and how you can work for your network.

Experts suggest that the most universally accepted networking tip is this: Offer to help others first and they will return the favor. You can do this by offering a trade secret or referring a new contact to someone who could help him. The mere fact that you know someone who can potentially help a new contact is the network working for you.

To strengthen your place in the network, what you want to do is to gain the respect and the admiration of others. You can do this by acting on promises or going out of your way to help a new contact. The other side is when you fail to live up to expectations. It would become apparent that you are only after what you can get from the network. If everything you do is about what you can get for yourself then it becomes obvious that you are not there to help but to demand help. Call it self-serving but this attitude will get you nowhere. In fact, this is the easiest way to kill a budding relationship before it could even go to the next level.

Indeed, networking provides the opportunity for a better future, either for yourself or for your business. More than the exchange of business card printing, networking is something that you nurture for the long haul. Most of the time, people forget about establishing relationships just to make the sale but little do they know that this relationship is what will sustain you or your business in the future. The bottom line here is to focus on becoming known and trusted and the consequence, obviously, is a long and lasting relationship that is mutually beneficial to both parties.