10 Networking Tips for Introverts

An article from Internet Word Magic by Michelle Howe
As an entrepreneur you are encouraged to get out there and network. Make contacts and start building relationships by attending networking meetings and promoting your business.

This sounds like a good idea until you actually arrive at the networking meeting. Then the self-doubt and fear sets in. According to an article in Psychology Today, “48 percent of people identify themselves as shy.”  Is it any wonder that networking is difficult for many entrepreneurs?

Even if you don’t consider yourself shy, networking is a challenge.  How many of us really feel comfortable walking into a room of strangers and starting a conversation?  Except for those few souls who love to “work a room,” the rest of us struggle to fit in.  We revert back to that little kid on the first day of class at a new school.

But, it doesn’t have to be this way. You can learn to feel comfortable networking if you change your outlook. Here are ten tips to help you become more of a social butterfly:

1. Understand that most of the people around you are also feeling awkward. Shy people are focused on themselves and falsely believe that everyone is focused on them too. Wrong. They aren’t thinking about you; they’re thinking about themselves.
2. Give yourself time to feel comfortable in a situation. Get to networking events early, before the main crowd shows up. Strike up a conversation with a few people and build your confidence.
3. Listen to discussions before you jump in. Get a feel for the conversation and then contribute when it seems right.
4. Ask questions when you first meet someone and get them to talk about themselves and their business. Make them the center of your attention.
5. Don’t insist on talking about yourself and what you do. Go into networking with the attitude of gaining more information about the people in the room.
6. Don’t try to sell your products or services. Networking is for building relationships, not selling. When someone asks you what you do, that doesn’t mean she wants a sales presentation.
7. Learn how to describe what you do in 30 seconds or less.
8. Always ask someone how you can be of help to him or her and really mean it.
9. He who collects the most business cards or gives away the most business cards at a networking meeting is not the winner. Having a business card means nothing if you weren’t able to personally connect with that person.
10. Plan ahead and have a specific purpose when you attend a networking event. Rehearse the questions you want to ask and know where you want the conversation to go.

One of the best ways to build your business is to build relationships with other business owners. People want to do business with people they like and trust. Use a networking event as an opportunity to get to know people better and find out how you can help them grow their business. Your networking will be successful once you start looking at it as a way to help others.

© 2005 Michelle Howe

Selfless Networking Gets Results

 A friend of mine told me a story about how visiting a speed networking event produced to a highly promising business referral. He visited a speed networking event in a neighbouring town where he was hoping to launch his services. He spent about £10 on the speed networking event and another £25 on lunch.

One of the colleagues he met works for a youth enterprise scheme, which aims to give youngsters some experience of the business world by giving coaching sessions and seminars in schools. Now my pal is a former youth worker and, therefore, running a business mentoring session would be like rolling off a log, so he volunteered. He arranged to meet his new colleague, to go through the inevitable documentation that anyone who walks within ten yards of a youngster has to go through.

Three days before the meeting was due to take place, the youth worker called him and in the course of the conversation it emerged that she had dealings with company that he was considering approaching. He arranged for a meeting for him the very same day and a s a consequence he was able to secure a contract, effectively jumping the queue ahead of other interested parties.

Needless to say the product my friend is offering suited the needs of his new client far better than that of his competitor. Howe the whole rigmarole of cold calling sending a letter and arranging a one-to-one was avoided simply because of a positive referral offered by somebody to whom he had offered support.
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