For most of us, making a connection out of thin air sounds worse than pulling teeth. Walking up to someone we don’t know and striking up a conversation can be extremely nerve-wracking. And while I know that jumping into networking might be difficult at first, with practice, I can say with confidence that everyone can network and see results when they know how to network effectively.
As someone who works in the networking space and is constantly researching and writing about networking, I have found hundreds of different recommendations on how to network. How you network depends on you, what your goals are, and who you are networking with, but at the base of every networking conversation, there is almost always six key steps that will help make the most of your networking efforts. In this article, I’ll share my six networking stages and teach you how to use them to your advantage.
Making new connections takes hard work, and if you aren’t networking right, you may be spending hours making new connections, only to never see the results. To make the most of networking, you should always follow these six stages of networking: research, approach, exchange information, follow up, the ask, and maintain.
Before jumping into a networking conversation, it is crucial to research. This enables you to identify who you should connect with, what topics to discuss, and how you can help them. One of the most effective ways that I have found to reduce any networking anxiety is to go in as prepared as possible, and researching is the best way to do that.
Before heading into a networking event or conference, look into who will be attending and identify a handful of people you would like to connect with. Look at who they are, what they do, and their interests.
Use this information to plan a few talking points and a few ways in which you can offer to help them. This is especially important because you should never go into a networking conversation without knowing your personal value and how you can use that value to help others.
Once you have a good idea of who you will be talking to, it’s time to focus on your approach. This is an essential step because first impressions could make or break a networking relationship, but don’t let that scare you.
The best way to start a conversation is with an introduction. If you have a connection that can make an introduction, start there. This is much more effective than a cold contact. See if friends, family, co-workers, or someone you hit it off with at the event can offer an introduction.
If you don’t know someone who can make an introduction, that’s okay. Use your research to impress, and if all else fails, use an icebreaker question to ease into a conversation.
Now is time for the exit. But before you graciously end the conversation, ensure you have a way to follow up with your new connection. A new connection without any way to contact them is pointless.
The most effective way to exchange information is a digital business card. When you share your digital business card, your new connection can easily save your contact information into their phone or text or email it to themselves so they can follow up later. Once they have saved your information, they can then follow up with their information in return, which will automatically be saved to your smart address book, so you can easily manage everyone you meet.
Not only are new contacts consistently impressed with my digital business card, but I also love that I can include everything I want to share, including social media profiles, videos, and links to my website. And as an added bonus for those of us who aren’t always so great at remembering names and faces or small details from conversations, the built-in smart address book is the best networking tool I could have asked for. When I share my card with someone, they can follow up with their information, which automatically gets added to my address book, where I can add tags to organize my contacts and add notes to remember important information.
We take in so much information every day it is impossible to remember everything. Even if your conversation was amazing, remembering all of the details can be difficult or impossible for some of us. Within a few days of meeting your new contact, send them a quick follow-up while the conversation is still top of mind for everyone. Let them know you had a great time meeting them and enjoyed learning about their job or talking about the industry. This serves as a quick reminder of who you are and what you discussed, further cementing you into their mind.
Networking is often hated because of “the ask.” People who continually use connections to make asks only to never return the favor give networking a bad name. This perception of networking is why it is essential to carefully craft your ask, no matter how small.
Before you jump into your request, start a conversation. Catch up with them, ask how they are doing, follow up on a past conversation, and have a genuine conversation.
Now that you’ve gotten the conversation going, you can pose your question. Be clear about what you hope they will do for you, but never assume the answer will be yes. Once you’ve made your ask, thank them for their time, whether or not they are able to assist you.
Networking connections take time, and maintaining that relationship is essential. As I said above, you should never reach out to connections just to ask for help. Instead, try to reach out once a quarter to catch up. Ask how they are doing, offer them help, and use strong interpersonal skills to help maintain a strong relationship.
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Main photo by Kanhaiya Sharma on Unsplash
