Your net-worth is a function of your network.

Networking is everybody's business. It has gone beyond mere hobby. It is a serious business. So serious a business that no position you will ever attain in life that you would not need to meet new people, exchange ideas, learn from them and see how what you pick from their experiences and views could help improve your life and career.

Be you a CEO, a student, a start-up entrepreneur, a salesperson, a marketer, a job applicant, networking is not taught in school but it is very crucial to your current and future endeavours. Having established that, what is your motive for networking? What is always on your mind when you have opportunity to meet new people at various gatherings?

Now is the time to check yourself and be sure you are approaching networking with a positive mindset, not the self-centred attitude that is common among some folks. To flirt, eat and drink to stupour , to get a job or to book an immediate appointment should not be your primary reason to network. What is this guy saying?

If you go out looking for friends, for many years and after thousands of attempts, you may not find for yourself friends as good as you really wish. However, if you go out to help someone, you already have a friend. That is how networking should be approached.

"You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you." - Dale Carnegie

The obvious truth is we all network to better our lot. The not-so-good side of it is always asking 'what is in it for me?'. Some people are so pragmatic about it that once they size someone up and such individual does not seem to have what they want. they find means to turn the person down.

Much as we try really hard to be persons of success, could we try harder to be persons of value?

The expectation of majority of folks at a networking gathering is some immediate or remote benefits. Thus, if you go to such gatherings armed with ideas, materials, tips or links that are relevant enough to help those you meet, you will attract them all like a magnet. While they are there to get as much as they could get, you go there with some help for them. No matter how little, prepare yourself to add value to new people you will meet.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" - Ghandi

If you would like to see a change in attitude behind networking among people, let the change start with you. Just as this article is out to sensitize people that networking could be better with the aim of adding value to one another other than getting from one another, you could write, publish and promote helpful articles which you could refer to at such gatherings.

Depending on your industry, you could write articles that help clients or organizations identify prominent problems. Beyond articles that help identify common problems in your line of business, you could write articles that proffer solutions to problems that are synonymous with your industry. Your write-ups could be reviews of popular products or services. You could offer to garner users' opinions of some brands.

This already positions you as a problem-solver. When you meet new people in your industry, and you provide links to these articles, you have given them something already. Hopefully, they find one or two things to pick from your articles, you already registered with them a very good reason to get in touch with you later.

"Writing is the beginning of all wealth." -Benjamin Franklin

Going to networking gatherings with your business card is good, but, taking along copies of your book is better. Writing a book tells people how talented you are and how much of an authority you could be. When you have opportunity to address people, it is always of great advantage if you are sharing with them what you already wrote in your book(s). This tells your audience you are not telling them some random stuffs you stumbled upon somewhere.

For students, job seekers or those who might not be so much endowed to write and publish books. One or two copies of a book that has really touched you could come handy. Even if you cannot afford to give out as much, bringing up such books during your conversations could be helpful too. Make references to such book(s) and have at your finger tips how someone else could get the book in case a new person you just met would like to read the book too.

There are millions of ebooks online. Find those that are relevant to your calling. Read them and share with new people you meet. Since you are not bringing up the conversations in order to impress your new friends, they will understand from your body language that you are empowered with ample knowledge from various authorities. You never can tell what insight your conversation or recommendation could lead your new friend into.

REMINDER: Write a book. Give copies of your book to new contacts instead of mere business cards. If you cannot write and publish a book, read enough to be able to share with people you meet. Do not just tell them how great the book you read is, be prepared to help them get it or show them how to get it.

“A good speech should be like a woman's skirt; long enough to cover the subject and short enough to create interest.” ― Winston S. Churchill
Glossophobia is the fear of public speaking. Congratulations to those who are neither shy nor afraid of addressing an assembly strange heads. Consider your yourself very lucky when given opportunity to talk at public events. It is a secret networking tool.

Your voice, your composure, your carriage, your ability to carry your audience along is a strong indicator of your self-esteem and self-awareness. See every opportunity to give a speech or keynote address as an unpaid advert for your personal brand or business.

Whether it is your first time speaking in public or your 100th, a lecture at a university study day or a school project, if list of speakers included some very successful people in the field whom you admire or if it's just you, well-prepared or not, public speaking can be daunting. So how do you get from someone in the throes of a panic attack to a confident speaker?

(http://www.wikihow.com/Be-an-Effective-Public-Speaker) (http://time.com/3758692/become-good-public-speaker/)

"If you help enough people get what they want, you will get what you want". -Zig Ziglar

This is not so common but it simply means you are self-less. Develop genuine interest in helping people. Of course, you cannot help them to a meaningful extent if you do not know their challenges. By the time you probe into their matters, you have a good understanding of what they need fixed. Perhaps, you are not in the best position to render such help, do not feel unwanted. Be magnanimous enough to link up who could help solve your new contact's problem.

It sure looks like discovering an oil well and giving it out free of charge. But, you have made two new friends. You have added value to two new people. Two new people are aware of your willingness to make life better for others. If each of them refers you or talk about you to one person , you have grown a network of four persons already.

Think of the ripple effect of connecting people in due time.
if the direct beneficiaries of your goodwill do not reciprocate, you have earned some credibility which money cannot buy. When and where you will reap the benefit of this, you never can tell.

Giving connects two people, the giver and the receiver, and this connection gives birth to a new sense of belonging. - Deepak Chopra

What sense does networking make if you will not follow up?

Following up opens a new line of communication. 'Hello, how are you doing today?" sounds like a broken record though, it could toss open a can of worm. Just that minute your phone call rings, your text message gets delivered, your email is received, you do not know exactly what your new contact is going through or what critical need he urgently wants to meet.

You cannot afford to under-estimate the power of following up with a new friend. It shows you really value meeting such a person. Merely checking on them or asking for updates on things about your new contact s you discussed at the networking gathering could start a long-lasting relationship. Most people prefer doing business with someone they could trust. How do you gain someone's trust without a relationship?

As social animals, we tend to reciprocate every good act that comes our way to show we are not ingrates. Following up with him could prompt him to call you sometime soon. Feedbacks keep rolling in, one or two invites to other events could follow, your new relationship then flourishes.

Many a job seeker has failed to get the attention of decision-makers because they approached networking wrongly. A couple of working class people who want to change careers or jobs also have missed great opportunities by basically asking 'what is in it for me?". No matter how highly-placed the person you meet or intend to meet, no one is beyond help. No one is too big to be helped achieve one or two things, I suppose. if you have out-grown a helping hand, kindly call my attention and prove me wrong at this point.

Much as you need others to get a job, appointment, referral or whatever form of help from others, those whose favour you intend to win are human too. They need some form of help for their work, personal improvement or family life enhancement ideas. Go all out to be a friend, go networking armed with some help for your new contact. It is a win-win situation. Healthy relationship makes both parties better persons.

Network with this mindset, you will be glad you ever read this piece.


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