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Heading off to another conference and dreading the schmoozing scene? It might help to know that networking is a critical element of a successful job search. In fact, there is a lot of truth to the saying, “It’s all in who you know.” In this articles we’ll highlight the key things you need to know about networking and how to use this skill to your advantage.

Many jobs, particularly high-level and executive, fill through word of mouth, rather than through traditional channels. A solid grasp of networking basics keeps you in the loop and helps avoid the urge to skip networking opportunities.

Network here, there, and everywhere

Conferences and seminars are great places to meet influential people, but making contacts doesn’t necessarily have to take place in hotel conference rooms. Day-to-day functions and events in your current job, as well as during free time, offer many opportunities to meet important people. An invitation you received to your neighbor’s holiday party could be the perfect chance to meet that CEO or HR manager living around the block. Don’t hesitate to ask others what they do for a living and reciprocate. If you’d don’t let others know about your career, you’re not making progress.

In this age of technology, your laptop is an invaluable friend when it comes to job searching. With a little Internet surfing, you will find an abundance of message boards and chat rooms that are industry-specific and provide not only the advice of other professionals, but also contacts that could prove useful down the road. Over time, networking helps you build a list of valuable contacts. Put yourself out there and see the results.

Networking is not a bad word

Some people dread the idea of networking because they equate it with “schmoozing” or “sucking up,” but it is simply a process of getting to know people. If you are friendly and good at making small talk in social and work-related settings, then your list of “Who’s Who” will grow quickly! Don’t stress yourself by the idea of having to be “on” and making a good impression.

Basic social skills will get you through your first few rounds of networking, and while you may not impress everyone you meet, you can avoid leaving bad impressions altogether by doing your best to make sure people remember your name. Rehearse your “elevator pitch” about what you do. This can help if you’re nervous or uncomfortable promoting yourself. What are the three most important parts of your career, yourself as a person? Having these things at your ready can go a long way in promoting yourself effectively.

Try sticking with these basics:

Relax. People can tell if you are nervous or anxious, but you don’t need to be - most of them are doing the same thing as you. Don’t get hung up on titles. For the most part, everyone is approachable, and if they aren’t, move on.

Be yourself. You know how to talk to people. Don’t over think it. Talk about whatever makes sense. Wander the room, hit the buffet, do what seems natural. Inevitably, a situation will arise where you can break the ice and start a conversation. There is always something to talk about, even the weather!

Make eye contact and smile. It makes you appear sincere and interested. If you come across as distracted, or let your attention wander, it will show and it is downhill from there.

Be polite. Put your best manners on display. Be a good listener and don’t interrupt. Avoid making rude or biased comments, and end conversations gracefully. If you’ve done the job right, you might even score a business card before you go.

Follow up. If you connected with someone and discussed the possibility of working together, follow up with him or her a few days later. Schedule lunch or arrange a formal meeting to discuss future endeavors.

If you leave a function empty-handed, don’t be discouraged. You win some, you lose some. There will be other opportunities to meet people and hone your networking skills. The key is to keep going. Each time you place yourself in a situation and are ready to discuss your career, your future, or your skills, you are opening up numerous possibilities for your future.

What is networking? Networking is a way to meet new leads, possible partners, idea makers, and/or problem solvers (â??potentialsâ??). Networking is a way to advertise your business and/or services. Networking is a way to expand your business, make deals, and make money!

A networking event is not a business card dumpster. In other words, you should not go to a networking event with the intention of dumping as many business cards as possible. The quality of a contact is far more important than the quantity. You do not want to shovel your business cards away or waste your time talking to somebody that has no chance of yielding any possible results for you.

Networking events can be dangerous. You would be surprised how many people go to these events thinking that passing out business cards constitutes effective networking. How is this different from passing out your business cards in front of a grocery store? The point is, you do not need to go to a networking event if all you want to do is pass out business cards. Networking events are your time to shine! Show who you are and what you and your company are all about.

Some guidelines should be followed in order to guarantee a successful networking event. First, DO NOT BE SHY! You are not going to these events to huddle in a corner and to hope somebody talks to you. This is not a sixth grade dance! Do not hide in the shadows! Do not wait for people to come to you. You have to be aggressive, but not pushy. Introduce yourself, strike up a conversation, and get the ball rolling.

Make sure you keep your meetings short. Although you are looking for quality, you can only do that by talking to as many people as possible. Remember, you are going into these events blind. Usually, you only have a general idea about the type of people that are going to be at these events. This means that you do not know their motivation level, their goals, their skills, or their business. As such, you need to meet many in order to benefit from the few. Keep your conversations short, sweet, and on point.

What should you talk about at these events? Logic tells you that you should pitch your business and tell everybody you meet everything about you and your business. I caution you not to do this. In these situations, you should use the restaurant metaphor. Think about it like this; when going out to eat, most people have an appetizer before they dive into the main course. Think about that in networking situations. Networking events are the time to give â??potentialsâ?? a small taste of your business. Your goal at these events is to build curiosity, wonder, imagination, and excitement. By doing this, you will see a large increase in your follow-ups.

You need to bring a little hardware to these events. Bring business cards, a writing utensil, and a small notebook or notepad. Talk to people before forcing your card onto them. Do not waste a perfectly good business card on somebody you feel will yield no results.

Lastly, but most importantly, be polite, approachable, and yourself. You could have a great product, but if people do not like you, they will not work with you. Make introductions easy, make the conversation interesting, and most importantly, be polite. Your reputation travels fast at these events. Be the life of the event and make sure people remember you!

The Principle of Connecting:
Most of us want to know how to connect better with others in relationships of every kind, including business relationships. We often feel the desire to connect, but sadly realize that our attempts have not truly been successful. However, we can all experience consistently satisfying connections when we understand the hidden dynamics by which they are ruled.

Connecting occurs when one is simultaneously intra-connected and inter-connected.
Intra-connection is the connection of one to oneself.
Inter-connection is the connection of with others.
These must occur at the same time, although the intra-connection is the foundation of inter-connection, and must be cultivated in order for connection to really take place.

Imagine that our attempts to connect with others are like an iceberg.
The tip of the iceberg represents what we say.
The foundation of the iceberg, the base that holds the tip above the surface of the ocean, is how we feel when we say what we say.
The feeling beneath the words provides an emotional current that gets infused within the words as they are spoken.
The reason why we feel as we do is the point of origin of the feeling that becomes infused into our attempt to connect.

A great majority of the time, people are not aware of the true reason that gives birth to their feelings. Because we mentally attach a reason to the feeling based on past conditioning and programming, that reason no longer reflects accurately who we are and what we desire in the present moment.
Interestingly enough, the tip of the iceberg is approximately 8% of the total formula of connecting. The remaining 92% are the foundation of the iceberg, the part that is underneath the water. Although we may not perceive this 92% with our five senses, we feel it through the multi-sensory dimension of who we are.

A great question to now ask yourself is “What is getting in the way of me being intra-connected?” As you ponder this question, here is a wonderful concept to embrace: You do not have to create connection with others. Such connection already exists. Therefore, your responsibility is simply to remove any emotional or spiritual debris that is getting in its way.

To express it in medical terms, we have become de-myelinated emotionally. Myelin is a substance that surrounds many vital nerve pathways within our bodies. It is like the insulation surrounding an electrical wire, functioning to assure that the electricity is only delivered to the place where we wish to make use of it. What we must do is re-myelinate the emotional pathways that conduct the natural, pre-existing sense of connection between our personal and social selves and our higher Selves.

In essence we just have to let go of whatever may be getting in the way of communicating from the standpoint of who we already are. As we do, we begin to notice that our sense of connection to others becomes easy to feel, and we conduct all our relationships within the shelter of that ease.

Want to know how to find people who will serve as walking, talking advertisements for your business? Then get into the international business networking world!

Indeed, an effective business networking is one where trust and relationship building is the key to linking together individuals to further extend the reach of your business and in the process tap a bigger portion of the existing market.

Below are some tips to help you do just that:

Keep an Eye Out for Potential Business Resource

Well, this shouldnt be too hard to do as practically every single person you meet whether in the office, at a luncheon, or in one of your kids school activities is a potential resource for your international business networking.

Of course, this translates to always bringing your business card with you wherever you go. Who knows? You might meet someone at a friends gathering that might turn out to be a valuable contact, although if you have to be precise about it, in international business netoworking, all contacts are valuable contacts.

Set a Goal Prior to the Event

The most important point of contact for those engaged in international business networking is an event where potential business resources will gather. As they say in international business networking,its not what you know; its who you know. Thus, finding contacts is the key to success in your networking business.

However, before you set out for the event that could change the face of your business, you need to figure out who will be in attendance. That way, you will know beforehand who you want to target and what you would like to take away from the event. This will help ensure that you remain focused on a specific goal and succeed in finding the right people who will be receptive to your international business networking idea.

Be Positive and Enthusiastic

Nobody likes to be rejected. That much is true. However, if you are too afraid to even try that you end up wasting the entire night away, then an international business networking deal is not for you. For this to work, you need guts and a great deal of positive energy one that people can feel every time they are around you. If you exhibit a lot of positivism and enthusiasm about your ideas, then it would be harder to resist what you have to sell.

Spend Time with People You Dont Know

In international business networking, its all about making contacts. How can you make contacts if you spend all your time with people you are already acquainted with? While it is okay to spend some time with people you know, you also need to meet new people whom you can introduce to your product.

The best form of advertising is word of mouth. There’s nothing new in that statement and few in business would disagree.

Unfortunately, what people fail to mention is that word of mouth advertising is also one of the hardest forms to get. It’s one of the few problems you can’t solve simply by throwing money at it.

People buy from people; usually people they like. It follows then that to benefit from word of mouth advertising, you have to get to know plenty of people and they have to like you.

One well trodden route to expanding your network of business contacts is to join a networking group. There are a number of well established networking groups which meet early in the morning over breakfast. By joining you get to know, and get to be known by, plenty of local businesses.

The idea is not to sell the group members but to educate them about what you do and the sort of referrals you would like so that they can generate referral business for you from their existing contacts.

It’s a very powerful model. Suddenly you no longer have to rely on the yellow pages or other business directories to find suppliers and fellow members will start to pass you business referrals. In theory at least.

Having been a member of such a group for over a year I highly recommend joining a breakfast networking club if you your business is one with a geographical focus. By this I mean that if your potential customers are within a few miles of where the meetings take place, breakfast meetings are likely to work very well for you.

To give you an idea of just how well they can work, my local breakfast club generated nearly a million dollars worth of business for its members in just 6 months. Most of this was for companies in the construction sector.

Unfortunately, my companies are sell professional services and target mid to large corporates both in the UK and overseas. Hence the post code (zip code) focused nature of breakfast meetings didn’t really work for me so I decided to start my own ‘Virtual Networking Group’ called the Ozone Business Network.

Virtual Networking sounds very high tech but all it means is that members of the group meet by phone and web as opposed to face to face. The meetings are run along similar lines to traditional breakfast groups but members can quite literally join the meetings without having to get out of bed. Since there is no need to travel, geography is irrelevant. You don’t even need to be in the same country to participate.

Most of our members are based in the UK but a lady who runs a language translation company in Holland joins every week. We’ve even had people join when on assignment in the Yemen.

Whilst the virtual meetings are very effective, there is no substitute for face to face meetings to really get to know each other well so once a month, we hold a traditional meeting in the evening so that people can ‘press the flesh’ and develop business relationships over a drink or bite to eat.

So does it actually work? Well, it’s early days yet. We’ve only been up and running for a few months but as word gets round we are getting more and more requests experience a virtual meeting first hand. In fact, after being covered in the UK newspaper The Sunday Times, we were inundated with requests for more information.

People like the way we retain some of the best ideas from traditional breakfast meetings but remove the need to travel thereby saving time, money and helping to protect the environment. Unfortunately nobody has come up with a way of vitalizing breakfast so you have to supply your own coffee.

We are always glad to hear from people who would like to join us but, to put it delicately, we need to ensure that we restrict membership to the type of person who would most benefit from our forum. Unlike many breakfast groups, we do not want to be all things to all people.

We are only really interested in having members who are relatively senior in their organisations and entrepreneurs who are interested in growing their businesses. We normally ask that members’ companies have been established for at least a year.

We chose this breakpoint to avoid what I call “Startup Syndrome”. Without wishing to be unkind to people just starting out (we all have to start somewhere) I have been to many networking events where people present themselves as fully formed companies but when you dig a bit below the surface you find they are one man bands with no establish client base and therefore no contact book to share with other members.

I am convinced that as business comes more international and travel becomes more expensive and time consuming, this is the way to go. Only time will tell.