Everyone is guilty of leaving the office unprepared – you forget your cell phone and leave your business cards on your desk. Networking is an effective and easy way to build your career, and creates lasting social relationships with people - people who could be your future clients.

Even a small mistake can set you back. Before you leave your office, remember to avoid these common networking mistakes when you meet people. It could be the difference between losing or gaining future business.

#1 Forgetting your business cards – This has happened to everyone. You’re running late and you forget to bring your business cards. When you attend a networking event without your business cards, you look unprofessional and unprepared. Always replenish business cards and keep them in an easy-to-carry business card holder.  A polished-looking business card grabs people’s attention fast. As a result, they’ll check out your website or contact you for more information.

#2 Eating and drinking while networking – If you attend events that serve alcohol, limit your alcoholic beverages or avoid them altogether. When networking at social functions, try to avoid eating and drinking while networking. It’s awkward to juggle plates and cups while trying to shake hands or hand out business cards. It’s also rude and unattractive to talk to someone with a mouth full of food.

#3 Handing out an unprofessional email address – Handing out a funny or cute email address in your social circles is fine, but it’s inappropriate for potential business contacts. If you create an email account and use it for business purposes, make it sound professional. You want people to take you seriously.

#4 Dressing in appropriate clothing – A first impression is a lasting impression. When you attend business networking events, don’t dress down.  Wear business casual attire or professional attire (depending upon the particular event). You want to always come across as professional and the clothes you wear say a lot about you.

#5 Acting passive and not circulating the room– The point of networking is to meet as many people as you can at the event. Even though it’s easy to feel comfortable with one group of people, work the room. Act as if you are the host of the event and want everyone to have a good time – offer to get someone a drink or plate of food. This is a good ice breaker and makes a great first impression. Don’t be passive and sit on the sidelines waiting for someone to talk to you. Walk around the room and introduce yourself to different groups of people.

#6 Monopolizing a person’s time or conversation– Everyone has experienced that annoying person who traps you in a corner and takes over the conversation.  Do not monopolize a person’s time or conversation. The point of networking events is to socialize and mingle. It doesn’t mean latching onto one person for the entire evening. This is a sure-fire way to instantly turn off people.

#7 Coming across as a pompous know-it-all – Don’t be a walking sales pitch. Listening is just as important as promoting your business. To avoid sounding like a pompous know-it-all, ask other people questions about their business. Offer advice if appropriate. While it’s important to market yourself effectively, draw that line between self-promotion and bragging.

#8 Waiting too long to start networking – It’s a common misconception that you have to lose your job before you can start networking. Networking is on-going, and builds and nurtures relationships over time. It’s in your best interest to start networking TODAY. With this unsteady economy, it helps to have as many leads as possible in case you find yourself unemployed. Be proactive and don’t wait too long to start business networking.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Everyone has heard about The Secret, world-renowned book and movie that shows you how to attract what you want into your life. As you immerse yourself in busy, frantic schedules you sometimes don’t have time to stop and breathe. When you first meet people, you might walk away from a conversation because you think that person was rude and dominated the conversation.

Do you realize that the person you met is a direct reflection of who you really are? You may be just as rude and dominating as the person you just met.

Have you ever been in a bad relationship and wondered: how did I end up with this person? This is not the person I wanted to attract. However, you did attract that person.
The laws of attraction are simple – who and what you attract is WHO you really are. This same principle applies to networking and how you can attract that perfect client that resonates with who you are.  What you put out there to people is what you will get back in return.

Ask yourself the following questions:

•    Are you negative and critical?

•    Are you the first one to make crass, pessimistic comments?

•    Do you complain about your life and have a “poor me” attitude?

•    Do you feel that everyone is out to get you – customers, colleagues, etc.?

If you find yourself answering “yes” to these questions, then it’s time to re-evaluate your own attitudes and how you view yourself. If you approach life in a critical, negative way, you will attract negative and unhappy people into your business and your life.

Think about your current clients and customers.

•    What do you like about them?

•    What do you dislike about them?

•    Have you accepted clients that you didn’t like and felt they would be more hassle than they were worth?

Even though the economy is tough right now and you can’t afford to turn away clients, it’s important to listen to your initial gut instinct when you meet people.  Here are some easy rules to follow to attract positive, helpful people into your networking circle:

•    Do not surround yourself with people who bring you down or lower your self-esteem. Interact with positive, energetic people.  Feed off their positive energy which only fuels productivity. Being around negative, pessimistic people will only reinforce negative thoughts and destructive behaviors.

•    If you want to attract trustworthy clients and business partners, then practice what you preach.  Be a good role model to others and they will take your ethical lead.

•    Think more about others and less about yourself - show appreciation for the kind, caring people in your life.

•    List the positive qualities and traits you like in others  - send out that message by verbalizing the list out loud or writing the list on a piece of paper. Share that message to the world that you only want to attract positive people into your business.

Remember that you need to first make changes with yourself.  Stop blaming others for what you don’t have in your life.  If you are positive and happy, you will attract positive people into your life – the right people to help you achieve success!

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

Social media has created an Internet phenomenon and has taken online networking to a dynamic level. Do you ever wonder why social media is so successful? It’s viral and it spreads quickly – just like word-of-mouth spreads quickly in offline networking.

When you meet people for the first time, take a few lessons from the social media gurus and apply their secret tactics to your offline networking strategy.

Secret #1- Social means both talking and listening. Listening is just as important as talking

When you interact on a forum or leave comments on a blog, you first read what the other person wrote and then you comment. If you constantly leave comments about yourself and don’t interact and comment off-topic, you will make a bad first impression.  Other members will ignore you.

This same philosophy applies when you are first introduced to people. You want to learn about them and ask questions. How can you learn about a person if you are constantly talking about yourself? Pay attention, listen and ask appropriate questions according to the conversation topic.

Secret #2- Widgets that instantly find thousands of followers don’t always give the best return on investment

Social media gurus always tout the benefits of handy widgets that automate Facebook and Twitter followers. Do you realize that the 5,000 people you just added probably won’t be interested in your products or services? You just wasted time and money adding people who don’t care about what you’re pitching.

Use this same social media approach when you attend networking events and collect business cards. Don’t just pitch your products/services to just anyone you meet. Talk to people who might actually benefit from what you offer. It doesn’t make sense to attend a networking event filled with seniors if you are a nightclub owner whose target audience is 21 year-old college students.

Secret #3- Freebies don’t always mean more subscribers, BUT worthwhile freebies make all the difference

Freebies don’t always mean instant success. Contests don’t always draw thousands of new members to your site either.  In the social media world, if you make your prize too abstract or unappealing, you will drive away visitors.

This social media tactic also applies to freebies offered in the offline world. If you attend networking events and conduct raffles or contests, make your prizes worthwhile for guests. Target your audience and get inside their heads. You want your guests to actually use the product or service you’re giving away.

•    How will this freebie benefit the contest winner?

•    Will this freebie make them contact me for more services or products?

Secret #4- Don’t scare away others with the “me me me” syndrome

If you start every blog comment or tweet with “I did” or “I want” then you are headed down the “me me me” syndrome path.  Social media is all about helping others. Being an expert in your field doesn’t mean acting like an egomaniac.

If you start every networking conservation with “I” you will be met with glazed over expressions. Don’t be surprised when people make excuses to leave the conversation. Remember the “social” in social media and apply that to your offline conversations. Social means give and take – social doesn’t mean a one-sided, it’s all about me conversation.

Secret #5- Always use professional Net-iquette

Don’t come across as rude or condescending in your Facebook or Twitter updates. You never know who will come across your updates in the cyber world, and how it can come back to haunt you.

This tip should always be applied to offline networking. Always remember to practice professional, ethical etiquette whenever you meet new people. Think before you speak, and remember that you represent your company/business. First impressions make a lasting impression, so always put your best face forward.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

As a business professional, you bring different talents and personalities to the table when you meet people. However, not everyone has an outgoing personality and sometimes feel lost when faced with networking (especially amongst large groups of people). However, these easy steps will help you successfully network at social functions and business events.

•    Keep it real – The main ingredient to successful networking is to be genuine and authentic. People can spot a fake immediately. The only way to build trust and rapport is to keep it real and be honest.

•    Prioritize your networking goals – Ask yourself what you want to accomplish when you network in particular groups. Some networking groups lean towards education/learning purposes. Define what meetings/groups will help you achieve your particular business and/or networking goals.

•    Know your business inside and out – Have a clear understanding of your business and how your services and products help others. You need to articulate clearly what sets your business/company apart from your competitors. This is very important in referral-based businesses such as real estate. This is essential when you belong to a new group and have to give your “30 second” introduction about your business.

•    Volunteer for organizations – Volunteering for a position in a networking group is a great way to become involved.  It’s also a great way to give back to a group/organization that has helped you, or has helped the community.

•    Visit networking groups that catch your interest – You don’t have to join every group, but it helps to visit groups to see if they are a good match. If you have friends or colleagues who belong to certain groups you like, ask them if you can be their guest at the next meeting. When you visit groups, ask yourself the following questions: Is the group supportive? Does it fit your industry/business scope?

•    Ask open-ended questions during meetings – A key trick during group meetings is to ask open-ended questions.  Open-ended questions address the following: “who, what, when, why and how.” These questions also engage other group members in a lively discussion (as opposed to just asking yes or no questions). It also makes group members feel important, and shows you are really interested in their opinions and feedback.

•    Become a viable resource for others in your group – Offer suggestions, advice and be looked upon as a viable, informative resource in your networking group. When people look to you as an expert in your field, you become more visible and they will turn to you for help (which equates to more referrals and business in the future).

•    Always follow through on referrals – No matter how busy you are, it’s important to follow through quickly and efficiently when you receive referrals from other group members. Remember that your actions are a direct reflection of the person who gave you the referral – don’t let that person down. It’s also seen as professional courtesy and respect, and further builds your credibility as a member of your business networking group.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

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There is more to networking than being at every single event out there.  Once you meet people you must devote time to making these relationships grow into something meaningful.

Running around looking for more and more people to meet is a waste of time, money and energy.  Instead, after attending several events, you should be focusing on creating a worthy relationship with the contacts you already made.

Good business networking requires stopping at the right time.  You must look at what you have, prioritize it, organize it, select it, and spend time building credibility and profitability.  These two only come after a closer and deeper relationship has been created, and constant nurturing between the parts is given.

Normally, professionals find it hard to stop networking because there isn’t a reliable measurement system that assures them that a certain referral tactic is really working unless they close an immediate sale, thus, they continue to fish as much as possible, only to never evolve.

Seldom, the worth of building relationships is taken into account, because it almost never happens, even though this is the real purpose of networking: to meet people and create relationships that can get you new customers in the future.  These contacts may never buy from you; their value lies in whom they can bring to you.

In regards to business networking, you can sin both ways: by attending too few events or by going to too many of them.  In some situations you may be asked to attend weekly meetings, but this is so you can build relationships with the group members, keep up with the variety of products and services they offer, and pass referrals to others.  In any other case, you are wasting both your time and others’.

Surely you can see how counterproductive it would be to get more referrals than you can manage, as each one takes time, money and lots of energy.  To keep a strong and productive relationship, you must meet your partners on a regular basis and produce good referrals for them, even if you have to neglect your business.  Imagine what condition you will be in if you have to do that for a large number of contacts!  It is humanly impossible.

So, as it goes for most of life’s situations, center on quality, not on quantity.  Think of three strategic partnerships per year, sort them by importance based on your goals, and divide your time between them accordingly.  Measure and keep track of the results, and never promise too much.

The worst you could do is to neglect a business relationship; in that case, it is more beneficial to never start it in the first place.

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

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If you are in a business that requires someone to buy a product or service, you obviously possess a certain level of self-confidence when dealing with people, or else you would be doing something different.  So, even if you are not the most outgoing person around, you are capable of creating good relationships and expressing your ideas.

In order to be a good networker you must be a good listener, and shy people are just that.  Normally, extroverted people lose themselves in their talk and do not give space to others to express themselves.  You are not the only shy person out there, and all of you can still count on business networking as one of the best ways to promote your company.

You may think that because you are a shy person you are not good at starting conversations, when in reality, shy people are the best in the aspect of networking that is vital for creating meaningful relationships.

You see, there are two sides to networking.  First, you meet people and you tell them about yourself.  Here is where the extrovert can be better than you; however, here comes the second part, listening to the other person.  Extroverts love talking about themselves, but introverts excel at listening and asking questions.

Have you heard the proverb: ‘God gave you two ears and one mouth so you can listen more than you talk’?  Good networking is about asking questions and getting to know the other, because once you know him or her, it becomes very easy to meet their needs.

Thus, if you are a shy person, that is not an excuse anymore.  If it is difficult for you, there are many techniques to help you get started.  For example, if you just feel you can’t walk up to someone at a business networking meeting and introduce yourself, volunteer as an ambassador for that event, in that case, it is very natural for you to approach people to welcome them and say who you are.  In no time you will be enjoying a conversation with many of the attendees.

You can really learn to network, no matter how social you are.  There are zillions of training seminars and workshops to teach you how to network the right way, and once you learn how to overcome your shyness in a comfortable way, your confidence will grow and you will be meeting people and networking the night away!

If you liked this article, tell all your friends about it. They’ll thank you for it. If you have a blog or website, you can link to it or even post it to your own site (don’t forget to mention www.meetingwave.com as the original source).

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“Knowledgeable people know facts.  Successful and prosperous people know people.”  John Demartini

Networking has been recognized by many business leaders as one of the best ways to be successful socially and in business.  It has been described as the highest form of service; people getting together to help each other for the benefit of all.

For someone who knows about networking, it becomes an inexpensive marketing tool, assisting him or her in getting new contacts, meeting the right people, finding a great job, or discovering new ways to be the best.

Business networking is an attitude, a way of seeing life that helps people relate in a new way to other people and to the resources available.  Remember the saying: “It is who you know, not what you know”?  It is absolutely true, and networking is the proof.

It has been proven that a referral is 80% more efficient than a cold call, that over 70% of jobs are secured through networking, and that for most people who have more than 250 contacts on their lists, hiring costs are virtually null.

So, what is the secret behind networking?  How do you make it work for you?  Very easy, help others succeed.  When you do this, people will look for you.  Here are some tips to improve your networking skills, increase your contact list, and become stronger professionally and personally.

1.    Help others meet their goals.  If you help them, they will help you back.

2.    Host some networking events and make sure you meet everyone there.

3.    Hand out business cards to everyone.

4.    Keep in touch and follow up with calls, assistance and appropriate gifts.

5.    Be grateful for any help you receive, acknowledge the giver appropriately.

6.    Decline events that are meaningless to your goals, but do it politely and with class.

7.    Ask for help in a direct but courteous way.

8.    Request advice from your new contacts as to who could help you with a specific project or idea.

9.    Become a member of professional organizations that promote networking and skill development.

10.     Become a renowned networker with a valuable and respected network.

Today, networking is recognized as a lifestyle, as a way of doing business and as a way of helping other people reach success.  It is a direct way to care about others and support them, creating long lasting relationships, quality connections, and even friends for life.

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to your site or blog and forward this link to your friends. Have a great day!

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You’ve just started your own business and have arranged to meet up with a large group of professionals in the same field. Your goal? To network and make as many good contacts as possible - these future relationships could be vital to your business’s growth. Before you set off for your event, you’ll want to revise some good business networking practices. Here are some of the most common mistakes to avoid:

1. Forgetting Your Business Cards
You’ll want to exchange as many business cards as you can. If you forget yours, you’ll appear unprofessional scribbling your details on pieces of scrap paper. Instead, a well-presented business card will convey a lot about you - those who take yours will be encouraged to look up your web details or contact you again via the details supplied.

2. Not Being Polite and Courteous
People will want to know what type of person you are. If you can be considerate and polite, even when things go wrong, e.g., when you have bad service at a restaurant, this will speak volumes about your character. Avoid being negative about anyone or anything, even your competition. A person who is positive about things is a more attractive person to be around.

3. Not Watching What You Eat and Drink
The best advice when drinking and eating is to do as little of it as possible when networking. Consuming too much alcohol can quickly start to cloud what you say and how you appear to others. Also, it is never easy to juggle plates of food, shaking hands, swapping business cards and smooth conversation while you are eating. Try and eat something before an event if you can - even if it is at a restaurant, you can order something to nibble on rather than to appease your appetite. And be aware that it is rarely attractive to talk with you mouth full of food.

4. Not Being Prepared for Casual Conversation
When meeting people for the first time, there are likely to be some lulls in the conversation. Have a few interesting subjects on hand to help revive a conversation again. Watch or read the news the day before your meeting, or browse through magazines related to your field - then bring up something you think might interest someone else or be good for discussion. Avoid controversial subjects like politics or religion.

5. Getting Stuck with One Group of People
It’s easy to find a group of people you feel comfortable talking with, and you might feel reluctant to keep working the room. But don’t let your goal of networking slip out of your focus. Try and pretend the event you are at is something you are hosting and make yourself move on and greet and talk to more people. Perhaps offer to get your new group some drinks or offer them a plate of appetizers - these tricks make good first impressions.

If you enjoyed this article, please feel free to post it to your site or blog and forward this link to your friends. Have a great day!
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