Networking at Events

I attended the Massachusetts Conference on Women a few weeks back and met an amazing number of successful women. Women who have started their own businesses, have written books and/or been published in national publications. They're also interested in giving back to women as they did on some incredibly powerful panel sessions, i.e. the last one I attended was on Legacy - What Do You Want to be Remembered For (something like this).

Liz Lynch was one of these women and her company is the Center for Networking Excellence LLC. Her books 102 Secrets to Smarter Networking and I'm watching fascinated as to how she stays in touch with the people she met at the conference. She's using a "7 Days to Smarter Networking e-Course" where she sends out a daily email with some networking hints.

Here is a recap of today's lesson (almost feels like I'm back in school):

• Arrive early as that is when the energy is highest. With just 15 minutes you should be able to make 3 to 4 connections (maybe I'll do better after writing this).
• Eat beforehand as it's awkward to shake hands and ex change business cards when you're also juggling food plus a drink.
• Bring business cards to build your professional image. I actually keep extra packs of 25 or so in my car, my husbands car (finally) to avoid running out of cards. If you don't have business cards yet, you can get free ones at Vista Print.
• Wear clothing with pockets to make it easy to reach in and get a business card. I keep my cards in a rubber band in my right pocket, and then cards I receive are easy to keep separate
• Project a positive image as Liz says "Winners are drawn to other winners."

Always remember that networking is about building relationships for mutual benefit. I try to tell women that are nervous about going to events alone, to simply go up to someone who is standing alone and introduce yourself. By focusing on helping someone else, you'll forget to be nervous yourself.

Comments

[networkingexcellence]

Tina,

Glad you're enjoying the tips. More to come!

Cheers,
Liz

[Tina]

Liz, Thanks for your encouragement as I think I can learn a lot from you. I'm still trying to set up my Amazon associate web page and then your program. I also see that you're using several different web sites that are tightly focused - just haven't had time to think through the value here but I'm sure it all makes sense.