Networking .. Not So Scary After All

The morning after a long holiday weekend, I dragged myself out from under the comfort of my covers to attend an Advanced Networking Workshop at the local chamber of commerce. I was tempted to hit the snooze button and continue to catch some zzz’s but that nagging voice in my brain had enlisted the help of a jackhammer that morning and kept pounding at me to get up. Believe it or not … I’m glad I did.

Maybe I felt comfortable because there were only about 20 people in the room or maybe it was because I was called out twice to practice a tactic before the class. Whatever the case, I loved it!

It got me thinking that maybe I’m not so bad at this after all. Just wishful thinking, of course, but it did raise my confidence a bit. I have to admit, I do enjoy meeting people and I like hearing about what they do. I think it really just comes down to me crafting my message a bit more to help sell myself better.

Here are some tips I took away from the class:

• Get your mood right before entering a networking function. As one of the instructors noted, on the way to an event she listens to upbeat music in her car, singing loudly for all to hear, which puts her in her happy place.
  
  
• If your handshake is rememberable, you are doing it wrong. Don’t be the Shaker, the Klingon, the Gripper or Queen Elizabeth. Get in and get out fast with a firm, confident handshake using your entire hand.
  
  
• Drink some extra water before the event. It wards off dry mouth and the potential for spitting. Drinking too much red wine can have the same drying effects.
  
  
• If there are a bunch of small groups, develop an approach (the slide in, the burst in, the team approach) that works for you and introduce yourself. Remember: Everyone is there to network; they will be welcoming.
  
  
• Don’t work the room while you are working the room. This is extremely rude. If you are speaking to someone, focus on them, not on who you’d like to talk to next.
  
  
• Keep in mind that just because you may have ruled someone out as a potential customer doesn’t mean they don’t know someone who could use your services.

Happy networking!

Forever doomed by nerves and dead plants?

My life feels like one big research assignment. I am currently conducting two experiments (insert mad scientist laugh here just because it’s fun).
The first is related to my freelance writing business and it’s something I’m deathly afraid of – networking. I believe I’m flat-out no good at it. My tragedy is two-fold. In my constant state of nervousness when speaking with a stranger, I tend to keep the conversation one-sided – meaning all about them – that I never give them the opportunity to inquire more about me. Or I just never find the right moment to tell them what I do except to say “I’m a freelance writer,” which usually elicits an “Oh” response and nothing more. And, the final scenario, which entails exchanging business cards with everyone I come in contact with but making no real connection with any of them. In the end, I wind up frustrated, tired and soaked (yuck!).

The problem is, I do have a business and I want and need to be promoting my abilities, but when I hear networking event I immediately shy away. So, I’m working on it, hence experiment number one where I’ll make an effort to get out there and then share my experiences, the good, the bad and the downright embarrassing, so others may learn from my mistakes and (hopefully!) share in my successes.

The second experiment is something I’ve been contemplating for a while now – starting a vegetable garden. You must understand, I have absolutely no green thumb. I’m embarrassed to admit, but I even killed a cactus once obviously from just plain neglect. My husband is a certified and well-educated horticulturist who finds humor in my attempts to keep all-things-green alive. While he’s spouting off long Latin names, I can only stare back in utter confusion, my brain still trying to wrap itself around the difference between an annual and a perennial. So, I’m working on this, too.

Fingers crossed … maybe by year’s end I’ll be a networking hound and a plant extraordinaire! I’m an optimist, can you tell?