If you’re in business today, networking is probably part of your promotional repertoire. In general, networking has become a fact of doing business. Many professionals and small business owners contribute upwards of 75% of their existing and new revenue to networking. But it’s one thing to know you need to network and another to network well.

I’ll never forget the first event I had to attend one week after I moved to New York and took my new position with JPMorgan Chase. I took a cab to the Hyatt at Grand Central from my apartment near the United Nations in Turtle Bay (an area of Manhattan with a diverse population of diplomats and their families although not an area as well known as The Village or Chelsea). I finally located the function room, stood outside the door for a few minutes getting my courage up to walk in, which I finally did. After standing just inside the door for a short few minutes, looking around at the room full of financial executives from global corporations around the world, I promptly turned on my heels, walked out and went back to Turtle Bay.

I was paralyzed. I stared at the ballroom filled with suits who’s names I couldn’t pronounce, names with more trailing initials than would fit on a single address line in my ACT! database. My inner voice was screaming “What are you doing here?!” …and I didn’t have an answer.

We’re business people but we’re not all outgoing, life-of-the-party types. Learning the art of and getting the confidence to walk into a room full of strangers and striking up a conversation can be as overwhelming as creating the business itself.

What if you say the wrong thing? Worse yet, what if you walk up to a group and they ignore you? Lou Perrott, in his recent Inc. magazine article says the key to overcoming these networking fears – these psychological roadblocks – is to make a plan before you enter the room.

We talk about the importance of having a networking strategy and a plan for that strategy in Bold Vision’s Promotion Action program. But at the very least, you need to remind yourself of your goals and why subjecting yourself to such stress is a good thing.

Ask yourself:

1. What is my objective for spending xx number of hours attending this event?


2. Is this event the proper venue for this objective?


3. Who do I need to talk to here and what is the outcome I need from that conversation to achieve my objective?

Networking is an important tool for developing your business and it’s critical to a successful self promotion plan. Place the same level of importance on learning to network well as the importance you place on growing your business and you’ll see some pretty dramatic results.

For information about the onsite Promotion Action program or the Promotion Action teleclass check the Promotion Action page on the Bold Vision website.

Here is a list of a few different types of networking events and the pros and cons of each, depending on your objective for attending. Use this to help you with your next networking strategy.

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