I have developed 10 All Star Networking Tips that will help you:

• Reframe your approach to networking as a place to give, not to get.
• Learn the nuts and bolts of networking to get motivated and organized in your networking approach.
• If you’re unemployed, these tips will help you reframe your employment situation to help change your employment status
• Learn from what master networkers do.
• And more…

You won’t get very far in this world if you can’t make eye contact, act confidently, and engage in an intelligent conversation punctuated with give-and-take, back-and-forth dialogue. Think about it: conversation is an essential element in nearly every relationship we have. If you can’ hold a conversation — and be a good listener — then very few will want to network with you. They’ll look for ways to cut short their interactions with you, which leaves a negative impression in their minds the next time you run into them — and are looking to do a “little networking.”

The ability to engage in small talk speaks well for you — and leads to engrossing exchanges that deepen a relationship. According to a study at the Stanford Graduate School of Business, the most successful students weren’t the ones with the highest grade-point averages. Those who were the most successful were the ones most comfortable with having friendly conversations with others, particularly strangers.

But you’re an off-the-chart extrovert, Joe.

You may say that because I come from an Irish-Catholic family of twelve, but that’s just so much blarney. Yes, the talking part came easy for me, but there’s another side of the equation, and that’s being a good listener. Staying engaged as an active listener is hard work but well worth the effort. When you’re a good listener, you improve your ability to win friends and influence others — and perhaps avoid a misunderstanding that can set relationships back years.

I may not be a perfect listener, but it’s a discipline that I’ve improved upon over the years. Every now and then I have to remind myself to be attentive when someone tells a long-winded story, but that’s like reminding myself to keep my head down when I stroke a putt.

Actively listening is just part of the discipline it takes to become a top-notch networker.

• When you attend a business function, community mixer, or social event, identify whom you want to network with. If possible, try to view an attendee list online or arrive early so you can study the name-tags on the welcoming table.
• Survey the room and make a mental list of the top ten people you want to connect with. Don’t save the most important person for last. He (or she) may depart early or be fatigued from the “meet and greet” process by the time you introduce yourself. Instead, fix your sights on meeting this important person first — before he gets too tied up with others.
• Consider every encounter and touch point as an opportunity to learn, grow, or even land a new customer. You never know who will become that golden client, which is why you should treat all networking opportunities just the same.
• Be sure to identify what objective you want to accomplish with each “touch” you make at an event. Are they potential clients? Referrals? Connections? Having an objective can help you budget your time.
• Understand the difference between a lead, a prospect, and a client or customer. This is another idea that will help you budget your time and make the most out of a networking event.

I urge you to study and review these fundamentals of networking and incorporate the 5/10/15 plan program into your daily work schedule, even if you’re currently unemployed. In fact, if you are out of work, networking can help land your next job, which is the topic of chapter 4 of Networking is a Contact Sport.

Are you a giver or a taker?

How you answer this will determine your success or failure to how effectively you network.

Networking is about one thing: People and your relationships with them. Your success will be based not on what they can do for you, but what you can do for them. If you’re old enough to remember, this kind of sounds presidential, doesn’t it?

You walk into the room (you look fabulous darling), the new hair cut, and that new suit, WOW! It makes you appear as though the attendees need to stop who they’re chatting with and politely excuse themselves to migrate swiftly towards you. You are the center of attention! You’re who every one wants to speak with. Is it because you have your pockets lined with fancy double-sided business cards and you can’t wait to ask everyone who they can connect you up with? Ah…NO.

Introducing probably the best networker in the country, his name is Joe Sweeney, and does he have some interesting insights and techniques on how to network.

His book, Networking is a Contact Sport, endorsed by an amazing array of superstars, including All-Pro Quarterback Brett Favre and good friends, New York Best Times selling author, Harvey Mackay and Jack Canfield, just to name a few that believe Joe’s way is the only way. Find out what his way is this week on The Steve Henry Show. Check the home page for times in your area.

** Joe’s Audio Tease **

*Posted on The Next Steve Henry Show blog*

That’s the Milwaukee Athletic Club’s motto. It’s a place where the local business community goes to break a sweat, take a sauna, and perhaps knock down a salad and an iced tea before heading back to the office. It’s a great place to run into business people of all stripes, which is why I love it.

Find an athletic club near you and use it not just as a place to get an afternoon workout in, but as a place to meet likeminded business people.

Find that place, then use these tips to help make networking easier for you:

1. Act as if you belong, no matter where you are.
2. Always offer something in a networking encounter — seek to give, not get.
3. Combine networking with one of your passions, which will make networking much easier for you.
4. Follow the Golden Rule: treat others as you would want to be treated.
5. Understand the value of clear communication, and always look people in the eyes.
6. Stay persistent.
7. Never be afraid to introduce yourself first.
8. Know your objective. Wait for the proper time, and then strike.
9. Don’t be infatuated with another’s success. Your uber admiration will show and lower your credibility.
10. Take time to cultivate relationships, which is the heart of networking.
11. Be a great listener and ask open-ended questions. Remember, God gave you two ears and one mouth, so use them in proportion.
12. Treat service providers — maids, parking lot attendants, and bartenders — with the utmost respect, and always over-tip breakfast waitresses.
13. Understand the difference between real self-confidence and artificial confidence.
14. Sometimes you need to fake it until you make it.

*The tips above are a recap from a chapter in Networking is a Contact Sport

Do this too many times, and you’ll be dismissed asa pompous, full-0f-himself bore.

Pay attention to how long you’re holding on to the ball, and then toss the ball back in his direction, which signals it’s his turn to talk. In time, he’ll toss the ball right back to you.

That’s what the art of good conversation is all about.

In networking, listening is about hearing more than what someone is saying to you.

In networking, being a good listener is about four important things:

1. The words a person is speaking.
2. What they are really saying beyond those words.
3. The degree to which they believe they are being heard by you.
4. The ability to get to know people by asking good questions.

Listen to others. Listen to the market place. Listen to your intuition. When you are truly listening, you will discover more opportunities to help people and more meaningful ways to make a difference and deliver what they need.

In this day of smartphones, when you’re “accessible” 24/7, keeping up with the blizzard of e-mails and phone calls each day is like shoveling sand at a beach. Never-ending on some days.

But how responsive you are to other people’s attempts to reach you will determine your success at networking. I do my best to return or respond to all my phone calls and e-mails within twenty-four hours, and I think I’m pretty good at it.

After all, isn’t that how you would want to be treated?

For more networking tips, join my “Allstar Networking Gym”!

Some of the tools/services below are free, and some are paid. ALL of them can help your business be more successful in 2012. Check them out: