WomenCo.

Networking - It's Not a Dirty Word

Featured Author:

Kerrie Halmi

Kerrie Halmi of Halmi Performance Consulting specializes in increasing women’s success in business through speaking, coaching and facilitation. Kerrie has over fifteen years of experience in the Human Resources field with such clients as eBay, Bank of America and Kaiser. She received her MBA from the University of Michigan and is certified in coaching with Corporate Coach University International.

Check out Halmi Performance Consulting for more information.

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More articles from this author:

• Managing Unhealthy Conflicts at Work
• Meetings: A Necessary Evil
• Risks… Necessary for Business Success!

What helps you get promoted, obtain more interesting work, and do better at your current job? Networking! It’s not a dirty word. It used to evoke images of smarmy sales people to me. However, I have come to learn that it is crucial to your success in business. Simply put, networking is growing productive business relationships with many people. Below are some tips to make you an even better networker:

1) View every situation as an opportunity to network. Understand that networking is an essential part of growing in your professional life. I’m continually fascinated by how people have met each other—two women at a recent networking event had met while walking their dogs.

2) Use tools to make networking easier. Take advantage of your alumni associations, trade associations and websites such as WomenCo.

3) Realize that networking is a two-way street. Understand what you have to offer people in your network. It might be introducing them to someone you know or sharing your expertise on a topic.

4) Most importantly: follow-up is key to successful networking. This separates the best networkers from the mediocre ones. After you have met someone, enter their information in your database and contact them soon. Keep in touch on a regular basis. Put it on your calendar to contact them regularly and send out some annual correspondence to everyone on your network list.

5) Once people get past the perception that networking is a chore, it can be seen as a fun activity. Even if you are good at networking, take one step this next month to improve it, ask someone to lunch who you might not have met yet, but want to get to know; go to that alumni event and follow-up with the people you met or do something as simple as checking out the WomenCo. community.