{"id":2291,"date":"2012-10-29T05:44:34","date_gmt":"2012-10-29T09:44:34","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2291"},"modified":"2012-10-29T05:44:34","modified_gmt":"2012-10-29T09:44:34","slug":"5-steps-to-smooth-networking","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?p=2291","title":{"rendered":"5 Steps to Smooth Networking"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?ssl=1\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-attachment-id=\"1433\" data-permalink=\"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/?attachment_id=1433\" data-orig-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-orig-size=\"300,300\" data-comments-opened=\"1\" data-image-meta=\"{&quot;aperture&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;credit&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;camera&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;caption&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;created_timestamp&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;copyright&quot;:&quot;&quot;,&quot;focal_length&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;iso&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;shutter_speed&quot;:&quot;0&quot;,&quot;title&quot;:&quot;&quot;}\" data-image-title=\"forbes\" data-image-description=\"\" data-image-caption=\"\" data-medium-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" data-large-file=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?fit=300%2C300&amp;ssl=1\" class=\"alignleft size-thumbnail wp-image-1433\" title=\"forbes\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?resize=150%2C150&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" width=\"150\" height=\"150\" srcset=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?resize=150%2C150&amp;ssl=1 150w, https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?w=300&amp;ssl=1 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 150px) 100vw, 150px\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2012\/10\/20\/5-steps-to-smooth-networking\/\">Networking<\/a> is an elixir. It\u2019s\u00a0the heart and soul of job hunting, career changing, and building your own business.<\/p>\n<aside data-position=\"4\">Who do you know who can help, advise, make an introduction?<\/aside>\n<p>So it goes. You must network online. You must network face-to-face. You must network in your sweats and in your Sunday best.<\/p>\n<p>You get it.<\/p>\n<p>Just do it\u2013wherever and whenever.<\/p>\n<p>But as tiresome as it is to hear that advice over and over and over again, it has the added benefit of being true, as Henry Kissinger reportedly once said.<\/p>\n<p>I was reminded of the power of networking recently when I was invited by the\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.dukealumni.com\/alumni-communities\/regional-programs\/groups\/washington-dcw\/womens-forum\">Duke Women\u2019s Forum<\/a>\u00a0in\u00a0Washington, DC\u00a0to lead a panel discussion with a terrific new novelist,\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.jyinkathomas.com\/JYinkaThomas\/Welcome.html\">Jessica Yinka Thomas<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Thomas\u2019s debut novel,\u00a0<em><a href=\"http:\/\/www.amazon.com\/Save-World-Austin-Adventure-ebook\/dp\/B005WKTVNU\">How Not to Save the World<\/a><\/em>, \u00a0has been selling like hotcakes, so I was delighted to meet her and all the other women who joined in for our lively session.<\/p>\n<p>It was not only a fun evening with smart Duke University graduates engaged in exciting careers involving law, medicine, journalism, and more, I made new connections, and, hopefully, over time, some new friends.<\/p>\n<p>I talked about my books, the writing life, my passion for finding work you love. I listened intently while the women talked about their work and aspirations. We bonded over our past experiences at Duke, but it\u2019s the future that holds promise. (<em>Continue on next page.)<\/em><\/p>\n<div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"header_userinfo\">T<strong>hen follow my five steps to smooth networking.<\/strong><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div>\n<div id=\"contentwrapper\" data-loading-spinner-url=\"http:\/\/i.forbesimg.com\/assets\/img\/loading_spinners\/16px_grey.gif\">\n<section id=\"abovefold\">\n<div id=\"leftRail\">\n<p><strong>Show up.<\/strong>\u00a0Say yes to invitations when humanly possible. Be prompt. Most of us like to slip in a little late and slide out early if need be. The best time to meet people is before things get in full swing. And when you arrive in a timely fashion, you\u2019re more relaxed and not rushing in the door.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ask questions.<\/strong>\u00a0Get outside of your own head and ego. You need to be interested in what other people are doing and willing to learn from them. I generally spend twice as much time listening, when I go to one of these events than I do talking. I look people directly in the eye, not over their shoulder to see who else is there. Sometimes I slip into hostess mode without missing a beat, introducing people I know to someone I\u2019ve just met. I get a kick out of connecting like-minded people.<\/p>\n<aside data-position=\"4\"><\/aside>\n<p><strong>Have a plan.<\/strong>\u00a0Try to meet three or four new people \u00a0and exchange contact information. When you give yourself an assignment, it keeps you engaged. I jot down a note afterword on the back of their business card that recaps where we met and something interesting we discussed.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Follow-up.<\/strong>\u00a0Not everyone you meet will spark. But for those who do, send a note straightaway saying how much you enjoyed meeting and proposing a future date to get together informally. I keep it low-key, but if I had a connection with the person and share some interests, I want to begin to build the relationship. Email is fine.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Meet and repeat.\u00a0<\/strong>Nurture relationships.\u00a0Networking is a progression of developing contacts slowly, but surely\u2026 over time. You build a trust by having shared experiences together be it a lecture, a casual coffee, or a lunch to touch base.<\/p>\n<p>I have deep professional connections that go back decades, and I keep adding new ones, like Thomas, the other night. \u00a0I pay careful attention to keep the relationships fresh. I \u00a0write a \u00a0note of congratulations when I find out someone has been promoted, or a condolence if they\u2019ve had a loss. If someone\u2019s in town, I set aside time to say a quick hello. I introduce people to one another if I think they might \u00a0have a synergy.<\/p>\n<p>That goodwill comes back to me in spades\u2013not always today, but one day. Members of my network send work my way. And sometimes they just pop me a note that makes me feel good about something I\u2019ve achieved. I love that.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>More fun from Forbes:<\/p>\n<aside data-position=\"4\">\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/pictures\/eeli45hiel\/10-things-to-do-when-you-lose-your-job-3\/\">ges<img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/specials-images.forbes.com\/imageserve\/0erjbe27aRe21\/176x176.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/pictures\/eeli45hiel\/10-things-to-do-when-you-lose-your-job-3\/\">Photos:\u00a010 Things To Do When You Lose Your Job<\/a><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2012\/03\/09\/how-to-lose-a-job-and-find-a-life\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/thumbnails\/blog_1185\/pt_1185_3897_o.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2012\/03\/09\/how-to-lose-a-job-and-find-a-life\/\">How to Lose a Job and Find A Life<\/a><cite><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.forbes.com\/kerryhannon\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/cache\/gravatars\/kerryhannon_40.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Kerry Hannon\" \/><strong>Kerry Hannon<\/strong>Contributor<\/a><\/cite><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2012\/06\/09\/more-things-to-do-when-you-lose-your-job\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/specials-images.forbes.com\/imageserve\/08Jx2rO4jK9j9\/176x176.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2012\/06\/09\/more-things-to-do-when-you-lose-your-job\/\">More Things to Do When You Lose Your Job<\/a><cite><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.forbes.com\/kerryhannon\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/cache\/gravatars\/kerryhannon_40.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Kerry Hannon\" \/><strong>Kerry Hannon<\/strong>Contributor<\/a><\/cite><\/div>\n<div><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2012\/09\/09\/are-senior-start-ups-the-answer\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/thumbnails\/blog_1185\/pt_1185_5044_o.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"\" \/><\/a><a href=\"http:\/\/www.forbes.com\/sites\/kerryhannon\/2012\/09\/09\/are-senior-start-ups-the-answer\/\">Are Senior Start-Ups The Answer?<\/a><cite><a href=\"http:\/\/blogs.forbes.com\/kerryhannon\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/blogs-images.forbes.com\/cache\/gravatars\/kerryhannon_40.jpg?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" alt=\"Kerry Hannon\" \/><strong>Kerry Hannon<\/strong>Contributor<\/a><\/cite><\/div>\n<div><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<aside data-position=\"4\">\n<div><\/div>\n<\/aside>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img data-recalc-dims=\"1\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png?w=640&#038;ssl=1\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"5 Steps to Smooth Networking\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Networking is an elixir. It\u2019s\u00a0the heart and soul of job hunting, career changing, and building your own business. Who do you know who can help, advise, make an introduction? So it goes. You must network online. You must network face-to-face. You must network in your sweats and in your Sunday best. You get it. Just [&hellip;]<\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"http:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-small.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top:5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"StumbleUpon\",\"Digg\",\"Reddit\",\"Bebo\",\"Delicious\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"small\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"5 Steps to Smooth Networking\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1433,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[20,59,6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-career-change","category-careers","category-second-verse-blog-on-forbes-com"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/kerryhannon.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2012\/05\/forbes2.gif?fit=300%2C300&ssl=1","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3YFQS-AX","jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2291"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2297,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2291\/revisions\/2297"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kerryhannon.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}