Can Anyone Be Good At Networking?

Can Anyone Be Good At Networking?
Here is an excerpt from my upcoming book, Fortune is in the Follow Up®, which teaches business owners 5 POWER Strategies on how to grow their business. This is from the bonus chapter titled, The Power of Networking: 5 Simple Strategies to Make Money. I also use this information in keynotes and breakout session presentations.

Can anyone be good at networking?
Many people have the mistaken notion that only extroverts can be good at networking. If anything, the opposite may be true—introverts have the inside edge on networking. Think about it, extroverts get their energy from being around other people, and introverts get energized from being by themselves. Neither is better than the other. However, because extroverts like being around people, they approach networking differently than introverts, and this may cause a problem for extroverts when it comes to networking.

Can’t tell if you are an introvert or an extrovert? There are all sorts of wonderful tools and assessments available to help you determine which you are. However, the quick and easy way is to give yourself an assignment to spend 3 hours alone in your home or office doing a project without interacting with anyone else. If you are fine about this and get a lot done and afterwards feel great, then most likely you are an introvert. If, however, you spend the first 15 to 20 minutes on this project and then find yourself wanting to call, email, or connect with someone, you are most likely an extrovert. Want help figuring it out? Contact me directly at hsloss@heidisloss.com

Smart introverts know that networking means being around other people and that this can be draining–they need to approach these events with a plan. While extroverts approach networking with confidence and ease–they get energized from being with people–they usually figure that they can “wing it” w/o a plan.

What happens when you work on something without a plan?
Often, it means that what you want to accomplish does not get done. By approaching networking without a plan or a strategy, extroverts can end up being less successful at it than introverts. The bottom line is that everyone needs a networking strategy if they are going to use networking in their marketing plan.

How can I make the most of my networking?
Marketing expert Leah Grant shares a wonderful concept in which she explains that business owners should “Think of networking as being like Rapid or Speed Dating. In which two people have a few minutes to determine:
1) if they serve the same target market,
2) if they provide complimentary products, and
3) if they like one another enough to go to the next step.
Then one of you must take the next step and ask the other one out on a business date or the prelim work was a waste.”

For information on how to have Heidi present her business back to basics in your office, at your conference or to your organization, check out: http://www.heidisloss.com/speaking-topics/