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12 Tips On How To Maximize A Networking Opportunity

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Joan Michelson

I could go to events every day these days.  With the proliferation of events, conferences and smaller meetings, we seem to live in perpetual networking mode.  It’s, frankly, overwhelming.

Women are especially advised to maximize networking to grow their careers and achieve significant, noteworthy accomplishments that make a difference.

On top of that, time is perishable.  An hour or a few days spent at an event means that you are not spending that time on another project, or even with your kids or at the gym.

So, how do you choose which events to attend? How do you maximize a networking opportunity?

How do we maximize networking opportunities – and even choose which events and conferences to attend?

  1. Choose strategically: Choose which events to spend your time at deliberately. Why this event? What’s your purpose in attending?
  2. What is your agenda for attending the event? Do you want to meet specific people who are speaking there?  Learn more about a specific topic? Get a sense of the latest issues and technologies in the field? “Be seen”?
  3. Who specifically do you want to meet? Prospects? Media? Potential employers for your next job? Potential recruits for a post in your company?
  4. What research do you need to do? Check their biography, their businesses and current publications. Check their LinkedIn profiles, what they have posted there and on Twitter, and on their websites.
  5. Book appointments in advance. Reach out to people you want to meet, either through their business email, or invite them to connect on LinkedIn and tell them you want to meet at the conference.
  6. What do you intend to talk about? If people ask you what you do, what are you going to say that’s relevant?
  7. What do you need to bring with you? Bring plenty of business cards for starters (I keep a back-up stash in my briefcases and suitcases in case I run out). Handouts? Links to videos or media kits?
  8. Prepare questions for these people. What do you want to know specifically?
  1. Take lots of notes – in sessions, from conversations, for report, for follow-ups.
  2. Get business cards and make notes on them. I put the date and event on them, and what we talked about or follow-ups, such as what I need to send them, or if I want them to be a guest on my show, for example, or if they spoke with me about a project.
  3. Seize opportunities. Meal times and breaks between sessions are great times to talk to people briefly.  Have something specific to say or ask, or compliment them on something specific in their work, or respond to what they spoke about in their presentation or panel.
  4. Keep a list of “follow-ups.” Make a note of who you need to talk to about what, what you need to send them, or who you need to introduce them to, etc.  Making this list makes it much easier to do your follow ups.

These events can be great opportunities, if you are strategic about it, come prepared and follow-up in a timely fashion.

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