The "work" of networking

OK, don't get distracted here. This is going to sound like the typical lead-in to a lot of jokes - "This guy walks into a bar ..." - but stay with it.

This guy - we'll call him Jack - walks into a networking event (See? You were warned). He doesn't recognize a single face. Uh-oh. What now?

Take a deep breath. Be cool. Jack heads for the first convenient distraction: the bar. That will eat a bit of time until there's a familiar face or two.

He gets a drink. Well, that's done. Getting a little nervous here.

The next destination is the food table. Jack's killed 10 minutes or so, and still no one obvious to talk with. How can he not know anyone? Mild panic starts to set in.

"I can't believe it," he thinks. "What am I supposed to do here? How long do they expect me to stay? Am I supposed to just wander around by myself in this crowd?"

So Jack does exactly that: Wanders around, his head on a swivel, desperately searching for someone he knows. Maybe he finds someone. Maybe he doesn't. Maybe his insecurity gets the best of him and he leaves early. In any case, he gets absolutely no value out of the event.

Get the picture? Jack doesn't know jack about networking.

Networking is the art - and yes, it is an art - of making new connections. It's about turning strangers into acquaintances, business contacts and maybe even friends. Like it or not - and here's where a lot of people get uncomfortable - networking is often about walking up to a complete stranger and starting a conversation.

Yet if you're in business, networking might be a lifeblood of your operation.

You see, the one thing they never teach in college is how most business really gets done. One could submit that this is a considerable failing of higher education.

Business is all about relationships. It's about knowing people. It's about personal trust between individuals. It's about mutual respect and, to use a somewhat hackneyed term, "likability."

Need an example? Ask any salesperson about the difference between cold calling and warm calling - where they have a personal contact within a sales prospect - and be prepared for descriptions like "night and day."

Networking is crucial to building relationships, and herein lies the conundrum: its practice really goes against human nature. People aren't programmed to walk up and start conversations with others they don't know. Didn't your mother warn you about talking to strangers?

Yet networking is, especially for small businesses, an essential part of staying vibrant. Understanding and implementing a few simple tactics can be the key to successful networking. We'll get into these in future posts. So check back soon to delve further into this practice, which many find daunting and others just mysterious.

Above all, pledge not to be like Jack. It's hard to be successful when, well, you don't know jack.