Building personal powerful brands through networking

Director of The Networking Company and dubbed 'the Networking Queen' by clients said that once one understands one's unique personal brand, networking is the best way for communicating it to others. "Networking events are important. If one avoids networking opportunities or event invitations, one runs the risk of becoming invisible."

Networking is the vehicle for transporting one's brand to the world but there are a few things to note about networking before entering into it.

Networking pointers

It's about others - "People often make the mistake that networking is about finding and getting to know as many people as possible that can help 'me', but the strongest networkers in the world are those people who show interest in others and who are the first to offer them something, rather than ask for something." It is about coming from a place of abundance rather than of scarcity. "Forget about what people can do for you and rather find ways in which you can help them."

Diversity is the key - It takes six years to build a good network and is a long-term career strategy. "It is wise farming, not hunting and the more diverse the network, the more powerful. Never underestimate people; one's network should be as diverse as possible, incorporating people from various backgrounds, doing various things. One wants a large pool of talent and skills to harness."

Networking is an art - "People often ask me how to approach an event to maximise networking. It takes two things: preparation and authenticity. There are a few tricks you can learn and practice that will improve your networking, but it is very important to stay genuine if you want people to want to know you - people can sense when you're being authentic or not."

First impressions count

The most important stage of networking is the first impression. Research by Jerker Denrell at the Stanford Graduate School of Business demonstrates that giving someone multiple opportunities to see and experience different sides of one is very critical for furthering a career.

The first impression then either ensures that the other person will seek out additional opportunities to learn more about or destroys interest all together. To improve the chances of putting across a good first impression, there are a few key techniques.

• Instead of standing around at an event where one does not know anybody, actively look for a group of three people who are discussing a topic one is interested in. Gently break into the group by making eye contact with the person speaking. That person will keep that eye contact and the other two people in the group will assume that speaker knows one.

• Small talk leads to big talk. One can improve one's ability to make small talk by reading widely. Read outside of one's demographic and immediate areas of interest so one can talk a little bit about anything regardless of how much one has in common with the person one is talking to

• Charming people know how to listen and listening is the first step to remembering. One of the biggest mistakes when networking is talking too much about one's self.

• Remember names. When someone says their name, say it three times in the conversation with them and one will not forget it. People are always impressed with someone who always remembers their name

• Business cards are great conversation starters. In China, when someone receives a business card he or she treats it with honour, looks at it, comments on it and places it in a pocket nearest the heart. In South Africa, we seem to just take it, not really look at it - hardly acknowledge it even and put it in our back pockets. The Chinese custom is best because not only is one acknowledging the person's gesture but, drawing from the card, one can start a conversation based on the information there

• Prepare an elevator speech. This is also linked to first impressions. This speech should be short, informative and should entice the listener to want to know more. A good formula for working out an elevator speech consists of completing three sentences: "I'm this ...", "I do this ...", and "So that ..."

• Last of all, but perhaps one of the most important points to remember: the follow up. "On average, 80% of people do not follow up after networking. If the first impression is so important for getting more opportunities to meet with a person, then forcing the second interaction can't hurt. Following up also takes the form of thanking someone for anything he or she has done for one.

"Networking is an art and one gets better at it the more you do it and that is why it is so important never to avoid an opportunity to meet new people or work on your existing network, you never know when you can make something big happen for someone and in turn something big happens for you," concludes Nicholson.