Meeting new people can be intimidating. Especially when you find yourself in unfamiliar surroundings. Networking can be a tricky thing. It can be helpful if you prepare yourself for your networking experience. Here are a few tips that can help you:

Smile

What makes you feel better than smiling? Smiling has been proven to relieve stress. A simple smile can be magnetic and attract people to you. If you are in a position where you are networking, put on a welcoming smile so that you are perceived to be approachable. Not only will your smile make you feel good, it will make the person you are networking with feel good as well.

Be Relatable

Finding a common connection with a new business contact can be tough. I find it most convenience to chat about the networking event you are attending first. After that, it can sometimes become easy to find more areas of common ground. Whatever you goal is in networking, it can be helpful to attempt to find a line that connects your business and the business of the individual that you are connecting with.

Find a Connection

Don’t ever leave your networking event without making a connection. Make sure to make a point to at least obtain 5 meaningful connections at a minimum. Have someone else make the introduction if it will make you feel uncomfortable meeting new people.

Exchange Information

What is networking without a quick means of contacting the person that you met? Make sure to have your business cards with you to exchange with your connection. Also make sure that you provide any social media connects for ease of contact.

Follow-up Immediately

After your networking event, it is important to confirm the connections that you make by following up. If you collected business cards, consider sending a nice follow-up email or sending a note connecting with your contact on LinkedIn. For those that you have had a strong connection, send an email reminding that person of your conversation and pointing towards any next steps to your relationship in business.

You’ll find that not always the connections that you make happen immediate advantage. However if you keep in contact over time, stay engaged to you will find that contacts will have more value as time passes.

Looking for other ways to network, checkout my post 5 Tips for Effective Networking.