Separating the vital from the trivial is an important skill in business. Especially today given the limited resource of cash has been further reduced.

The article encouraged planning ahead to some degree:

“…inquire ahead of time if the host issues a list of attendees and if they do be sure to request one. Read through and study it so that you have an idea of who you want to connect with while you are there.”

If you can’t get this list, a call to the registrar or membership director will yield some good results too.Having “an idea” of who you want to connect with is not enough turn this meeting into money. You must know precisely who you want to speak to and prepare a business bit, some relevant information or resource, prior to your arrival. This way, you are truly intentional and prepared, leaving little if anything to chance in making your connections.

“If you have not created your own opener yet, now is the time to do so. Always make your opener is short and sweet and practice your delivery so that it is causal and natural. Remember, the skill you want to develop here is to focus only on connecting with people and making new business relationships and not to try and sell anything.”

The opener mentioned here could be your 30 Second Promo in front of the group or your conversation starter. Ideally, these should be consistent, memorized, and focused on finding Links, not direct customers. Additionally, “short and sweet” is polite but it doesn’t move you any closer to finding a Link. The 4 Questions should always be used here and every conversation should end with a compliment. Start with a question, end with a compliment and don’t worry about being “sweet.”

One of the tips encourages the biggest mistake we make in business networking, taking it slow and socializing.

“You can stress yourself out at business networking events if you try to do too much. You really can only comfortably meet about five people in the time you have at most events; sometimes a few less and sometimes a few more. So, decide in advance how many people you would like to meet and try not to exceed that goal. If you rush from person to person then you will have lost the idea that you are there to develop new relationships and this is done at a slower pace because relationships are built on trust; trust takes the time to get to know someone.”

Although you shouldn’t “rush” around frenetically, spending too much time with people – especially the wrong people – is a guaranteed way to waste your time and work for less than minimum wage. I am a very social person and love learning about people. If I didn’t have a definite plan that I could work in The Link System, complete with conversation starters and graceful exits, I would fall into this common pitfall as well.

So, the moral of the story is don’t confuse socializing with networking or you might confuse money spent with money earned.

– jc

Read the original article.