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Think of it as speed dating for your
business.
Seattle entrepreneur Anne Alberg welcomes
a group of professionals to the Premier Club at Key
Arena. She outlines the exercise and instructs everyone
to get into position. She then rings the starting
bell.
Smartly dressed women quickly introduce
themselves and outline their goals to the person sitting
across from them – all in 30 seconds. Alberg
rings the buzzer again, signaling their counterparts
to present their own one-breath introductions. Thirty
seconds later, the buzzer goes off again: time to
move on to the next person.
Like a business version of musical chairs,
the session continues for another 45 minutes. When
Alberg, the event’s MC, rings the final buzzer,
each person has made a powerful connection and exchanged
business cards with nearly a dozen potential clients,
mentors and new friends.
Welcome to the world of high-speed networking,
or as some call it, “networking.” Designed
to give busy professionals maximum exposure with a
fast-paced series of introductions, it’s a new
spin on the age-old art of networking.
High-speed networking isn’t for
everyone, however, with some saying it can be a stressful,
noisy and superficial way of connecting with potential
clients.
"I don’t care for it because
my whole philosophy is quality over quantity,”
says Bettina Carey, who quit a career in nursing to
become a professional networker and owner of Seattle’s
Women in Small Biz. “Networking is not about
how many people you meet but about the quality of
the people you meet.”
Whether you network in the fast lane,
online, at professional meetings or in the supermarket,
experts agree that the concept of exchanging information
and building relationships with other people is crucial
to personal, financial and professional success.
Most women’s organizations –
there are more than 65 in the Seattle area alone –
offer some sort of networking event or seminar to
help people seeking a new job, client, or mentor.
To take advantage of networking opportunities, Carey
offers several tips:
Magnetize yourself
by setting your intentions. If you project
your intentions effectively, you will attract the
person you need.
Clarity –
Be clear and articulate about what your needs are.
Build credibility
by being helpful. Whether it’s greeting
guests, putting on table favors, or passing out materials,
be a resource to everyone in the room.
Be able to strategize
and trade partnerships. Always look to match
people with others so they can move their product
along further.
Be a good listener,
authentic and sincere. If you say you are going
to help someone, follow through.
Ellen Langan, an organizational consultant
who gives frequent talks on networking, agrees, saying
successful networking is all about building relationships
as opposed to just collecting business cards.
One of her golden rules of networking
is: “To thine own self be true.” No matter
what your style, she says everyone must ask themselves:
“Who are you? What do you do? And what is unique
about you and your business?”
Promoting others is just as important,
or more, than promoting yourself. Langan says, “While
you are networking, you need to be interested in other
people… find out what is unique about the person
you are talking to.”
Eva Chiu, president of Women Business
Owners, says networking should be seen as a way to
build one’s trusted circle of friends.
"This goes a long way in getting
to know what’s happening and what’s up
and coming, doing reality checks, appreciating other
people’s perspectives, getting advice and recommendations
and finding resources to make things happen,”
Chiu says.
Trying to grow a business without
networking would be like “hiding in a cave,”
she adds. “How would you know what you do and
what you offer is even relevant?”
Karen West
Reprinted with permission
from Seattle Woman. Published 2004.
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