Has this ever happened to you?
You’re invited to attend a business function where several industry experts and company leaders are present. This is your moment to shine, to market your capabilities, to discuss what you have to offer but you fail to capitalize on the opportunity because you are not prepared to clearly articulate your value proposition…Ouch! If this scenario sounds familiar, it is okay – it happens to the best of us! J However, you should be prepared for that next grand encounter -- but first, consider this alarming but true statistic: 85% of all jobs are found through networking and hidden job markets, they never make it to the newspapers, temporary agencies, recruiters or the internet.
Given that statistic, one could argue that mastering the art of networking is a threshold skill. It is said that people generally form impressions of others within the first 20 to 30 seconds of that first encounter. Therefore, it is important that you understand the art of networking and building relationships. Networking is a long-term activity because it takes time to build a good network. Your relationship-building campaign should be “planned, targeted and intentional”. This process starts with formulating good 30-second 'Presidential Message' that has the impact necessary to elicit a meaningful dialogue with the individual. Your message should be clear, concise, distinctive and engaging. It should emphasize who you are and the solutions that you offer. For example, as an Executive Career Coach, I do performance consulting to help busy Sales and Marketing executives execute flawlessly in the job market. This introduction not only tells you who I am (Executive Career Coach) and what I do (Performance Consulting) but also what happens as a result of what I do (marketing and sales executives are able to execute flawlessly in the job market).
While attending networking events, it is important to keep it moving. Resist the temptation to be stationary and miss opportunities for interaction with others. In fact, according to Jeffrey Gitomer - author of The Sales Bible, you should spend 75% of your time with people you do not know and 25% of your time building existing relationships. If you think you will have a difficult time approaching others at first, there is a wonderful technique that usually works in attracting others to you by stimulating curiosity, which leads to conversation. Try creating a tag line for your name badge. One great tag line that I recently noticed came from a sales person with a prominent consulting firm. She identifies herself as the: “Queen of Connections” In fact, she takes it a step further by incorporating it as a part of her personal branding campaign by including it in emails, voicemail as well as on business cards. Think of an interesting word or phrase that best describes you and your brand. Add it to your name badge at your next networking event and see what happens. The results of this technique will help ease the transition as you work to master your networking skills.
Your first few networking encounters may not be easy but practice makes perfect. After all, you are the CEO, COO, CIO and CMO of your career and it should be a priority for you to manage it proactively and aggressively.
So start networking….the results will be very rewarding!
I believe in your success!
Felicia
Being in the Power Seat of your career takes lots of careful planning. It's like a game of chess where you must use your critical thinking skills to understand your opponents position before making your next move. If you want to truly up the ante on your value to the organization, try adding these three things to your toolkit: 
