When people ask me how I got my job, they are often surprised to hear that I didn’t need a resume, cover letter or a list references. They automatically assume that I was lucky or that somebody was looking out for me. Neither of which are accurate.

Having a few well placed connections can be very helpful no matter what you are trying to do. Here are 5 tips to help you develop a stronger network:

1) Don’t stay at home. As stupid as this sounds, it is a problem a lot of people have. You cannot develop connections by sitting at home and watching TV. Start by going to events or conferences, before you can network you need to be in the same room as like minded people. Try and find events that won’t end in a sales pitch, instead look for things like a Master Mind group. You really need to find an environment where you can learn and observe while still interacting with people.

2) When you first meet a new person try and use their name 3 times right away. This will force their name into your memory and will never forget it. There is nothing worse then trying to talk to somebody without knowing their name and you will avoid this problem easily just by adding their name to a few sentences.

3) Ask questions. By asking questions and getting to know somebody you are placing the building blocks for a relationship. You will learn more about the person and ultimately decide what kind of resource you can use this connection as. At the same time they will be doing the  same thing to you, so make  sure you articulate yourself properly  and don’t sell yourself short.

4) Be polite. Yet another very simple piece of advice, but who would refer a friend of theirs to a rude arrogant individual. If you want to get something out of your contacts, they need to respect you. You can build respect by offering an intellectual opinion,  asking smart questions and being helpful in general. But being rude and lacking patience can make people lose respect for you, so just watch your please’s and thank you’s.

5) Follow up. So you’ve managed to find a diamond in a rough of a contact. Well you better work just as hard to keep that contact as you did to get it. This means giving them a call once in a while to see how they are doing, sending them an email asking any questions you may have or taking them out for lunch or a beer. Just make sure you have a purpose to meeting up with them, although you might enjoy sipping on a cold one with them, they might have other things to do and you don’t want to waste their time. You really just want to make sure you are apart of their life.

So thats the 5 tips, now go out there and network! You’ll thank yourself for doing it later, trust me

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Filed under: Career, Networking, Personal Development