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Each month our ezine features networking and business articles to help you connect with professionals, build relationships, and grow your business.

Networking Article from Networking Today Canada, Nat'l

Networking...The Best Marketing Weapon in Tough Economic Times! Part One

Create Relationships & Build Rapport

Author: Lori Raudnask

Date: Jun 2010

In these economic times, I have been asked where you go to make more contacts and sales. So, I’d like to share something I love that has generated lead after lead, sale after sale, and business relationship after business relationship.

When I think about it, networking has been a way of life for me and it started when I was in the corporate world. In my first year, I volunteered to sell daffodils to raise money for cancer at the office. I loved to go from department to department and meet other people. Asking them to buy daffodils got easier the more people I talked to. I truly believe that this service helped my career, and in the eleven years I was employed, I had ten different positions within the company. I was well known and that all started from selling daffodils.

Networking is the lifeline of my business today. Recently, my business partner asked me “what do you do better than anyone else?” Without really giving it much thought I said “networking.”

The purpose of networking is to help you advance professionally in a social setting. I attend networking events for many reasons but the reason that is at the top of my list is to…

Create rapport with people and to build relationships.

If you are not interested in other people, then why bother going to a networking event?

My husband was laughing the other day when we got home from a Chamber of Commerce function. He said, “Lori, there is no one better at networking than you. Tonight I decided to really watch you in action because you always seem to meet so many people at these events. The one common denominator that I witnessed was your genuine interest for each person that you spoke with.” I told my husband that I truly believe that being genuine and authentic is important.

Networking is about building trust and building relationships, it is about seeing how you can help others. If you help enough people get what they want, you will most definitely get what you want in return. While networking, it is important for the benefit to be to both parties involved. This is the key.

A fatal mistake I see people make at networking events is that they promote their own opportunity or product right at the beginning of the conversation. You are much better off focusing on the person you are speaking with and when the conversation comes up about what you do, have a polished elevator pitch ready so you can be brief but powerful.

For Part Two: Making Your Networking Work click here.

For Part Three: What Type of Events Are You Attending? click here.

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Like everyone else in her family, Lori Raudnask started out as an employee but after 11 years realized her heart and soul was not in it. Despite her family and friends advice, she decided to try being an entrepreneur and took the plunge. That was 23 years ago. Lori is a go-getter with a mission to help others do the same! She believes people give up too easy because they don’t see the value of persistence. Persistent People Succeed! That is why she wrote the book “Persistence Pays – How Getting What You Want is Easier Than You Think.” For more information about Lori Raudnask visit www.persistencepays.ca

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