What is your best networking success story?

Having a sense of humor goes a long way!

What happens when a spring flys past your head landing 4 tables over into someone's salad?

This actually happened 

The conversation continued 

A wedding occurred a year later 

The same type of uplifting humor in a meeting without a spring can jolt any business meeting 

Keeping it lively non boring and on point 

Don't give up 

I can share a recent success story.  I live in the Seattle area, however I grew up in the suburbs of Chicago.  A few ago I was talking to my parents and they said they were having a hard time finding a fence contractor.  So since I'm apart of the world's largest networking organization BNI, I reached out to a couple chapter in their area and a fellow BNI member referred someone that my parents hired for their project.

That's the power of BNI, having a reliable network of professionals I can rely nationwide.

Success from Networking in any form has always been attributed to learn as much about the people I meet. What they do, why they do it, what got them into that business, what do they like best about it a the least.

Being more interested in other than trying to get them interested in you is a sure-fire winning strategy.

The one-thing that created the best results is the follow-up. A thank you note, invitation to meet to learn more about them, and how can I help them in their business success.

Making the networking about others helps them to be very interested in you.

A couple of years ago I was scheduled to be a presenter at an industry event and told to "expect" at least 20 people to come to my part of the presentation. They were hoping for at least 100 people to attend. I guess they didn't hope enough. About a dozen people showed up. I noticed a couple of "high powered" people came and left within minutes after seeing the low attendance. Since I had traveled 45 minutes to get there and had my presentation, I went ahead. Had 4 people in attendance, but, as it should be, I did it as though there were 1,000 people there. With so few people in the room, I shortened up and allowed more time at the end for informal Q & A. That got a conversation started and we all became friendly by the time it was over, which was well after the originally scheduled time. Skipping ahead one month, two of those four people were now clients.

The best networking success was many years ago via LinkedIn. I live on the West coast and via LinkedIn someone on the East coast found me. Over the years I have created 4 different websites for her and she has referred me at least 3 different times for 3 more websites. She also referred me into a huge network of business owners that meet virtually which has greatly helped my business. 

Relationship sales have always been my focus. In the mid 80s, I had a VP of purchasing call me while I ran a marketing team at Motorola. He said his GM had asked him to call me as they prepared for a CEO visit.  He wanted to know what brand of floor wax we used so they could prep their factory with the shine the GM had seen during a recent visit to our facility.  He noted he was serious and asked me not to laugh!  I said I'd help; called our site director, who laughed and said he didn't know but would call ServiceMaster and find out.  ServiceMaster wouldn't share, but the local manager called his counterpart in my customer's city; ServiceMaster waxed the floors of they 100,000 sqft facility for free -- guess who got the ongoing services agreement.  Power of relationships; this customer stayed with us for 15+ years; an eternity in technology markets.

As a Director for BNI (Business Networking International) for over 10 years, as well as a Director for eWomen Network and National Association for Professional Women, I taught principles in networking. Absolutely LOVED helping business owners build a strong Referral Network.

Remember, People are mostly tuned into the WIIFM (What's In It For Me) Station naturally when networking.  If you can help someone meet their perfect connections at a networking event, they will NEVER forget you and what you do.  Ask a lot of questions so you can introduce them with confidence.  Not always will they be able to reciprocate, but you will come highly recommended and you never know where those introductions will lead.

Be HAPPY, Positive and LEAVE all baggage from the day in the car before you get out of it!  People want to be around positive people.  No Debbie Downers.  

Never forget your business cards and only Ask for someone's, let them ask you for a card.  It is not about trading cards but about building relationships.  Networking is never a "One and Done" process.  If you are not seen, you will be forgotten.  Or worse, your network may believe you have moved on to something else.

Remember to say hello to people you know well and then try and introduce them to others in the room who have not met them yet.

You want to be the connector!  I love networking and so happy what I do for a living allows me to network.  I have made life long friends, resources and customers/clients.  

I've had great success with networking and I learned from the best; eWomen Network and BNI. From servicing celebrities (including Oprah) to being selected as a preferred vendor for Superbowl 50 and having a feature article in The Wall Street Journal, opportunities have presented themselves through the relationships I've built over the years. You never know where your connections will lead you. Cherish your partnerships and listen to how you can help others. You will be remembered for it!   

Being found on Google and Zillow websites as a 5 star realtor.

I just got a direct call from another realtor and received a Broker to Broker referral buyer looking in the $500K range.

Networking works!

It won't work overnight, but if you are a long term thinker it will resinate over time and pay huge dividens.

Do what you can to be found high in the rankings of the top search phrases on Goodge and your industy web sites.

I have been taking Instagram marketing courses with Sue. B. Zimmerman . She has some great YouTube  videos which give marketing tips. I have connected to a preschool in India and will be doing a Zoom performance . Through LinkedIn I had a wonderful conversation with a professor at a University. Consistency in an online marketing strategy seems to be the key to networking and getting results.