Networking can be very good for your health!

Networking is good for you. So we are told all the time!

You know already that you should network if you are looking for work and, oh yes, of course you must network if you are starting up a new business.

But for some of us, the prospect of networking can be quite daunting.

Now why should that be so? Let us think a little about networking and what it is really about. Networking is about finding and building new relationships. It is about meeting new people and finding an opportunity to make an exchange, be it simply an exchange of friendship. We go somewhere to meet someone new. We exchange information and then test out whether they are interesting to us and in return we hope to be interesting to them.

Most of us do it all the time in our private lives. But when it comes to networking for work, many of us feel much more diffident because we are not just looking for friendship. We are hoping this new contact will give us something. Will they become a customer or provide us with information about a new job opportunity? That can make us feel embarrassed.

In fact, we want to make a fair business exchange. We can be kind and supportive to the people we meet in business, just as we can in our private lives. We can give time and attention and share the information that we have. At the very least we can listen attentively and offer advice, if it is requested.

There is always something we can offer in return. Even if it is only our very sincere thanks for an opportunity they have given us. I can't think of anything nicer than the thank you letters I have received after giving a reference or passing on a contact. They can brighten up a dismal day no end.

But we still feel diffident. I started out as a very nervous networker. I was very lucky, I met someone who was prepared to train me in how to go about business networking. That made a huge difference.

If networking was not good for your business you wouldn't find such a long list of business networking organizations in existence and business networking events. And I found that from my business networking events, I was making some real friends; friends that I value in my private life as well as in my business life.

Networking does require confidence, particularly when you are new to it. So, I would be delighted if you would join my free teleseminar about Confident Networking. You can find out more about it at this link, http://confidentnetworkingwithwisewolf.eventbrite.co.uk/

Want to be a Confident Networker? Join my free teleseminar on 26thJune 2012

Wendy Mason is a Life and Career Coach. She helps people have the confidence they need to be successful at work and to change career while maintaining a good work/life balance. You can email her at wendymason @wisewolfcoaching.com

Friday Recipe - Catalan Fish Stew - Rick Stein

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