There’s a wealth of networking opportunities in Sydney but finding them isn’t so easy. I am a relative newcomer to the Sydney Business Community so I knew that I wanted to extend my network. When my boss suggested that I go to some networking events I was initially a bit apprehensive. I wasn’t sure what to expect and I was a little unsure if I was going to meet the right sort of people.

I started with a Google search and spend an afternoon trawling through some of the many pages on offer and built myself a networking calendar.

Within days, I found myself turning up to my first networking breakfast. At 6:30am, at a café in North Sydney, I sat myself down at a table full of unfamiliar faces and announced “Hi, I’m Dave.”

The people at the table promptly introduced themselves and a mountain of business cards built up in a pile in front of my skinny Cappuccino. Already, I had started to loose track of who was who.

The profile of the people at the table was typical of who I was to meet at following events of that type- Small business owners or Sole traders, a few financial advisors, a solicitor, someone in health sciences and someone selling something through a pyramid scheme? Who was I going to sell to?

I was getting no-where fast and I was yet to meet any potential customers.

Over the coming weeks I learnt some of the rules of networking and quickly realised that my lack of success was due to my failure to understand the rules of networking. I am going to share some of those rules with you now..

The most fundamental lesson I learned was what some people call ‘the law of reciprocity’. People say ‘what goes around comes around’ and this is most definitely true when it comes to networking. Spend your time asking questions and making an effort to understand other peoples businesses rather simply pitching to everyone you meet. You need to become memorable and the best way to do that is to start sending people business! If people feel that your have been generous to them, in time they will reciprocate the favour. Givers gain!

Think about building a network that can become your extended sales force. You are unlikely to meet your target customers. Leverage the network to listen in the market for people who are suitable for your product. The best way to do this is to network one on one with people. The BNI group call this a dance card and it’s very powerful. By simply finding the time to sit down, get to know and educate each other, you can build relationships that last.

In fact, when you accept the fact that you don’t need to meet your customers to network, you find yourself being surrounded by networking contacts and opportunities to connect.

Most importantly, it’s crucial to understand that it’s a quality game over quantity. I will give you a similar scenario.

Imagine yourself in a bar and you spot someone you think is rather tasty. You notice that they work the room. They move from one person to the next asking to exchange telephone numbers before they approach you. Would you be interested? I think not! You would much rather invest in someone that appears to take a genuine interest in you, someone who will invest the time to get to know you and someone who you find interesting and personable. Am I right?

So the question remains. How do you take an exchanged business card to the next level? How do you develop them to become a network partner? You need to take steps to remain memorable to them long after the networking event.

One way I find useful is to ask them to connect to me at sydneynetworkers.net. Members here can not only make contacts here but can blog, participate in forums and collaborate with their network. You can also find new network partners to meet and have one on one’s with through the profile pages and there’s a networking calendar as well.

Finally, get organised and do some preparation.

Take a fistful of business cards with you. Too many is preferable to running out. Also, it’s a good to practice your elevator pitch in language that’s easily understood by people that are outside your industry. This means that you need to be able to explain what you do in a few sentences. The time it takes to travel in an elevator. Practice with people and ask for feedback. If you can’t make this understood, you have no chance.

Some final thoughts… Networking can be a really enjoyable experience. I enjoy the opportunity to meet new people and to find ways to assist them. Remember everyone is in the same boat so feel free to make light of the situation and to have a laugh.

See you out there!