You know what it feels like. 

Your mouth turns to cotton, you can’t remember what your business is about or what job you’re looking for, and you have no idea how to form a complete sentence.  Why?  You’ve just stepped through the door into a networking event. 

For job seekers, business owners, and anyone interested in helping others and themselves move forward professionally and personally, networking is just something you have to do.  And it doesn’t have to be painful.

Networking is simply developing relationships that are mutually beneficial.  Starting up a conversation, learning a little bit about the other person, and listening for ways you can help them connect to people you know.  You don’t have to be an extrovert or the life of the party to network.  You simply need to be interested in helping other people. 

Here are three easy steps to get your networking strategy kicked into high-gear:

1. Create your networking kit (you probably already have everything you need)
2. Prepare your conversation starters
3. Plan your follow-up

We’ve heard that preparation is a key to success.  That holds true for networking.  Taking a few moments to think strategically about how you want to network and what you’re going to say will reduce a lot of the tension associated with building these relationships.

Bob Burg is my all-time favorite speaker and author when it comes to learning how to incorporate networking into my business and personal life. “All things being equal, people will do business with and refer business [and job leads] to those people they know, like, and trust.”   His book “Endless Referrals” teaches you how to authentically develop the relationships that result in more business (job leads!) for both of you.  It’s a must read for business professionals.

You probably know someone who is looking for a job – you already have a relationship.  Help her out.  Network with her.  Try this:

1.  Call her and ask how her job search is going.
2. Ask her what kind of job she’s looking for.
3. Think about all the people you know (relatives, friends, people from your church, etc.) and identify one person who might be helpful to your friend.  (Someone who is in the same field, or works or worked at a similar company, or has the same hobbies or interests.)  You simply want to make a connection for your friend.  (You don’t have to find her a job.)
4. Give your friend your connection’s name and phone number.  Better yet, offer to introduce your friend to him.

There.  You’ve networked.  Way to go!

In the next few posts we’ll continue this discussion, focusing on the three steps to successful networking. 

I’m curious…what creates your greatest sense of anxiety when you think about networking?

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Fingerprints.  We find them on glass bottles, table tops, and window panes.  They’re frequently the focus of attention at crime scenes.  They make each of us unique—different from each other.

These ridges, lines, and grooves leave a trail.  They tell a story.  They point out where we’ve been, and how we’ve spent our time. 

There’s another kind of fingerprints.  The kind that can’t be seen in the dust or in smudges.  No piece of equipment showcased on CSI will discover them.

They’re the fingerprints we find on our hearts.  Left by people who have touched our lives. They also tell a story.  Stories about the people who left them, and how those fingerprints changed us.

I’m sure that each of us has fingerprints on our hearts that represent sad times.  Hard times.  Times when we felt like our energy and life was being squeezed out of that muscle by large, rough, uncaring hands.

And we have fingerprints left behind by caring hands that held our tired hearts and gently pumped oxygen and life back into them.

Today I am mindful of the fingerprints left on my heart by people who cared, loved, and made me a better person.  People whose lives I have recently celebrated in their deaths.  My uncle Harold Nornes, my friend Mabel Koppang, and my pastor and teacher Harold Brokke. 

These three people have left this earth, but their fingerprints can be found all over the world in the hearts and souls of the people they’ve touched.  Their lives continue.  Their legacy is forever.  I am grateful.

We make choices every day about how we treat each other.  We change hearts and lives through our words and behavior.  We leave imprints.  Fingerprints.

What stories do your fingerprints tell?  What legacy are you leaving?

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