25 questions in 25 days hello a Luxor's this is a special series we're doing before the end of the year where we answer some of the questions you ladies and gents have sent our way if you're new here do yourself a favor and subscribe you're currently missing out here's today's question why is networking so important asked by Phillip via the secret Facebook group for a lack sirs whenever this topic comes up you usually think of a roomful of nicely dressed people sipping cocktails and exchanging business cards and pleasantries all in the hopes of meeting people
that will benefit them they're either looking for opportunities or for solutions to their problems networking creates long and lasting relationships with others it's about making a connection with someone that if you can call them a year from now they'll be happy to hear from you you'll get together and share what interesting projects you're working on the good the bad and maybe even leverage each other's knowledge and contacts for personal gain sociologists call this having social capital the more people you know that fit in the previous description the more valuable your network is and if you're
wondering where to find them well pretty much anywhere networking can happen at a conference at a Leadership Program in line at Starbucks at a resort in Capri or an event you discovered on Facebook and speaking of you cannot go on Facebook these days without being bombarded by events with the term networking in them from personal experience these are mostly a waste of time because almost everyone there is looking to vampire time energy and resources over drinks without giving anything back in return your best bet is specialty events where people who have a particular set of
skills which you might be interested in gather together they will be more than happy to talk about things they're passionate about and you'll learn a lot more in one really important perk of networking that others seldom mention is the confidence boost you acquire from constantly getting out of your comfort zone and meeting new people this trait will quickly prove to be invaluable for the rest of your life in many of our previous videos you've heard the saying your network is your net worth this has been proven to be accurate throughout the ages those who have
a solid circle around them can always rely on it the rest don't have that luxury the same circle can accelerate your growth the more people you know the more opportunities will come your way strategic partnerships and recommendations can go a long way these days and you can never have enough of those in your corner now while all of this sounds fantastic we can already see in the comments but a deluxe I'm an introvert I'm shy I can barely muster up the nerve to talk to one person let alone go into a room full of people
and network well that's fine it just means you're not there yet start small reach out to old connections maybe an old friend from high school or university or maybe someone that you got along with at a previous job it could even be that nice neighbor that always says hi when you meet but never really got a conversation going here are some steps you might consider following when you're out networking 1 make it easy for people to approach you don't stand next to a wall staring into space and avoiding people to have a goal go into
a conversation with someone with the goal of learning about them and genuinely be interested 3 initiate the first step ask a person a question about their hobbies interests passions what brings them to the event what's their biggest takeaway from past events that they've been to people love to recommend resources and you can create a connection based on similar interests 4 balance a converse think of it like a tennis match you talk a little then the other person talks a little and it keeps going back and forth five give first receive later this comes a few
minutes into the conversation maybe you give that person a tip about something they shared or you offer advice on how to solve a problem they have or you can even connect them to someone you know will be of help usually after you do this people have an internal instinct to help you in return six don't bring negativity into play don't bond with others over how much the event sucks or how terrible the speaker was instead always focus on the positive optimists outperform pessimists or realists in the long run seven keep your conversations short and meaningful
don't waste people's time eight enjoy the event or setting just think about how you made your current contacts you'll find that most of them you met in different circumstances and bonded over little things with enough time this will all lead to a quality friendship just don't force it if you want to get better at networking and building up that circle of yours we can't recommend enough a book called never eat alone by Keith Ferrazzi you'll learn a bunch of quick tools that will take your networking game to the next level we know the audio book
is fairly expensive at $27 but if you go to a Lux comm slash free book and sign up you can get it for free thanks to our friends at audible human beings are social creatures so why not improve that aspect of your life do you have some other tips that might help a lexer is out there what's your experience with networking we can't wait to hear your stories if you want to make sure you're not missing any of the daily value we provide make sure to subscribe and follow us on social media you can never
have too much motivation in your lives we handpicked to this video for you to watch next we look forward to hearing from you and as always see you back here tomorrow
