Networking Tips To Help You Maximise Your Potential

In many industries, networking and building relationships is really important to help you maximise your potential and make yourself known. Whether you’re looking for your first job, want to network well with clients at work or your role involves client prospecting, there are a few things you can do to help maximise your networking opportunities and reap the rewards. 

Networking comes in many different shapes and sizes, so we’re here to introduce a few of the different routes you can take in order to gain good contacts and make an impression in your industry. 

Join Networking Groups 

If you’re completely new to networking and don’t get many opportunities through your workplace, then joining networking groups can be great. Mainly in cities, there are many different groups designed for professionals to meet like minded people and make meaningful business relationships. There are some that are designed more for younger people and others for people further on in their career, however you can simply look for networking groups that align with your current position in your local area. Usually they are for a general business area, for example there may be one focused on law and finance, or another for media and communications. 

For people who feel a bit nervous about going along on their own, you could go with a friend who is also wanting to get themselves out there, or if there are groups online specifically for a networking event, you could always message a few people beforehand and organise to meet up. Try not to give into the pressure of drinking alcohol if you don’t want to, and remember that there are networking groups that aren’t centred around drinking if that’s what you’re more comfortable with. If you’re not automatically introduced to networking through friends or work, then joining groups is a great way to start making connections. 

Be Yourself 

One of the most important networking tips to remember is to be yourself. There are so many people out there who go out networking and try to put on a persona to be someone they think people want them to be. However, some of the most successful people in business get there because they can make genuine connections with people. People pick up on authenticity, so don’t get drawn into trying to be the biggest character in the room, as although these people might get attention, it’s rare that they are the most successful business people. Instead, whilst you’ll speak about work, whether you’ve got funky new festival outfits you like or you love to cook! Don’t be afraid to talk about your hobbies outside of work and just come across as human! 

Focus On Genuinely Listening

When you’re networking it can be easy to try and impress by focusing on you and your skills, however it’s so important to listen to what people have to say. Not only can you learn a lot from people, but if you focus too much on yourself, then it can come across as you being quite self absorbed which isn’t great to set off a business relationship. So, instead, make sure you really listen to what people have to say, and you’ll likely come across people you don’t click with and that’s okay, but being open to listening is key to good business partnerships. 

Utilise Online Spaces 

If you’re not super confident, then you can definitely still network using online spaces! One of the best tools you can utilise is LinkedIn, as it’s so simple to connect with people who either you want to learn from or people that are a similar age/position and you’d like to build a relationship to potentially work with them in the future. Investing time into LinkedIn is so important, as you never know the opportunities that can come with it in the future. It’s also a great way to keep up to date with industry knowledge and share with the community. 

Final Thoughts

Networking can be such a valuable tool to help you progress in your career and meet like minded people. Not everyone you meet will be a valuable part of your career, however don’t let this put you off and instead, keep pushing yourself to improve your industry knowledge and meet interesting people with whom you can be mutually beneficial in the future.