1.  ARRIVE ON TIME:  Arriving on early gives you the advantage of scoping out the group and identifying people you may want to approach.  It gives you the opportunity to learn the rules and process of the networking event which is given out at the start of the event.  This sets the tone for evening as participants approach each other.

2.  NO SALES PITCHES:  Don’t go to a networking event with the mindset that you’re going to give a sales pitch.  You’re not there to sell your products.  The other participants are not there to look for something to buy.  All participants are there to discover others that they can build a relationship with so that they can later on work with to advance their businesses. 

3.  BE PREPARED:  Be prepared for the event before you get there.  Think about how you will introduce and promote yourself and the things you want to talk about.  Think of specific subjects that you may want to discuss.  Identify the information you want to gather from others at the event.  If you find someone that you connect with what is the next step.  How do you want to continue communicating with someone you connected with.  Is it by email, phone, social media, etc.  Being prepared means bringing the right amount of business cards.  It also means dressing the part.  If the event calls for business casual, wear business casual.  Don’t over dress or under dress.  Be prepared to ask and answer these questions after the basic introduction: 

What business are you with? 

What is your role?

What does the company do?

Are you looking to expand?

Are you looking for strategic partners? 

4.  LISTEN MORE THAN YOU TALK:  Don’t go to a networking event with the idea of dominating the conversation.  Leave your insecurities and the need to dominate the conversation at home.  Listen more than you talk and ask thoughtful questions that show that you’re actually listening to the person you’re having a conversation with. 

5.  FOLLOWUP:  This is one of the key element of networking.  People often forget to followup after a networking event.  Networking doesn’t end once the event is over.  It continues long afterwards.  If you connect with someone follow up shortly after the event to continue building the relationship. 

6.  DON’T BE SHY:  Don’t be afraid to introduce yourself to other people in the room.  They are there to meet you too.  Pick a couple of people and introduce your self to them.  Once you get started it becomes easier as you go from person to person.

7.  BRING A FRIEND:  It’s ok to bring a friend if you’re attending a networking event for the first time and not sure how it will go.  Having someone to fall back on and startegize how to navigate the room is a good thing.  You can also divide and conquer.  If it’s a large networking event you can meet more people if you and your friend split up and navigate the room.

8.  SPEND QUALITY TIME:  Don’t do a two introduction and chat and move on to the next person.  Spend quality time with them so that you can develop a good sense of whether or not you should invest more time in building a relationship going forward.  If you can make that determination up front it will save a lot of time and headaches later on.

9.  COMMUNICATE WELL:  Make a good introduction with a firm handshake, smile, look the person in the eye and clearly state your name and your business.  Call the person by their name (first name).  When you ask a question give the person the opportunity to answer it.  Don’t interrupt and cut them off or change the subject before they could complete their response.  Make a good exit.  If you have to break off the conversation to move on to another introduction let the person know that you’ve allocated a limited time to spend with everyone because you have a goal of connecting with a certain amount of people before the event is over.  If you think you’ve made a connection that you want to follow through on it’s ok to ask the person if they would like to connect after the event.  That way you can focus your time and efforts on connections that are likely to be more productive.

10. TAKE NOTES:  You will te talking to a lot of people.  It is very likely that you won’t remember every conversation if you had to commit them to memory.  Take notes so that you don’t miss key pieces of information. One note taking startegy you could employ is to write key pieces of information on the back of the business card of the person you’re having the conversation with.  That way you’ll know that the information is connected to that individual/business.