Steps for Networking Done Right

How many times have you gone to an event and been left feeling you would have been better off billing more hours? How can you justify time away from the office when you aren’t gaining tangible opportunities? Networking is an essential tool to great business development. This includes streaming new contacts and opportunities, providing a giver’s gain mindset, and strengthening relationships you already possess. It is face-time marketing. Networking is a prime opportunity to put your business on display, and it is the most effective way to stay top of mind.

The Problem

Many attorneys face the networking dilemma: year after year, they attend events and seem to get very little from them. They would like to think that the event must have just been a dud, but let’s take a minute to look at the common denominator: THEM.

Where many falter is in the approach to networking itself. We meander into an event looking for someone we know, or only attend if we have a friend to take the awkward sting off meeting new people and being alone. We buy tickets for a table and surround ourselves with friends, clients, our “knowns.” Or worse, some even attempt to avoid people by keeping their eyes on their screens, using the restroom, going to get drinks, etc. We shy from meeting anyone new, because it is uncomfortable. We stick with the easy, the comfortable, the path of least resistance.

You can read the entire article here on JD Supra.