Networking is a skill like any other. In business you often know the kind of situation you are about to go into or are likely to face. Knowing this, you can take several steps to prepare yourself to socialize with others as a basis for establishing a business relationship. Here are the steps you can take to prepare:

• Know who you are: Craft a 30-second spot about yourself and your firm, and practice it until it sounds like a natural expression of your interests. This is often called an elevator pitch, and Chapter 8 (Business Plans) gives details on putting together a winning one.
• Know whom you want and why: Once you know who will be attending an event (from your buddy, looking at the materials for the event, or going through the member list of the sponsoring organization), start putting together a list of names of people and organizations you want to make contact with. Make sure you keep track of why you are looking for particular people. When you are at the event, walk around the room to see who is there from the list, or ask the organizers of the event if the people you seek are around.
• Buddy up: When you know you are going to a particular event, check around to find a friend or business associate (a customer, supplier, lawyer, insurance agent, banker, etc.) who has attended a similar event before. Ask if you can go with him or her, and ask about the people and firms likely to be there.
• Bone up on small talk: What do you say after hello? A good place to start is to give your elevator pitch and close with why you were looking forward to meeting the person. If you think your business can help the other person’s, talk about that. If the other person wants to limit the conversation to social topics, go with that. To help with chitchat in those situations, make sure you look at the local newspaper (sports section included) on the day of the event, and take a look at The Wall Street Journal or USA Today front page if you can.
• Do not forget why you’re there: People tend to gather in groups of like-minded folks. This can mean that all the golf players are together talking strokes, but it can be deadly if it means that all the women entrepreneurs are gathered together and not networking with the male businesspeople. If you are at a networking event and you start feeling comfortable, check to make sure it is not because you have actually stopped networking.
• Make the connection: The key to making networking work is to make the personal connection. Businesspeople expect to be approached by others at events. Do not be shy. Just walk up and say hello. If necessary, ask a friend or an event organizer to make the introduction, but, however you do it, meet the people.
• Follow up: After you meet someone at a networking event, periodically keep up the contact through e-mails, phone, mail, or personal contact. If you can offer help or information, that is the best reason to stay in touch.

Most entrepreneurs who recognize the value of networking develop some means of keeping track of their contacts. Using paper-and-pencil contact managers such as those from Rolodex or Franklin Covey, computer software such as Microsoft Outlook (which is a part of MS Office), or specialized contact management software such as ACT! or Goldmine, or online services,⁵⁵ that you can quickly find using a Google search like: The goal is to make sure you keep track of your social and business contacts. The best approaches help you identify whom you need to contact to keep relationships fresh. This is because networking is one of the key skills for all business owners, female and male, minority and majority, high tech and no tech. Because in the end, business is all about making the sale and the sale depends on making a connection with customers, and that connection is what networking is all about.