Networking Nuggets

Hi, I'm Keith and welcome to Networking Nuggets. Here's a question. Who succeeds most at networking? The funniest person? The loudest person?

The most charismatic person? Sometimes but often none of them. I've watched networking groups for years and something interesting keeps happening. The people who build the strongest relationships aren't always the most memorable on day one. They're simply consistent.

They turn up week after week month after month. Not because every meeting changes their business it probably doesn't. But because every meeting strengthens relationships. Trust isn't usually built through one brilliant conversation. It's built through lots of ordinary conversations repeated over time.

When people know that you'll reply. When they know that you'll follow through. When they know that you will keep your promises. You become someone people feel comfortable recommending. Charisma gets attention.

Consistency earns trust and trust creates referrals. It's amazing how much different small habits make. Sending that thank you message, checking in with someone, remembering someone's news, Following up when you said you would. I had an example of this recently I met with someone and just in conversation it came up that they collected soft toy Mr Men. So what did I do?

The next time I contacted them I made sure my message included something about Mr Men. Anything to do with business? Not a jot but it does mean they remember me because I paid attention to what they said. I honestly think reliability is one of the most underrated networking skills. So a challenge for you this week don't focus on being impressive.

Focus on being dependable Because people recommend people they trust. And one of the best ways of building that trust is for you to be consistent. Because the strongest networking reputation isn't built in one conversation it's built in hundreds of them and to have those conversations you need to be consistent. If you found this week's episode useful make sure you follow or subscribe and if you want more check out Networking Nuggets on LinkedIn it's my weekly newsletter where I share deeper insights every Wednesday but also do check out my new book From Awkward to Connected available now on Amazon. Until next time keep connecting.

Networking Nuggets is a Think of Something Publishing production.