5 Ways to Augment In-Person Networking with Social Media - CareerEnlightenment.com

Hunt AloneMany sales people turn up at networking events with a gaggle of colleagues, preferring to talk shop. Serious networkers, however, hunt alone rather than in packs. You have to make yourself mingle, and with practice it becomes easier, however uncomfortable it feels standing by yourself in a room is even worse.Don’t talk shopHard as it is for many networking professionals to turn off their commercial instincts, networking events aren’t occasions to recite their CV and could make people start disliking you. Instead talk to everyone. Its about building relationships and establishing credibility, gaining contacts and making a name for yourself and not being a stranger.Last but not least tipThat may help is to follow up with a phone call or an email to the people you meet at the social event. However difficult it is when you are following up via phone or email try not to make it sound like a sales pitch and never attend a social event without your business cards.