Networking is a great thing to do if you want to expand your connections. From work to your personal life, it is important to have as many connections as possible to enhance your work opportunities and also improve the quality of your life.
Having more connections in work can open your eyes up to numerous opportunities. You might find someone that is linked with your dream job. Thus, networking will allow you to be one step closer to that goal.
Likewise, having more connections in your personal life can make your social life more fruitful. You can have connections with like-minded people and enhance your happiness by surrounding yourself with great people.
On that note, here are some top tips for expanding your network.
Use online social platforms
Expanding your network does not only relate to meeting new business connections. It also involves meeting new friends too.
For instance, you might be in your mid-thirties and discover that you want to meet more people like you to enhance your life. You might want to consider using gay phone lines or friendly social apps to meet new people that are like-minded and share similar interests.
Thanks to digital technologies and online access to other people, we can meet people like we never have before. It can take seconds to connect to someone new and start a conversation.
Attend events
Events are there for a reason. They are there to have fun as well as network. Even if you attend an event with a plus one, it will help to make sure you speak to as many people as possible. You never know who you might meet. Thus, talking to anyone and everyone will ensure that you can make like-minded connections that can benefit your life.
Likewise, if you are looking to help others network and want to surround yourself with people that you have always wanted to meet, you could hold your own event. For instance, if you run a business and would like to network (in person as opposed to over email) with someone from another company, then you could hold an event an invite.
Events give anyone an opportunity to meet like-minded people. As those attending the event clearly have something in common.
Put yourself out there
If you shy away from the conversation, then you will likely find it difficult to network. To network successfully, you really need to put yourself out there. This translates to a few things:
- Start the conversation first: putting yourself out there could simply mean starting the conversation first. No matter what nerves you have, if you don’t start the conversation first, then the conversation might never happen. Be the better person and ignite a conversation by asking the other person questions, be friendly, and look interested.
- Share your details online: if you share your details online, then it gives people the opportunity to contact you, should they want to network. The more information people can find out about you online, the easier it will be for them to contact you.
- Be as social as possible: although some people find it difficult to be social all of the time, it really can benefit you and help to expand your network. Socializing as much as possible (online and in-person) could result in your expanding your network above and beyond what you imagined.
Find a wing-person
Should you be someone that finds it difficult to let the nerves go and start a conversation, you might want to think about finding a wing person. A wing person is someone that is quite confident and knows how to start a conversation. They aren’t someone who shies away from the conversation and can easily keep a conversation going with good intentions.
Whether it be a work colleague or a friend, take someone along with you to the events where you want to network but don’t know where to start.
Volunteer
One of the best ways to show your face somewhere new and get in with people that you have always wanted to speak to is through volunteering.
Volunteering gives you the opportunity to meet people in a variety of industries and also helps to show off your kindness and skills. A volunteer is someone who is always appreciated and respected. Thus, if you put yourself out there in work or your personal life and offer someone help voluntarily, it will show what a good person you are and encourage people to conversate with you.