Treat Your Business Network As You Would Any Other Meaningful Relationship

Imagine you’re on a date. The first 5 minutes have been great. Then suddenly they launch into a list of all the things they don’t have and need your help with – money, transportation, moving a large piece of furniture up a flight of stairs. You’re quickly going to start souring on this person, right? And there likely won’t be a second date.

Ironically, while these kinds of ‘red flag’ behaviours are avoided by decent people in the dating world, this doesn’t always translate to business networking. All too often, those seeking to grow their networks will home in on people they believe can give them a foot up, charm them just long enough to get their attention, and then launch right into a pitch or asking for something. No one wants to be ‘pitched at’. No one wants to feel used. And just like you exiting that disaster date from earlier, any wise investor or fellow networker will nope right out of doing business with you if you take this approach.

The key, instead, is to practice building authentic relationships with others. Think of your ‘network’ as ‘friends’, even if they’re ‘only work friends’. Listen to and actually care about what they have to say, not because you want to use that information at a later date to get into their good graces, but because you see them as fellow human beings worthy of being cared about. Practice patience and demonstrate a willingness to help out, even if they offer nothing in return. A good, sustainable business network is based on trust and genuinely liking the people with whom you’re doing business. When you start treating network connections as people first and nurturing those relationships, you’ll be astounded at how much more meaningful – and profitable – those connections can be.