By Wendy Fogarty, Business Management Consultant, Important & Imperative Business Solutions and speaker at Macquarie University's Women, Management and Work Conference 29 & 30 July in Sydney.

Owning and operating your own business requires you to constantly ‘put yourself out there' so people know about your business and what it does. Successful networkers make the commitment to continually work on building relationships with the people they meet as a result of networking.

As a Business Consultant strategies for successful networking have played a major part in the success I have achieved. In fact I have literally 1000's of business cards from across the country in my files as a result of continually events over the years.

Sure you can make lots of contacts by attending events and networking however if I was to honestly cull the cards based on who was a good and purposeful contact, the pile would instantly downsize considerably.

So in all the many hours spent networking, I can honestly say I have seen the good, bad and ugly of networking time and time again.

7 Deadly Sins of Networking:

1. Selling

When you are networking, there is nothing worse than someone cornering you and trying to do the hard sell. Let conversations evolve naturally and don't try to force things on other people unless they indicate they are interested. Be mindful that there is a time and place for detailed conversations. Remember, not everyone will want your card, wait for the right time in the conversation to exchange cards. You don't have to change cards with everyone you meet.

2. Listening

There is nothing worse when meeting someone for the first time who is more interested in talking about themselves than listening and sharing in the conversation.

Listening is a crucial skill that enables you to direct the flow of conversation and keep people engaged in open discussion. People soon know, by your body language, if you are not listening and looking elsewhere around the room or simply giving only a portion of your attention.

3. Following up

When you promise something verbally at a networking event, you need to follow up as the person you have promised will most likely remember after the event. Failure to follow up can give the impression that you are unreliable and full of false promises.

4. Composure

70% of the visual perception accounts for the impact you make on someone when you first meet them. Open and confident body language, a good hand shake, eye contact, a friendly disposition and good composure will lead to positive open networking. It goes without saying that starting with a nice friendly smile, helps make you appear approachable and open to conversation.

5. Disregard

Making pre-conceptions about someone and their business is not only rude, it's one of the deadliest sins committed. Everyone you come into contact with has a large network that includes potential clients or customers, so be careful. When you meet someone, avoid preconceptions, stereotyping and showing disinterest.

Treat everyone you meet equally with respect and have an open positive approach to others. You just never know who they know or what they know that may be useful to you. Once someone has made that first impression about you have to work twice as hard if not harder to get them to change their perception.

6. Etiquette

There are many dos and don'ts of networking however there are some basic good practices around on how to exchange cards, how to introduce yourself and how to cross network effectively so that you produce a return on your investment. Take the time to learn how to network effectively following best practice guidelines. If you are not sure, watch the masters at work and simply do as they do.

7. Memory

With all the events we attend and all the groups we network within, we end up meeting a lot of people and it's so easy to forget names. It's not a good look when you keep meeting up with the same people at events and forgetting you have met them before by starting the networking process from scratch. At some point, you need to pay attention and show the people you meet that you remember them. You can show this by simply introducing them to other people in your networks or by helping them with something. Again, you never know who someone knows and what value that may bring.

When it comes to networking, it's not just the business owner that needs educating, it's also the people representing the business. Teaching employees the most effective ways to networking and generate results will ensure a business is well represented at all times and brand integrity is maintained in the marketplace.

About Wendy Fogarty

Wendy specialises in one on one or small group mentoring of both business owners and their employees that helps to build stronger organisations. Wendy will be speaking at the Macquarie University Women, Management and Work Conference on 29-30 July 2010 at the Sofitel Sydney Wentworth. The Conference will provide practical advice to help women progress at work. Helpful tips will be provided surrounding promotion and development in your job, how to get on a board, the importance of networking, coaching and mentoring and many more. Conference website - http://www.lmsf.mq.edu.au/wmwc 

Source: www.getnetworking.com.au