The Art of Networking: Cultivating Connections and Establishing Your Value

In today's professional world, there is a saying, “It's not what you know, but who you know." This is true because a strong connection can open doors of opportunities, offer assistance and promote development in a way that an individual effort cannot attain. However, building valuable relationships is not about collecting contacts; it is about becoming so beneficial that you need to be in the circles you want to enter. Here are some steps you can take to achieve that.

1. understand your unique value proposition

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?To enter a professional circle as a business owner or an individual, you must first identify what value and contribution you will bring to the table. Consider your ability, skills, and area of expertise in the circle you want to enter, and then you determine your asset and let people see and think about how they can benefit from you.

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2.? Be generous with your expertise and skills

?Once you have identified your UVP, being generous is a crucial component to creating a valuable network, sharing your knowledge and information across various platforms, providing informative LinkedIn posts, running free webinars and offering useful advice without expecting anything in return immediately, doing this will make you a resourceful and go-to person in your industry.

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3. Embrace authenticity and be consistency

Keith Ferrazzi once said, "Real networking is about finding ways to make other people more successful." (Ferrazzi, n.d). To build a valuable network in your professional industry, you need to interact with others by participating in professional events and online forums, contributing to the discussion on a regular basis, offering to help where you can and showing genuine interest in other people's work. Authenticity builds trust; consistency is the cornerstone of building a valuable, strong network.

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4. Offer help before asking

? Understand and identify the needs of people around you and offer assistance before they seek it. Be proactive in providing solutions to their needs, whether it’s a piece of advice or a contact of another person. Offer help without expecting anything in return from them will help create goodwill and strengthen your relationship with them.

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5. Build a reputation.

?As you build your valuable network, don’t forget to build your reputation. Because reputation is the currency of networking, ensure your interactions with others are market-reliable and true.

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6. Engage in Follow-up and maintain relationships

Building networking is not a one-time effort but an ongoing process, engaging in personalized interactions with your contacts, showing interest in their projects, and celebrating their winnings.

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7. Continue to improvement and learning

In order to stay updated on the industry trends, you need to continuously learn and improve your skills because as you grow, the value of your network increases, and you become relevant.

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In today's interconnected world, the value of a strong, valuable network cannot be exaggerated.

Building a valuable network is understanding your unique value, engaging authentically, offering help selflessly, and maintaining your reputation for reliability.