Make Networking Effective and Painless With the Awesome Combo of Coffee and Kindness

A change of thinking takes the horrible out of networking – and it works, too.

If you hate networking and you’ve been enjoying 2020’s lack of it, now’s the time to start changing your mindset. Networking will be back, and if you hated it before, you’ll still hate it later.

I used to dread networking too. Really dread it. Not only did I have social anxiety but I also found the whole thing completely cringeworthy. There’s nothing worse than meeting a load of strangers to see what you can get out of them, right?

Absolutely right.

That kind of networking is horrible unless you’re a naturally extroverted salesman type. But most of us aren’t. The word networking brings with it certain connotations and baggage. Images of rooms full of strangers all hoping to meet someone to help them with their goals. Fake suits chatting up other fake suits, all trying to get what they want. Yuck.

But it’s ok. Really, it’s ok. It doesn’t have to be like that. Ok, sometimes it is like that, but you can give that kind of thing a nice wide swerve. Go for a better option. One that’s warmer and tastes good and leaves everyone happy whether you’ve succeeded in finding a new contact or not.

Not so long ago, there was some great advice going round that if you wanted to meet someone for networking reasons who was slightly out of your reach, send an email and offer to buy them a coffee in exchange for a chat.

It was good advice. It was approaching people on the give, not the take, and it worked. It opened some doors. I met some amazing people this way. But now, I’ve heard a lot of people on the side of being offered coffee no longer like it. It’s happened too many times. It’s starting to be viewed as an offer of a $4 cup of coffee for an hour consultation worth far more. The interpretation of the offer has changed. This makes me sad because I really had some great times with some great people and made some amazing friends. But I get it. How many strangers can you drink coffee with, after all?

Related posts:

ontem era outono e as folhas já estavam tão secas que não puderam salvar-se e nem escolher onde iriam. dentro daquela casa, abraçado na soturnidade naquela casinha sem trejeitos, tudo parece seguir o…

Considered as one of the major American Airlines, JetBlue is an airline that offers its travelers with low-cost flight tickets with premium services on board. And as customer satisfaction matters the…

Wallapop is the most popular marketplace app for second-hand items in Spain. You can give life to products you no longer use and get a little extra money, or buy items you never thought you would…