is Q&A Tuesday and today’s question comes from Leslie and she writes,

Hey Marie! I'm at the stage in my life and career where

"networking"" is super important, however, I hate doing it. I know I need to get out

there and “make connections” but it always feels so fake! What are some networking tips

to not be a fakey pants?

Leslie, this a great question. MILLIONS of people resist the idea of networking. Mostly

because it feels really contrived. I mean, whenever we think of networking we think of

being in some windowless hotel room with a bunch of people we don’t know, milling around

and we’ve got some Hello My Name Is sticker stuck to our boob.

Networking shouldn’t be an “event” - it’s an ongoing, organic process of building relationships

with people you actually like. So you wanna make it a lifelong practice of meeting new

friends that you can CONTRIBUTE to.

Here are 8 simple networking tips to meeting new people very authentically without feeling

like a fakey pants.

1. Focus on giving vs. getting. So how can you serve or help someone out? Maybe you’ve

got a great book recommendation, or you know someone that that person should meet. The

thing is with networking, what YOU have to give may have nothing to do with you or your

business - and that’s OK. The whole focus is give, give, give.

2. Be present. I’m lucky enough to take yoga with one of the most gifted and amazing

teachers in the whole entire world, Mr. Rodney Yee. And I was taking class with Rodney last

week, and it’s kind of amazing. Rodney is so present always. So after class there’s

always like 70 people swarming around him trying to get his attention. And when I was

leaving class he was talking to someone, and I put my hand on his back just as a gesture

to say thank you and to let him know I was leaving, because we are buddies. And you know

something? He did not even break his concentration. He didn’t acknowledge me at all. And it’s

wasn’t rude, it was quite amazing. He was so fully PRESENT with the person that he was

talking to that he just stayed there. Now here’s the thing, most people when they’re

networking they do something that’s really fakey pants and they’re looking around and

they’re not really present with the person who’s in front of them. Don’t do that.

3. Listen more than you talk. As the saying goes (and it’s a tweetable!), we have two

ears and one mouth so we can listen twice as much as we speak. Remember, the most interesting

people to talk to are the ones that really want to know about us!

4. Think long term vs. short term. Real relationships build gradually over time. So when you first

meet somebody, don’t rush or push your agenda on them. Here’s what I mean, let’s say

you’re an aspiring children’s book author and you’re at an event, and you happen to

meet someone who publishes children’s books. Don’t go up to them and say, “OMG - I’ve

gotta give you my book! You’ve gotta read it, it’s amazing, you’re gonna wanna publish

it!!!” Don’t do that. You wanna just chill and be a little relaxed. You could say something

like, “You know, that’s really interesting. I’ve got a question about your industry

that I’d love to know about...” and then ask them a question that opens up a genuine

dialog.

5. Do not over commit or feel guilty. Look, if you start going to a ton of conferences

and networking events, you’re gonna meet a LOT of people. It’s fine not to “stay

in touch” with everybody. It’s ok to meet people and say hi and all that jazz, but you

do not have to make a commitment to speak to them again or to stay in touch.

6. Be honest. Don’t make false promises or agree to do things just to be “nice”

because you’re there with someone in person. So if someone wants to go to coffee with you

for instance and you don’t want to do it, don’t say, “Oh sure, we should do that

sometime.” Instead, you wanna say this. “I really appreciate the offer, but my work

schedule is full and I don’t want to promise anything that’s not going to happen.”

7. Take action immediately. If you do agree to do something for someone, take action right

away. So if you’re gonna make an email intro, just whip out your smartphone and get it done

on the spot vs. waiting till you get home. Taking action right away is an awesome habit

to build PLUS you won’t just pile up work to do for yourself when you get home.

8. Only go to things that excite you. Whether it’s parties, conferences, or even coffee

dates - only say yes to the things that you really want to do. The best business connections

I’ve ever made are friendships. So when you go to these things, go to make friends.

The women who get the most out of my yearly event, RHH Live, come not to get the word

out about what they do, but they really come to bond and meet with other like-minded people.

So by all means, of course you’ve gotta tell people what you do for a living, but

that should not be your number one goal. Your number one goal is just to connect and make

friends. Otherwise, you will come across as fakey-pants.

Leslie, that was my A to your Q. I hope you enjoyed it. Now go stick some Hello My Name

Is stickers to your boobs and network your buns off.

Now I’d love to hear from you. Take a moment and really think about where did some of the

best business connections in your life come from? Was it traditional “networking”?

Was it some other unexpected route?

Do you have do’s and don’ts for non fakey pants networking?

As always, the best action happens after the episode at MarieForleo.com, so go there and

leave a comment now.

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Stay on your game and keeping going for your dreams. The world needs that very special

gift that only YOU have. Thank you so much for watching and I’ll see you next time

on MarieTV!