Welcome to the fifteenth day of the 30 days writing challenge of this year. You can find a list of all the articles I wrote at the end of each article. Please have a look at the end of it to understand how can you participate in this one.
Networking As In With Other Humans, You Know? Not With WiFi...
There is this saying that your net worth is the average of the 5 people you spend most of your time with. And it kinda makes sense. As humans, we tend to hang out with those with whom we share most of our likes and dislikes. Most of our values and opinions. Basically, with those with whom we share the same "life lenses". And it's only normal that if we share the same lenses, we get the same picture.
Networking used to be kind of a big deal before social media kicked in. For some people, it still is a big deal and I'm one of those people. Not only for the financial reasons described above - although they are surely important - but for the fact that we cannot exist in isolation. We're social animals and most of the meaning we derive from this world is based on human interaction. Without this interaction, there's little left.
As any activity, networking can be done intently, can be measured and improved. For about 5 years, I've been doing it in this way, assumed and organized, at least one day a week. I organized, held and promoted more than 250 networking events, under the umbrella brand name "Open Connect", during which I met more than 5,000 people. I learned a lot during that time.
What follows is a list of best practices for getting the most of your networking activities.
1 Follow Up. Always
If you get to know some people during some real life events, do your best to always follow up with those with whom you intend to continue interacting. Be proactive and don't expect for them to make the first move, because, well, they may never make it. The follow up - done by email, social media or phone - should be very short, though, you don't want to be that creep who jumps on everybody, like a fugitive asking for help. Tone with down, but be firm and consistent.
2 Pick Your Events Carefully
If you really want to start networking intently, with the goal of increasing your net worth, or finding more career opportunity, do yourself a service and lurk around for a while. If these groups are having online summaries of their meetings - 99% of them have these, nowadays - then read the summaries. Don't go for quantity, because there are only 7 days in a week, and you can't attend all the meetups out there. Try to integrate in a few quality groups and remember, for your average net to grow up you only need the average of the top 5 people in your circle, not your top 500.
3 Craft And Use An Easy To Remember, One Phrase Description Of Yourself
As you will interact with many, many people, you want to have a certain description of yourself that is both memorable (as in easy to remember) and precise. It should be descriptive enough so people will realize from second one what you're actually doing, but short enough for them to also remember it later on. If you present yourself as a "startup dreamer and unicorn creator", don't expect too many calls afterwards. Go for something simpler: "I do startups and I do them well".
4 Drink From The Faucet, Not From The Hose
It's very easy to get caught in what I call "the networking whirlwind". Like I said, I did this for 5 years in a row and I know how it is. After I stopped doing it, I needed at least one year of drastically reduced interaction, just to balance the energy again. There were times I wasn't really going to certain places because it was "too peoply". So, don't make the same mistake. Balance this networking thing with other stuff in your life. Or, even better, start with having a life first, and then go for networking. It might work out better this way.
So, this was my (very short) list of best practices for networking.
How Do I Participate In This Challenge?
The criteria for 
- post must be at least 300 words long
- post must be original
- post must be on best practices
- post must use the #challenge30days tag
Previous Posts In The Challenge
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Keeping A Successful 30 Days Challenge
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Selecting Relevant Crypto Projects (Day Two)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Surviving In The STEEM Universe (Day Three)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Working Remote (Day Four)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Working From Coffee Shops (Day Five)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Learning A New Language (Day Six)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Choosing A Crypto Exchange (Day Seven)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Running (Day Eight)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Getting A Good, Relaxing Sleep (Day Nine)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Incorporating Yoga Into Your Daily Routine (Day Ten)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Choosing (And Working From) A CoWorking Space (Day Eleven)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Integrating Meditation Into Your Life (Day Twelve)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For A Healthy Relationship With Your Mobile Phone (Day Thirteen)
- January 2019 Challenge 30 Days - Best Practices For Learning And Using A Programming Language (Day Fourteen)
Steem on!
I'm a serial entrepreneur, blogger and ultrarunner. You can find me mainly on my blog at Dragos Roua where I write about productivity, business, relationships and running. Here on Steemit you may stay updated by following me 
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