Networking

I was always the shy one...the one who stood behind her mom when she was five years old. The one who would never break the ice with someone new by going up to them and saying, "Hi! I'm Amanda...what's your name?" However, over the years, I've had to learn to become more aggressive in my actions--I work in PR, after all!

I have a few good girlfriends who are masterful at networking. I'd go with them to social and/or professional events and watch them work the room like it was their favorite hobby. After months of watching them, I realized that there was really nothing to be scared of...all I was doing was introducing myself to people...not asking them to marry me!

In order to get over my fear (I'm not even exactly sure what my fear was) of networking, I forced myself to attend at least one professional event each week--whether it was a Chamber of Commerce meeting, a meeting of one of the professional organizations I belong to or a young professionals group meeting, I made it a point to get out of my comfort zone and to attend a meeting where I usually didn't know anyone. My goal at each event was to strike up a conversation with at least one new person and to not leave until I did.

A great thing happened: I met many new people and all of a sudden, I could walk into a room full of people I didn't know and leave with several contacts--and it was a natural feeling! This has served me well in my position with Cleary and I strive to continue my networking "experiment" each week.

Click here for a great article called, "How To Network: For Introverts."