I would like to draft the information below because it contains many important information about networking, but since writing is my best skill, please read it until the end.

Last year, I made my debut at the Brazil-US Chamber of Commerce. I became a member two weeks ago and attended the year-end cocktail party without knowing many people.

I always say that networking is easy for me nowadays, especially since many people already know me in the places I go, but it wasn’t always like that, and it wasn’t the case at Monday’s party. I knew a total of three people, two of whom worked at the Chamber. Yeah, the sea wasn’t kind to this shy fish.

The night started with that familiar feeling of being a complete stranger amid groups formed for years. I had been attending events for a long time and didn’t talk to anyone because I was terrified. Then, one day, I traveled over 100 km to a networking event and had my “enough is enough” moment. I couldn’t leave without talking to anyone and did my best to make new contacts.

I traveled more than 100km to increase my network of contacts

Around the same time, I started wanting to understand more about networking. While adapting to the United States, I learned that many people go through the same difficulties as we do, but we only discover that we’re not alone when discussing what’s happening.

You know the saying, “It needs to be said to be known”? Well, it works for everything. Both for the good things and the bad. Both for prospecting new clients and for flirting with someone. Of course, there are ways to say things and achieve what you want with objectivity, but let’s leave those techniques for another day.

In one of my research sessions, a dear friend (and networking queen) told me that your friend probably knows someone interested in your friend’s friend’s product or service. That’s why it’s called networking or a working network.

A step-by-step guide to networking that makes the process easier

To explain in detail, networking works like this:

1. You have something to offer the world (it could be a product, service, a job opening in your company, product reviews, etc.);
2. You tell this to your network;
3. Someone in your network remembers someone outside the network;
4. You are introduced to someone outside your network;
5. You connect for potential future partnerships.

It’s easier to understand when you see how it works. The first person you’ll meet isn’t the person who’s right for your work, and that’s what happened to me last week.

I had already talked with some discomfort to a few people at the party. I had a friend there who introduced me to some people. I spoke to others at the bar, circulated the room, took a few pictures, and finally managed to put my discomfort aside and make my first joke with the only other person besides me, who was drinking beer. The rest of the party was drinking wine or champagne, and this was a good opening to start a conversation with my new acquaintance, the Chilean lawyer.

So, as we chatted, we were interrupted by two other men, let’s call them the entrepreneur and the other Chilean. Then, the entrepreneur wanted to introduce the other Chilean to the Chilean lawyer, and we kept talking while the countrymen exchanged pleasantries in Spanish.

I’m almost at the end of the story, so hold on tight.

Find an opening to start a conversation

The truth is, it was already the end of the party. A woman from the organization was passing out brigadeiros, and I was ready to leave from the moment I arrived. The entrepreneur who interrupted my chat with the Chilean lawyer was THE right person for me to meet at the party. It took us three hours to bump into each other, but our moment arrived.

The entrepreneur has been in the startup market for years and told me how he raised company sponsorships. Maybe he’ll agree to be my mentor, or we’ll never see each other again. The point here is about the network I’m building as an entrepreneur.

The places I frequent as a writer are comfortable for me today because I did all this work in the past. However, I’m looking for new solutions for my business, and meeting people who have already walked the path is part of the job.

If I can leave a message today, it’s: “Work on your network, and remember that your friend might have a friend to introduce you to if they know your plans.”