Bear at Orange Yeti (the blog of Orange Coat, a Greenville design shop) admits that networking is not easy. Not in the offline world.
I just got back from the Greenville Chamber’s Friday Focus meeting. It’s been a couple of months since I’ve attended an event that used to go to every month. I was struck by how much easier it has gotten to go to these events. I know people at the events now and people know me.
When I first started attending networking events no one knew who I was and visa versa. I was just the weird kid in the flip flops. Nonetheless, I just kept showing up and showing up. I’m not the most outgoing person in a crowd so I would just meet a couple of people a meeting. And keep showing up and showing up. Doing this for a long enough time people start knowing and remembering who you are. I was practicing, without knowing it, the George Costanza Networking Method (GCNM).
I like how Bear works through his own awkwardness without taking himself too seriously. It seems everyday I’m confronted with awkwardness, mostly my own. Business is full of these sandpaper moments, I guess. What say you?