My clients range from people who network naturally to people who would prefer a root canal to having a conversation. From clients who twitter, text and e-mail to people who would prefer not to turn on a computer.  Whether cyber savvy or more of a face-to-face communicator, networking can seem unnatural or awkward.

Learn to like it. If you go in with a mindset that networking is a necessary evil or a means to an end, you will come up short. The clients I work with that have phenomenal success say they like "meeting people" and learning about their story.

A definition of networking that works best for me is making a connection from people we know to people they know and expecting nothing in return.  Expecting nothing takes the pressure off. You are doing it because it is the right thing to do.  Key elements of a great networking strategy are being organized and purposeful about it. That is the hard part for me – the systematic part. I keep working at it. A great boss once told me that if you haven't seen a contact in a year, he is no longer a contact. Come to think of it, I'll give her a call tomorrow. It has been a while...