Holiday Networking – Are You Making the Most of It?

With holidays around the corner, it is a good time to focus on networking. Did you know that the best networking is done informally? Holiday time hence, is a great time to build your network and build new career-advancing relationships. Here are 5 tips that will help you do that gracefully and effortlessly:

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1. Call Friends Over for Tea - Use the holidays as an occasion to strengthen your personal relationships with clients, colleagues, and supervisor/ boss. Call them for a cup of tea and homemade cookies, cakes and snacks. Send handwritten invitations to make it warm and cordial. This not only brings you closer to people in your network, but also opens a wide window of opportunities of generating reciprocal invitations. You could meet many people this way and build your network as well as strengthen it.
   
   
2. Organize Charity Events - There are so many causes you could pick up and champion; there are so many people living in challenging situations. Why not organize a charity event to brighten up their holidays. Invite local corporate magnates to join, involve as many people from all walks of life and make the charity event a memorable one for those whom you are trying to help. This exercise - besides giving you tremendous satisfaction - can generate exceptional networking leads.
   
   
   
   
   
3. Make it a Point to Connect with People Wherever You are Going - Whether you are travelling by train or flight, make it a point to make at least one contact. Always carry your business cards and always give one after you have chatted to anyone who is traveling with you. You never know where your card will land and what opportunity can develop from this. Wherever you go, talk about what you do, what you want to do and what you are doing. Remember to also listen; you do not build lasting relationships by hogging the conversation.
   
   
4. Send a Newsletter to All You Know - Write about yourself, your family, the holidays, your plans, your achievement over the year, and so on. Accompany this newsletter with a latest photo of you and your family. Make it fun, make it interesting and make it readable. Your letter, if written right, will become viral in time and many people will come to read your newsletter and be part of your network.
   
   
5. Send Greeting Cards to Your Colleagues, Friends and Clients - Remember all those who matter in your professional life, make a list and send them "Season's Greetings". This is a golden opportunity to score a few brownie points. Wish everyone well and update them about your present. People love to be remembered at holidays. This will help your network grow exponentially.

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