At two networking events, I observed several business owners making the rounds. Meeting others and building relationships are the key reasons for networking.

The business owners I watched looked like bumble bees going from one group of people to another, handing out business cards, grabbing theirs and then moving along.

After one of the bumble bees veered away from a circle, I watched a few people crumble his business card.

When the bumble bee reached me, I stood amazed.

“Hi. I’m Bumble (name changed to protect the not-so-innocent). This is my product. It does blah, blah, blah. Here’s my card. Do you have a card?”

I barely nodded.

“Okay, I’m here to meet a lot of people,” he continued, “I’ll call you next week about my product.

And off the bumbling business owner went. He wasn’t the only one with this same strategy.

Does hit and run networking work?

His business cards landed crumbled along many tabletops and probably lined a few garbage cans.

The best strategy for networking is to ask questions about others. Ask questions to build a relationship.

Here are five easy ice breaker questions to start building a relationship.

• “Is this the first time you’ve attended this event?”
• “How would you spend your night if you weren’t here?”
• “What other events have you liked?”
• “Has this one been beneficial for your business?”
• “How has it helped your career/business?

Networking is about connecting.

How are you connecting with others?

To your success,

Mj