Building a successful career or business is about developing strong relationships. Successful entrepreneurs have been found to have excellent interpersonal skills with a lot of time invested in nurturing their networks.

While a good number of people accept networking as something useful and genuinely enjoyable, many others see it as a necessary evil to be merely endured. But whichever side of the divide you belong to, networking is fundamental to achieving your business and career goals.

Here are a few tips to help you build a strong professional network:

  1. Define your networking intention; Create a mission statement and 3 to 5 SMART goals.
  2. Make good use of referrals
  3. Identify a few people that you are interested in meeting and any strategic contacts.
  4. Take advantage of email by writing friendly, personalized, introductory messages.
  5. Leverage Social Media and keep an active online presence.
  6. Take the time to nurture relationships by keeping in touch and helping your contacts whenever you can.