Start by giving. Let your mantra be not “What’s in it for me?” but “What can I do for you?” This is perhaps the most powerful technique for deepening and widening your networks, as well as for adding value. When building a deep network, do everything you can to bring business and contacts to your networking partners. Share information with them, and invite them to business meetings that will position them favorably with people they need to know. Get to the point where your networking partners know you always have something to give them. In short, do what it takes to earn the help you may need to ask for down the road. It’s no wonder that the most effective and powerful networking entrepreneurs live by the philosophy “Givers Gain”: when you help others achieve their goals, they will help you achieve your goals.

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