Bob Burg, author of Endless Referrals, taught millions of networkers to understand that in business, "All things being equal, people will do business with people they know, like, and trust." You could easily say that the purpose of networking is to help other people get to know you, build trust with them and to prove what a likeable person you are. Simply put, you'll get more business if you are well-known, trusted and liked. While most of us would say that we like people who are "nice" or that others like us because we are "nice" we probably can't put on finger on exactly what makes someone more likeable. Fortunately, Tim Sanders, author of "The Likeability Factor" has boiled it down to four simple factors: Friendliness: which is what we think of as "nice" because it's how we show that we like and are open to other people Relevance: how well we are able to show that we understand or connect with their interests, wants, and needs Empathy: being able to see and feel from the other person's perspective and feelings Realness: showing our true selves and being authentic Extroverts tend to be best at being friendly and real. They are truly happy to meet new people and see their friends. And they are good at expressing it. These are two of the actual characteristics of extroverts. They are usually real as well because they are open about their thoughts and don't feel that they need to keep their ideas private. Occasionally you'll run into a very fake extrovert who seems to simply want to dominate the conversation and push their agenda. Thereby proving that extroversion doesn't guarantee being likeable. Where most extroverts can greatly improve is by working on their relevance and showing empathy to others. Both these lacks spring from the same source. Extroverts are usually expressive about their own ideas, wants and needs. They can tend to see things only from their own perspective because they are good at articulating it. If they don't slow down and work hard on their listening skills, they could miss the more subtle clues that other people - particularly introverts - are giving them. Two extroverts together can lock into a jolly, loud sharing time and completely miss the deeper connection with each other and with the introverts around them. If you're an extrovert, you may feel like you're already likeable. Aren't you the life of the party? But to truly improve, you want to slow down, listen and think about listening to other people so you can be more relevant and empathic to them. Beth Bridges has attended over 2,000 networking events in the last 7 years as the Membership Director and Chief Networking Officer of a large west coast chamber of commerce. Beth is very real, friendly and relevant. Sometimes she needs to slow down a bit for the empathy, but she's working on it! You can enjoy Beth's enthusiasm and use her experience to help you increase and improve your networking and grow your business. The Networking Motivator Newsletter is a quick-reading, weekly newsletter with just one useful concept per issue. Subscribe for free at www.TheNetworkingMotivator.com. You can also enjoy a quick daily networking tip and can connect with like-minded networkers from around the world by becoming a fan of the Networking Motivator (tm) on Facebook Copyright Beth Bridges, 2010
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