Be Nice !
. . . but not a push over. And that sums up the section on Networking, well pretty much, but there are some other things we should think about and act on, and we will look at these things here.
Be Nice Be Interested Be Authentic!
. . . to sum it up a bit more. Think "Noah", a little acronym meaning Nice Others Authentic and Helpful. By treating people the way you want to be treated, by being nice, by being interested in others, by being authentic and wanting to be helpful. . . You will find success. Cliched? Maybe . . . truthful absolutely. Noahs destination was dry land your destination is success and that involves being with people, getting on well with people and treating people well.
Value
As an example of the above "Noah" principle, consider the following thought. Give to get to get to give. As a practical example you might want to get involved in a local music festival, you offer your services for free even if it's just the cleaning up duties, you might make contacts, observe and take notes and learn. Thus, by giving you will be getting experience and possibly when "they" find out you're in a band you can offer a usb stick with your songs on it. After hearing your great songs you get your spot on a stage, where you can give the audience your great songs . . . Hence . . . give to get to get to give.
Is the above a far-fetched scenario, possibly, but the truth of the matter is the more contacts you have the greater the opportunities you will have that present themselves. It is a numbers game, and also the greater number of contacts equal the greater number of opportunities that prevent themselves. It's a numbers game and it is a presenting your best self at all times game as well.
Mindset
Be the observer. Positive Mindset. Results dependent on state. Physiology.
I put all the above as a summary of the main mindset skills needed in the area of networking. Being the observer of social situations is a key skill to apply. You will learn the subtle nuances of how others are successful or failing, which can be just as important to learn so you can do the opposite. None of us are born with master social skills so to improve in this area will take some work, noticing adapting refining and improving. Be better than the rest by actively applying yourself. Yes it takes work but the progress made will be worth it. Remember the mantra here "The greater number of contacts the greater number of opportunities."
Observe how others interact yes, but more importantly how are you interacting ? Adopt the third person perspective , periodically watch yourself watching yourself from above as if you are viewing the social interaction you are involved in from above you and the other person or people involved.
Positive mindset, yes easier said than done but better done than none. By being lazy in this area more failures have been made than anything, we all know this . . . we also know it takes hard work. It takes effort to remain positive but there really is no other way about it, it must be done. Keep check on your thoughts, Adopt the attitude of gratitude. Deep breaths if your'e beginning to lose it. Get in to nature. Be gentle and kind to yourself. Keep on yourself to condition-in the winners' mindset without chastising your self when you slip up. Your Mindset sets your mine, in other words how you are . . . your "mine", in this case, meaning that which "belongs" to you. Do you want to "belong" to being a positive upbeat person or do you want to "belong" to being a negative, fearful and weak person.
How to manage your state. It starts with physiology, how you stand aids what you stand for. If you hold yourself tall in a relaxed composed and centered posture, so you will be, relaxed composed centered. Be aware of your physiology, just awareness of it is enough for you to be able to change it. We have talked about a positive mindset, should you find yourself drifting away from such a mindset be gentle on yourself. Take a walk have a talk or put a sock . . . in it! In other wards it almost as simple as a change of scene, a walk in nature, talking to someone or just stopping your negative thoughts in their path by doing something different. It is not always so easy but just doing something different can be enough to get you back on track to positivity again.
There have been many books written about the power of visualization I want to mention one very powerful application of this technique here. As we go to bed at night and wake up in the morning we are in a deep state of mind between alpha and theta brainwave state. This is a great time to program in How we want to be. This is a great time to take advantage of this state of mind and visualize ourselves, with respect to networking, making great contacts, being friendly, people loving our company . . . you get the idea. Take advantage of this natural subconscious programming time to input great programs. Affirmations are useful such as " I am a friendly, sociable and approachable person!" Find the affirmation which resonates with you. You can even use the old but great Émile Coué phrase "Every day, in every way, I'm getting better and better" . . . a classic and for a good reason, it works.
Shyness
Isn't it strange that in a very people type of industry as the performing arts how many people are shy? You might be one of these people who are shy but love to sing or act or dance for example. So yes there is no way of getting away from it , it will be a bit trickier for you building up a network of contacts, but not impossible of course. Edging into fear will be a critical thing for you here, working on your mindset. Maybe using hypnosis, visualization, eft, pstec (see stage fright section) or any and all techniques which will help you edge forward bit by bit to making contacts with others.
Adopt the preferred persona. It's no secret how many performing artists adopt personas to enable them to get over the shyness they may have. This is a handy technique and allows for a creative type to employ their creativity in a self-help and practical way. Just focusing on being that persona can melt away a lot of perceived worries and concerns and makes facing others at a party, interviews or any social interaction a lot easier. I realize this may seem to be going against the idea of being authentic but this idea of adopting the prefered persona can be a great "way-in" to social situations if you just find it too difficult to be social at first . . . fake it till you make it, so to speak. Also this can be useful if you wish to separate the "performer self" from your "real self", which can be a great idea for liberating reasons and protection of private life reasons to name but two.
As a shy person you have a major advantage working on your side. You are naturally a good listener and more than likely remember conversations better. This is a key networking skill, by showing interest others are more likely to remember you and appreciate the fact you listened to them so well.
Key Points
Key Networking Strategies . . .
Networking is about actively seeking opportunities without actively seeking to be a pest! It's subtle, an art form and a science combined. You'll find your unique style as you go along . . . and remember . . . the greater the number of contacts the greater the number of opportunities.