Networking is one of the most important skills you can ever learn.

I guess the
question is, "What is Networking?" Essentially networking is the skill of
developing or building a relationship with people that you do not know. The art of
networking is to develop your own network which is simply a group of people in
which you can share your ideas, information, your resources plus you can
introduce your network members with each other to help each of your network
members towards a common goal.

In the book, Think and Grow Rich, Napoleon Hill talks about building your
network into your Mastermind Group which is simply a refined network that will
help you in your path towards obscene wealth and success. There are many
examples of people in the book Think and Grow Rich that built their own networks
to help them achieve the success they are looking for.

In the chapter, Desire, Napoleon Hill talked about how Edwin C Barnes had the
Desire to become a business partner of Thomas A Edison. He achieved his
objective by building a network that helped him get to the point where he was an
equal and become the partner of Thomas Edison.

Knowing where and how to start building your network is the toughest challenge.
Below I have set out four basic steps as part of your Networking Plan.

Step 1. Define Your Desire

Napoleon Hill teaches us in Think and Grow Rich that you can only achieve what
you truly Desire and this is also true of networking. What is your desire of building
your network and the people in your network?

For example your Desire of your network might be to build a network of like
minded businesses, for instance you might be a builder and your network you
want to build might include painters, decorators, architects, Loan specialists etc.
The Desire of your network maybe to bring 60% of your business from your
network.

Essentially what you must do when starting to build your network is to identify
what you Desire your network to be. Make sure that you write out your Desire at
the top of the page so that you can easily visualize what your Desire is.

Step 2. Set Out Your Goals

Once you have a clear Desire, your next step is to define the goals of that desire.
Earlier I gave you the example of a network that you might desire as a builder. The
desire of the builders' network was to have painters, decorators, architects, loan
specialists in the network. In the goals section of this four step process you must
identify specific targets.

In Napoleon Hills chapter, Autosuggestion he states that for you to achieve your
Desire it must be something that you can see as tangible. Simply having the desire
to be Rich will never allow you to achieve anything, but having the desire to make
$400,000 Cash is a tangible desire and goal you can achieve. The same is true of
networking.

If you are building your network, you need to state in your goals specifically which
painters, decorators and architects you want to be apart of your network. You
should write those tangible goals down because these are the people you want to
build your plan around to achieve your network.

Step 3. Develop Your Plan

The third step in your Networking Plan is to work out how you are going to
network with these Target people. Your plan must involve a lot of research to
identify where they spend their time and how you are going to meet them in a
networking environment.