Honesty, humility, optimism: Seven steps to successful networking

Even the smartest business leaders can’t run a business all by themselves. So the smartest business leaders are the ones who find the best people and make excellent use of their talents.

The first step to achieving this is to know yourself — specifically to have a keen sense of what you can do well that is valuable for starting and growing a business. At the same time, it is critical for you to know what essential business skills you lack and must add to your team in order for your company to succeed.

How do you find such people? You must be great at networking. One very well-connected investor, Chris Fralic, has seven rules for making memorable connections. What follows is a quick description of each one and why I think they work.

1. Convey genuine appreciation

People don’t care what you know until they know that you care. To show people that you care, share your sincere enthusiasm for something specific about them.