I have recently joined a new service called “Shy Networking“. As a lifelong introvert, although I would no longer describe myself as shy, networking 
has never come easy. Likewise for one of the team behind Shy Networking, professional blogger Chris Garrett.
My main reason for joining was to learn how to network online, which basically I’m very poor at. Whilst I have learnt (the hard way) to network reasonably effectively face to face, I’ve not been able to carry that forward on the internet.
This is somewhat ironic, as theoretically it should be easier for a shy or introverted person to network where there is no face to face contact. However, I’ve started to realise that some of the principles behind networking go deeper than just being able to cope with meeting strangers. Just because I can “do” face to face networking doesn’t mean I’ve been good at it?!
Brian Tracy
I recently saw a Brian Tracy video on the 10 essentials for success. One of these was contacts – the number of people who know you in a positive way. He stressed never take rejection as a sign of lack of interest or take it personally – people are busy.
“Some will, some won’t, so what… next.“
The more people you know, the more likelihood of the right person being there at right time. His key method to build contacts was to always look for ways to help. However, that’s easier said than done.
Time will tell if I can improve and build my network via Shy Networking and it proves worth the money. But it has got me reflecting about networking,