I was chatting with a very good friend this morning over coffee, and she said that she had spoken to a very successful business person who told her that the reason he was so successful was that he grew into every opportunity he was offered.

I love this idea. Great opportunities always seem larger than we are and have a way of making us doubt our abilities, but in truth you purchased that opportunity on the back of your experience and hard work. Yes, someone took a chance on you, but that chance was most likely calculated and based on more than a whim. The person that gambled on you knew that you were a really good bet.

As I look back on my professional development, I realize that I have been graced with enormous opportunities, and while sometimes I may have felt meager in the face of the opportunity that was gifted to me, I always took my duty to seize the moment with my whole being, because that is your job when someone gives you a chance.

When you are sitting across the table from someone – occupy that real estate fully and never doubt that you wouldn’t be sitting there if you didn’t have every right to be. It may feel like you’re wearing someone else’s shoes, but in fact they will fit you perfectly if you just give it a little time.

In the current climate of shrinking budgets and limited resources, even language is being cut. With the emergence of electronic communication and social media where information has been reduced to 140 characters or less, language usage has by necessity become more economical. Proposals have more white space and bullet points. Laser-like, compact writing is generally favored over weighty paragraphs and long, winding sentences. Our eyes are now trained to seek out clean, uncluttered writing space that has the appearance of modern, minimalist architecture.

The age of ornate speech and florid writing in business has gone the way of long lunches and snail mail. Our business culture demands brevity and economy when it comes to communication. For those of us who love language and revere a well-constructed sentence or beautiful words -take heart. Those who have a strong command of language are at an advantage when it comes to this new era. Professionals have less time to chat on the phone, read and write e-mails or wade through dense proposals. If you are a gifted communicator your talents are more necessary than ever.

Our intolerance for verbosity demands concise, purposeful communication, which requires us to be more conscious and creative about the way we use language. Economical communication does not have to be inelegant, unprofessional or merely telegraphic. To the contrary! While our attention spans may have collectively shrunk in size, our appetite to be entertained and engaged has expanded.

In Hollywood, writers are encouraged to pitch films and storylines in twenty-five words or less- a small clutch of grammar you could hold in the palm of your hand. Crafting a compelling, lucid idea in twenty-five words is challenging, but highly effective in this minimalist age. When you are calling a prospect you have very little time to introduce yourself, state your purpose and request a meeting. If you are able to relay information skillfully without excess, you are more likely to engage your potential client. Listening more and talking less has long been the wisdom of skilled sales professionals. If you’ve ever taken a sales training class, you probably remember being told: You have one mouth and two ears- use them proportionately.” Now more than ever our communication must be creative, compelling, and concise. Energetic and crisp messaging is the favored power tool of communication.

As you refine your pitch, write your proposals and e-mails, and call on clients, consider editing your communication. Editing will require you to choose your language more carefully and critically. Challenge yourself to craft communication to be sleek and dynamic rather than clunky and excessive. This is not to suggest that you should communicate in clipped, ungrammatical structures or leave out critical information. Think of Ernest Hemmingway’s use of undecorated, simple prose or Coco Chanel advising women to remove one accessory before leaving the house, and finally Frank Lloyd Wright who suggested that an Architect’s most useful tool is his eraser.

While many of my colleagues may feel that this stylistic shift of communication is most certainly the demise of civilization and professional business culture as we know it, I would encourage them to embrace the possibility that there is elegance in simplicity.

It is completely possible to go to a networking event nearly every business day and every waking hour of the year in San Diego. We love our networking events in this town. There are networking events for every age group, gender, sector of business, and time of day. You could conceivably network full-time without actually ever generating a single dollar for your efforts. Networking costs time and money. Without question, relationship development is critical to your business. People buy and do business from people they know and like, but networking events frequently do not translate into an authentic relationship, and if you aren’t creating business relationships and opportunities from networking, what are you doing?

We have all attended networking events where we consumed cheese cubes and average wine, and left with a handful of sweaty business cards and absolutely no possibility of future business with a single individual in the room. So how do we approach networking in a meaningful way and develop quality business relationships that will translate into revenue? Yes, I said it. We network to generate revenue.

Let’s start with what not to do. Don’t treat networking events like speed dating where your goal is to collect as many business cards as you can. If you can pave your way to the moon with the boxes full of business cards you’ve collected, you need to attend a networker’s anonymous meeting and admit that you have a problem. Unless you’re an artist planning to recycle these are cards into an art installation piece representing the demise of civilization, you don’t need that many business cards.

Don’t introduce yourself by pitching or selling to someone. It scares people. While you’re selling how they need your service, I assure you they are plotting to fake an aneurism so they can excuse themselves and avoid you for the rest of eternity.

Don’t whine about the economy, complain about the event, or trash other professionals. This tells me everything about the type of person you are and none of it is good. I assure you that you do not elevate yourself by trampling upon others.

In order to integrate networking as a meaningful component of your business strategy, start evaluating its cost and benefits to your business. How much are you spending on networking and how much business have you garnered from your expense? Be sure to include your time in the cost.

Choose networking groups and events with strategic deliberation. Don’t pay a membership until you’ve gone to several events, and ask members how the organization has contributed to their business.
Before you register for an event look at their membership list and see who will be attending the event to determine if the event is appropriate for the type of business you do. If you can’t get the information online, call or e-mail and ask.

When you attend an event, go with a purpose or goal. You don’t need to meet everyone, but you need to make at least one meaningful connection, and if you did your homework, you may already know who you want to meet. Find that person and introduce yourself.
Ask people you meet what THEY do rather than focusing on what YOU do. You can learn far more from listening. Not every contact is a customer or a viable contact. It’s okay to politely excuse yourself to meet others. You are there to create quality BUSINESS relationships.

The most significant component of networking is what happens AFTER the event. Follow up. If you just drop the information in your database, you might as well drop the business card in the garbage. Research the people you have connected with and follow up to request a brief meeting, tour of their business or coffee. When you meet with your new contact keep in mind that you are working on a relationship and you need to put your best self forward. Think about ways you can enhance and advance their business. Business relationships, like all relationships, are about reciprocity. The more you give the more you get.