BE GREEDY! GRAB MORE THAN SMALL CHOPS AT YOUR NEXT EVENT

"Click! Click! A shutter sound follows suit.

Jojo takes a more intent stare at the selfie. It was not her perfect shot. She tilts her head, takes a few more shots then heads off to the buffet.

Nodding her head to the beats of the newest song on the town and munching on small chops at an event no doubt made her feel like the coolest kid on the block. The DJ was the next best thing after strawberry parfait. His playlist was the real deal.

Gradually, guests were soon leaving in skeletal numbers till Jojo thought it was time to go too. She would go home with the DJ's rhythm in her head but without the memory of anyone she had introduced her new startup to.

With the rise and rise of entrepreneurship and the need to advance a career, it is becoming next to impossible to go for an event and come back home without a new name.

As much as we might prefer to wait until we have to attend a seminar, workshop, conference, symposium or masterclass before we can network, every opportunity at a social event is a great avenue to network.

Learn to shake hands, slip-in business cards or exchange numbers. Improve your ability to meet new people.

Ensure you are not positioning yourself as a "networking whore" in the room who hand out business cards to every single person they see. They usually get to know thousands of people, but when it is time to call in a favour or ask for help, no one steps up to the plate because they haven’t built any personal relationships.

Build personal relationships and offer value, bearing in mind that the law of networkers states that value is directly proportional to visibility and relevance.

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