An Introvert Does Marketing Part 3 of 4: Networking

I am an introvert, I’m working on my marketing, and I decided to write about my experience. Here is Part 3 of 4, with my thoughts on “networking”.

Believe it or not, networking is a kind of marketing activity, and it is one that I have avoided in the past. It wasn’t the worst thing in the world, it just got me feeling a bit nervous, and seemed totally awkward. Nowadays, I don’t mind it that much, especially if there’s a welcome drink or some kind of food involved. I’m not saying that the only way for an introvert to do networking is to first have an alcoholic drink because that can go wrong in a number of ways.

There was a time in the past when I had attended a work-sponsored event where we could mingle with co-workers and executives alike and where wine was available. Given the fact that I do sometimes use my hands to gesture as I talk, I began to do so with a glass of red wine in my hand as I was talking to a VP-level employee. As you might have guessed, some of the wine splashed onto my own outfit (if any splashed onto the VP, I have no recollection of it). Due to the nature of the stain — as in, it didn’t come out — I never wore that particular top again. Thankfully, even though I had enjoyed half of that glass of wine that made me so gregarious as to make hand gestures, I still had my wits about me.

That is the important part of networking whether you’re an introvert or extravert, or somewhere in between. It’s important to keep your wits about you so that you can…