Courtesy of Jen Glantz
Jen Glantz.
- Jen Glantz is a bestselling author and the founder and CEO of Bridesmaid for Hire, a boutique services company that offers professional bridesmaids who "take care of all your wedding dirty work."
- As an entrepreneur, Glantz has attended countless networking events, and after a particularly bad experience, she decided to revamp her entire approach to networking.
- She developed a set of rules to make the most out of networking: don't be a wallflower, prepare several icebreaker questions, ready an elevator pitch, and ace the follow-up game.
- Visit Business Insider's homepage for more stories.
The worst networking event I ever went to had everything good going for it. The food was endless and the bar was open. It was at a local hotspot that was set up in a way that was warm and inviting. Plus, it wasn't stuffy. There were so many people there that starting conversations with others would have been easy.
What made it bad was me. I was the problem. I found myself feeling awkward and nervous to be there alone. So I stood in the corner, pretended to be busy on my phone, and eventually left empty handed. I hadn't made one connection or exchanged one of the 500 business cards I had brought to the event.
I never made that mistake again. From then on, I went to networking events with strict guidelines for myself so that I wouldn't waste my time and I would leave with what I came there for: new relationships and insight on the industry or topic. The more events I went to, the more I realized that if I came prepared, the less time I had to stay. Now, I go for only 25 minutes, and leave with more positive experiences and connections then I did when I'd linger for hours. Here's how.