Networking and Negotiation are the most powerful business tools. Somebody once said ,“In business you don't get what you deserve, you get what you negotiate”. 

When I first started my business, most of the people suggested that I should register my company here, look for contracts in Govt. etc. I happened to attended a discussion & networking session arranged by the "Score" there I had the opportunity to meet some of the people who either worked or are working for the Govt. they also gave me the same speech....get yourself registered here, take that and that certification....so on and so forth. There was one person who's suggestion appealed to me. He said, my dear, you should get yourself registered with the concerned govt. offices, but that will take you up to the office building, to get inside you will need someone who can open the door enough for you to get your foot there. Once you are at the doorway, it's on your negotiation skills how to get/convince the concerned party and to put the first rule of negotiation in place, “You don’t ask, you don’t get”! You have to be a bit of extrovert to be a good negotiator, and that is the key to the success. From that point on things would be pretty much in your hands. You are home. Face the reality, to get into the boundary you need certifications & registrations, but to get inside you need someone from inside, and someone inside would be found through networking!

Every day we learn new things, provided we want to learn. I see networking is going on everywhere, not only in the business culture but in the social circles too. People tend to use their social network for the business and vice versa.

 Recently I happened to attend the NED Eng. University Reunion/Convention. People meeting their old class mates, friends....foe! The amazing thing was everybody was trying to either restore or make new contacts. Here again networking was in play. I am having the feeling that everyone in this world, has one main objective..... networking. Networking has become so essential in our everyday life that we should not ignore it. Your success or failures are driven by your networking skills. It's networking that takes you from earth to straight up to the sky.