Justin F. Bastin attends just a few conferences a year, but he still manages to parlay these occasional events into crucial career-building sessions. “As far as the value return on conferences, it far exceeds going to the classroom. I’m able to look at various technologies in different fields, and I’m able to dabble in different areas,” says Bastin, an IT analyst at The Sherwin-Williams Co. That doesn’t happen by chance, though. Bastin says when he goes to a conference, he knows what he wants to get out of it and plans ahead to make sure he hits his targets. He volunteers and networks. He has given presentations, too. As he puts it: “You get out of a conference as much as you put in.” But what, exactly, does it really take to turn conference attendance into a career-enhancing opportunity? It takes more than just showing up with business cards in hand. Career coaches, networking experts and experienced IT professionals say it’s really about being strategic and following some key steps:

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Guess who called me today to meet with him next week!

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Before you can ask other people for help, you have to be clear in your own mind about what you need or want – just saying, “I want more business,” is not enough to achieve your goals.

Create a list of short term and long term goals for yourself and revisit the list often to update and add new ones!

You’ve heard the great networking stories from your friends and business colleagues – amazing partnerships, deals closed in an evening, serendipitous chance encounters that end very lucratively for all involved.

So how come networking doesn’t work that way for everybody? Ever feel left out, like you’re missing some key secret ingredient that would make networking pay off like that for you?

How do you secure that new client? Form t…hat new partnership? Or even land that new job?

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As the author of the newly-released book Fast Track Networking: Turning Conversations into Contacts (Career Press, June 2010), Rosen has turned thousands of her simple, everyday conversations into valuable connections for herself and her business through the power of networking. She’s used her networking finesse to help countless professionals throughout all industries learn the networking “tips and tricks” that have enabled them to build the relationships that grow their businesses, drive their profits, and find success exponentially.

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During this fast-paced presentation filled with countless networking tips and techniques, Rosen, who has been dubbed the “Queen of Networking” by her clients and by media nationwide, will reveal the secrets to successful networking in a difficult economy, highlighting what works and what can lead to miserable disaster when it comes to networking today.

Through her easy-to-implement plan and her unique approach to networking, participants will have the chance to learn how not only to enhance their networking skills but how to network more naturally, why they should network unconditionally – and the secrets to networking that will get the results you need for your business today.

Networking has become like a new currency in this tough economy, and anyone can be flush with lucrative networking skills, if you take the time to develop yourself in this business-building art. This accredited fast track networking training conference will provide you with the tangible tools and techniques you need to approach networking in a whole new light. Sign up today for a chance to hear and learn, first-hand, the secrets of a non-stop (and successful) networker!

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In the same way that geese traveling south for the winter benefit from increased flying range (and a safer journey than if traveling alone) by flying in a V-formation people who have a sense of community and like to network can help each other. That is how Lucy Rosen, founder and president of Women on the Fast Track, illustrates the advantages of networking. She recommends that people find others who share common interests in order to reach their goals more quickly and efficiently.

As part of her work in public relations and marketing Rosen, founder and president of SmartMarketing Solutions Group, has twenty five years of networking experience. In Fast Track Networking: Turning Conversations into Contacts (Career Press, $14.99), a book published earlier this year, she shares some of the knowledge she has gained from networking and promises readers “a unique step-by-step approach to networking proven to put people on the fast track.”

She wrote the 224-page softcover book, with Claudia Gryvatz Copquin, a journalist, with the goal of providing readers an insider’s look into what works in networking including “networking success stories” of business owners and entrepreneurs throughout the country.

“Networking isn’t giving your business card to everyone you meet, or collecting as many business cards as you can and then calling all the people the next morning and trying to sell them your widget. Yet unfortunately, that’s still how far too many people approach the concept of networking,” said Rosen in a press release. “When done right, networking can often be the differentiating factor that helps you land the deal, or in today’s times land the job, so it’s critical that people know how to approach networking in a way that not only builds relationships, but builds business. There’s an art to turning a run-of-the-mill conversation into a life-long contact, and the building of these valuable contacts is what this book is all about.”

The book is divided into thirteen chapters: Networking is Like Dating, Only Better; Get the Party Started; No Time for Awkwardness; Small Group, Big Results; If You Create It, They Will Come; Network…Naturally; Hunters, Gatherers, Networkers; Rein In Your “Deer in the Headlights” Approach; Not Working? Try Networking; Facebook and LinkedIn and Twitter, Oh My; From Filofax to Digital Filing Cabinet; A Promise Is a Promise. Keep Yours; and Putting the Strategic in Strategic Alliances. Each chapter ends with a summary of key points.

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• Grow your inner circle of 10 to an “outside circle” of 20 and learn how to turn 300 networkers into 3,000 new prospects.
• Make the all-important first moves that can lead to a lasting business partnership.
• Not only meet key decision-makers, but fold them into your trusted inner circle.

Click here to download a free excerpt from the bookFast Track Networking Today!