7 Techniques to Grow Your Career Networks

It’s vital to nurture relationships with people in your professional industry.

Developing rapport with individuals who share similar job goals and interests will not only boost your skills and knowledge but will also help advance your career in various ways, and add a great deal of value to your life.

There are many benefits to networking! And how you approach it makes all the difference. Here are seven techniques to follow to create expansive career networks:

1. ASSESS YOUR WHY
Think about WHY you want to accomplish this: are you currently searching for a new role? Seeking new clients? Considering a mentor as you build your business? Looking to simply connect with influential people who can impact your career?

Understanding the reason behind it will help get you in the proper networking mindset. How you go into fostering relationships will affect the outcome.

2. ESTABLISH YOUR STRATEGY
Once you determine your why and adopt the right mindset, take the time to establish your relationship-building strategy. Sure, you can jump in and start sending out invitations to connect on LinkedIn, but if you come up with a plan first it will be smoother and more productive.

Set goals to reach out to a certain number of people a week or sign up for networking events (once allowed again) or a networking group geared specifically toward your professional industry where you have the opportunity to meet like-minded individuals.

3. MAKE IT A HABIT
Now, take those goals, and turn them into a habit; allocate time each day to only focus on building relationships with people involved in your profession—and nothing else.

Integrating this as part of your routine helps you to reach your objectives and you will notice improvements in your networks. But you need to follow through and also hold yourself accountable for doing so.

4. EVALUATE YOUR CURRENT NETWORKS
Assess your current spheres of influence and determine how to leverage the connections you already have.

Try this exercise: identify three people in your networks who you see as career leaders and are highly influential. Then consider the relationship you have with them, their successes, and how they impact others.

Communicate with them about your desire to expand your career networks; this will help you potentially discover who they can put you in touch with or they may even be aware of a beneficial business opportunity for you.

5. IDENTIFY YOUR WORTH
Overall, in order to develop any kind of significant relationship, you have to define your worth and the value you can provide to others.

When you know that your skills and experiences can be advantageous to someone else, you’re able to create connections on a deeper level, and hopefully, ones that instill trust and likability.

6. RECONNECT WITH CONNECTIONS
Spend time reaching out to people from your past you may have lost touch with. Whether it’s old friends, former colleagues, or college alumni you may not realize there are people you already know within your industry!

Although you may not have spoken for a while this offers a great reason and opportunity to reconnect and reestablish relationships with individuals who can impact your career—and vice versa.

7. BECOME A NETWORKWISE CERTIFIED PROFESSIONAL (NWW-CP)
Learning the proper way to build relationships and how beneficial it can be to create bonds with others in your industry is something we cover in our certification program.

This course teaches you practical networking strategies and techniques you can immediately implement to leverage relationships you already have and make new connections with influential individuals who will impact your career and success.

Once complete, you receive credentials validating you as a networking expert who understands how to build relationships that matter. Sign up today and become a NetWorkWise Certified Professional (NWW-CP)!

This article originally appeared on Quora