Making Contact

Janet Arnett is the former campus manager of adult education at Ontario’s Georgian College. She is the author of Antiques and Collectibles: Starting Small, The Grange at Knock, and 673 Ways to Save Money.

Barry Siskind identifies three types of contacts to be sought out via
networking—nurturers, achievers, and mentors—and shares ideas on how
to connect with them.

Making Contact formalizes a procedure that most businesspeople stumble
through by instinct. Most know the value of a healthy, current network
when it comes to making sales, changing jobs, or garnering support for a
project or cause. Few think of it as a task to be analyzed and re-duced
to a process.

As well as examining the goals, motives, and core procedures for
networking, the book includes a section on overcoming the fear of
meeting strangers, a lengthy section on interacting with the
handicapped, and details on the art of networking at trade shows. The
section on mentoring will be of interest both to those seeking a mentor
and to experienced businesspeople who are ready to take on the role of
mentor for younger colleagues.

Networking was an overworked subject for business books during the
1980s but has since dropped in popularity, leaving the field open for
Siskind to generate new interest in the topic.