Networkers don't bite your hand!

I confess I am a Networking cheerleader! I can't get enough of its benefits and I facilitate my clients the process in which they raise their level of comfort with it to be more successful.
Here are the most frequent excuses I have found that prevent people to do effective networking:
1. I do not have the time now. That is the #1 procrastinating excuse for people that find the time to TIVO and watch their favorite TV shows, play golf every Saturday or spend quite a number of hours a week looking for a job on the web. My response back is: what is important to you? If you want to advance your career or just find that job that will allow you to get your bills back on track, then you have no choice but network yourself into those affinity groups that allow you to expand your contacts and strengthen your professional brand in a way that is more visible for potential employers. It works!!!! The CareerXRoad's 2007 Annual Sources of Hire Survey shows that 34% of new hires brought in from outside an organization were due to employee referrals.
2. I do not like or do not know how to engage in small talk with strangers. There are lots of things we all feel uncomfortable in doing and that may be one of them. As many others, you'll have to figure a way to overcome that barrier and get yourself into the spotlight if you want to get out of the anonymous pile of applicants that each recruiter gets for a job. So, what to do? Make a script, prepare for that network talk, practice your 30 seconds branding speech about who you are, what you do and your professional highlights. And be ready to respond to any further inquiry on what you've done that demonstrates with clear and tangible examples your successes and contributions. But hey! Do not forget to listen and keeping attentive to clues that eventually will move you to the right direction.
3. What if I get rejected? There are lots of people at a networking gathering event. Everyone is looking to extend their own networks and some have a further clarity on the type of people they are looking to meet. Do not spend more time than necessary with people you feel you do not have any commonality with. Go to the next person and start over. Remember, not everyone is skillful at these meetings. That is why there are so many resources to learn the art of networking. A couple of books I've enjoyed and recommend reading are Breakthrough Networking: Building Relationships That Last and Guerrilla PR wired. Remember, the chances are that once you have become a regular member of a network, its members will acknowledge your presence and your professional brand will have better chances to be recognized.
4. I do not know anyone there! Well, isn't that the point of networking? Yes, you are entitled to have - like most of us - butterflies in your stomach the first time to go to a meeting and you do not know anyone, but as everything takes practice you can just win by stretching out of your comfort zone to network. It is a marvelous learning experience that has only benefits.

So, are you ready to go and move on beyond your excuses to network and build your brand successfully?
And as my Mom used to say (like most) when I was little: Try it, you may like it.