Many smart business people have become very educated with the networking process. They have a great elevator speech, know how to choose events carefully and how to work a room. But the important work really begins when the networker gets back to the office. Real results come from follow-up. When determining how much time to allot for a networking event, be sure to include the time you'll spend on follow-up.

Back at the Office Have you scheduled office time to send notes or other information you promised to share with new contacts?Have you scheduled time to enter new contacts into your database? Do you have a contact management system so you can follow up with prospects? Do you have a process for staying in touch with those people after the initial follow-up? Regarding useful information the speaker or contact may have shared, have you scheduled time to digest what you learned and execute the ideas?

If you answered "no” to one or more of these questions, what you attended was likely a purely social event, not a networking event. And that's OK, but you really can't count that as productive work time.

Networking managed properly can provide opportunities to build relationships which can result in business opportunities, valuable resources, and significant personal connections. Before you commit to your next event, ask yourself the questions that appear here and make networking a productive marketing tool for you and your business.