For real estate agents, networking can be as simple as being at an event or activity and talking up at least 10 or more new people, letting them know you’re a real estate agent and giving them your business card. It’s about making new contacts with people who could use your services and can be a great way to build up new leads and get referrals.

If you’re in an area with a solid Chamber of Commerce you definitely want to join to attend all the networking events held. Belonging to a Lion’s Club, Church Activity Board or any other organized group that has events will give you plenty of networking opportunities. When you go, be ready to network the heck out of the event, take business cards, have a notepad and pen on hand, etc. If you go to an event and DON’T meet at least 10 new people to give business cards to and get email addresses from then you haven’t really networked at all.

You don’t want to just walk up to people, say you’re an agent and hand them your card because that’s not going to make a strong impression on them. Instead introduce yourself by name only and ask them about themselves, how they wound up at the event, what they do for a living, etc. People like to talk about themselves, and this is a great way to get comfortable with the person and build some rapport.

Once you have a comfortable conversation going, you can slide in a story about yourself that relates to the topic of conversation. For instance, if the other person is telling a story about a rude customer, slip in a customer horror story of your own, making sure you mention you’re in realty. This way you’ve let them know you’re an agent and you can say “by the way, here’s my card, I send out a monthly email with coupons to local businesses – did you want in on that?”

By offering to send them something, you have an excuse for requesting their email address. Also, if they work in a field semi-related to yours – maybe they happen to be in landscaping – you can request their email under the pretext of sending some leads their way, since new homeowners may be interested in getting landscaping done.

Of course, if you’re offering to send them something via e-mail, make sure you can back that claim up! Talk to local businesses about getting coupons for your newsletter for free – they get free advertising out of it and you have something to offer the leads on your drip campaign.

The bottom line with networking is to start natural conversations with tons of people you’ve never spoken with before. Don’t force yourself and your services on people, but be aware of any opportunity to naturally slip in something about real estate and what you can offer your clients.