Today we are talking about Balanced Networking. These are important concepts and practices regardless of your role in business. If you are a CEO or in an executive leadership role in a company, you will always want to expand your network. There are two sides to the coin of making new relationships to keep in balance.

The first one is having the “You NEVER KNOW” attitude – believing that anything is possible. Dr. Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, made a similar suggestion in an Entrepreneur magazine article "Networking Fundamentals to Boost Your Bottom Line. One of his points is to “Continuously add people to your network - think variety, not quantity.”

When you are out and about meeting people, be open to talking to anyone. You never know! Do you remember when you first met your best client? Did you know that the person was going to be your best client? You never know who is going to be the next superstar person in your business or your life.

Dr. Misner also advises us to “Be selective.” This is particularly relevant when you are organizing your follow up.

In other words, when figuring out how stay in touch with the people you meet, trust your instincts to schedule more quality time with people most likely to become dream clients, dream contacts, centers of influence, a dream employee, ideal referral partner, etc. and who would value what you do and who you are. That way, if you do run out of time, you will end the day saying, "Wow, what a productive day I had!"

So how about you? How might you balance your networking? More open-ness? More activity? More fine-tuned prioritization?