In order to build successful relationships with others, you must first understand yourself! How do you communicate? How do you like to receive information? What are your strengths? Weaknesses? Understanding yourself will make it easier to identify opportunities.

Be multi-dimensional – people want to do business with interesting people! It’s important to know your industry, sure, but what are your interests outside of it? What makes people want to do business with you specifically and not someone else?

Establish a personal connection. Learn about the person first, and their business needs second. They are more likely to trust you if you’re invested in them as a professional, but also as a human being!

Stay top of mind. Sometimes obtaining the relationship can be the easy part, but maintaining it a challenge. It doesn’t take much time to check in with someone to let them know you’re there and not just interested in a one-time transaction. You want to build long-lasting relationships, not fleeting ones. Maintaining the relationship is key to doing this.

Expanding your network. All it takes is having one relationship to kickstart things. Ask that person who he/she could introduce you to and then have that person facilitate an introduction and continue to do so!