When you go to a networking event do you stick out like a sore thumb? I remember my mom used to say that a lot. I guess it means that if your thumb hurts, you seem to hit it on anything at all as you go through the daily routine. I would say that this phrase probably had a negative meaning.

I think that for most people, the natural tendency is to fit in, to not be noticed or to stand out in a crowd. Most people do not want to be in the spotlight and will go out of their way to avoid drawing the attention of everyone in the room.

In the networking environment, this practice of hiding in plain sight is detrimental to your goal of finding new prospects or clients.

I am not encouraging you to make a scene, you wouldn't want to start yelling at the top of your lungs, but it is vital to your success if you are different than others in the room. Some people are naturally charismatic. You see them from across the room laughing and carrying on. Now keep watching them. Do people seem to gravitate towards them during the course of the meeting?

In the past few years I have learned that our attitude helps us to become a magnetic personality. If we are positive most of the time, not only do people want to be around us, but we can actually inspire others to be positive. This feeling of positivism is infectious. It makes people want to help you. It makes people feel good about themselves and you.

It just plain enables them to consider doing business with you.

So you are saying to yourself, "Hey wait a minute, I have a great sense of humor and I am a great person!" I will not reject that fact. You probably do and you probably are. The thing is that most people feel this way and as we walk around bumping into each other, it is the people who stand out that are remembered. Everyone else is just another person with something to sell and nothing to say.

To raise your visibility, do something that is different or unexpected. Maybe some time go to a meeting and make a point to shake everyone's hand in the room even if there are two hundred people. As you shake their hand say something like, "you look like a person of great character and I just wanted to shake your hand." Well of course you might want to have a few extra lines to say , but I guarantee that if you did this, you will be noticed.

Let's borrow a lesson from advertising. If you are watching a commercial where all they do is tell you about the product. Chances are you will not remember it. Now, if you take the same material and have a talking 1200 pound walrus tell you about it, chances are you would notice the message if not just the walrus itself.

What I am trying to say is you have to get the attention of people. Everyone is fighting for your prospect's attention. Everywhere you go, everything you see, something or someone is saying, "Hey, look at me, listen to this." It is time to put on your cowboy hat and jump into the spotlight.

Get out there and get yourself noticed!

Copyright © - Jeff Glaze - Reprinted with permission. Register for his FREE newsletters, the monthly NewsWire and the weekly NewsFlash. Subscribe now and get the NEW E-Book "A Fire Within: Passionately Transfer Your Message to Others for Greater Success"for FREE. www.AtlantaEvent.com where you can order it securely online.

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