Meylah: Working Your Network: 5 Ways Networking Can Boost Business

Originally posted on Meylah by Molly Fisher on June 2, 2010.

A brilliant CEO said a perplexing thing to me once: "Deals are done on the golf course or at the bar." Being a fairly new professional, working hard to create my meticulously "buttoned-up" persona to get ahead in the corporate world, I found this statement immensely confusing.

It was not until years later, as I gained experience in sales and marketing, that I learned one statement is the key to everything about growing a successful business or personal brand. It really is about who you know, who they know, and the reputation you build over time.

People do business with people they like and trust. Particularly in the art/craft world, the one thing many successful career artists and businesses have in common is that most were started with strong support from the founder's network. We've all heard their stories: