I always tell people that are new to the business—they always ask what they can do to get started—to go out and meet people. I give them a task—not to come to the office today. Don’t come in today. Spend the whole day meeting and getting to know people. Do it all day long; only take an hour off for lunch. Give yourself goals: one person in finance, one person in banking, one person in construction, one person in city government, etc. It’s amazing—no one can do it. No one wants to do it. I guess humans just have some natural proclivity to avoid people they wouldn’t normally approach (anyone other than family or friends). And I’m not going to try and convince you that this process is effortless, or even fun. I agree with a lot of the things that people tell me about networking—especially the early stages of it. It’s a lot like cold calling. But, like cold calling, at some point it’s unavoidable. You’re going to have to get out there and network, and consistently, or your business will simply suffer. What’s extremely more fulfilling about networking, versus cold calling, is that it gets better and better, easier and easier, because you learn to survey the landscape and target your efforts.