If your income depends on networking with other people, this one’s for you.

Don’t bore me with your 5-minute spiel about what you do for a living. Give me a 6 second intriguing intro about what you do and let me ask questions if I want to. But don’t be offended if I’m not interested or don’t need your services right now.

My point is, develop a 6-second branding statement for yourself. If it’s interesting enough, people will ask questions… questions they want to know the answers to, and they’ll listen.

Your personal branding statement is not your job title. It’s not a 5-minute, 3-minute or even 1-minute speech. It’s the essence of who you are in a nutshell.  Mine is: “I help businesses gain new customers through marketing and advertising.” That’s simple, short, and it’s enough of a teaser to get a response like: “Exactly how you do that?” That’s your invitation to elaborate more about what you do.

But don’t stop there. Be genuinely interested in what they do by asking them questions. It’s how healthy relationships begin.