All relationships require give and take if they’re to thrive.

In networking – and especially within well structured networking groups – you get to meet a lot of new people. That gives you a lot of opportunities to form new business relationships.

With a new relationship, somebody has to be the first person to give something. And as you can’t control the other party, that person has to be you.

If you’ve just met somebody it may not be appropriate to give a referral, so you might start thinking about giving something else.

It might be notice of an upcoming event you know the person will find useful. It might be free advice or information. It might even be a free taste of your product or service.

Whatever it is, there must be some value attached to it. I’m not talking about unreasonable value. Just enough so the other person recognises it as a selfless act on your part.

Most of the world’s population feel compelled to reciprocate when given something they find valuable. And this helps to get the relationship started.

What about those who simply take and take and take? Forget about them. They’re few in number.

There’s no point keeping score. If you find you’re doing all the giving, and you’re not happy about it, move on.