Always Lead With Curiosity, Not a Pitch. The biggest networking mistake: treating every conversation as transactional. People remember how you made them feel, not what you said about yourself. The counterintuitive truth: the less you talk about yourself, the more memorable you become. Selling is the outcome of good networking, not the goal of it. Ask first. Always. Try these openers: - "Are you working on anything interesting these days?" - "What's going on in [their industry] right now?" - "What's the biggest challenge in your business lately?" - "What kind of clients are you most excited to work with right now?" - "Is there anything you're trying to figure out or solve in your business this year?" - "What's keeping you the busiest right now?"