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URL: https://www.coursera.org/learn/business-networking-101-how-to-network-like-a-pro

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Business Networking 101: How to Network Like a Pro

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Business Networking 101: How to Network Like a Pro

This course is part of Own Your Career Specialization

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Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

Gain insight into a topic and learn the fundamentals.
Beginner level

Recommended experience

4 hours to complete
Flexible schedule
Learn at your own pace

What you'll learn

  • How to network strategically by separating it from prospecting and building long-term relationships through outreach, leverage, and giving.

  • How to manage and follow up with hundreds of contacts using a tiered CRM, focused social media strategy, and daily habits that compound.

  • How to handle every networking situation β€” elevator pitches, trade shows, virtual calls, and reconnecting after years of silence.

Details to know

Shareable certificate

Add to your LinkedIn profile

Recently updated!

May 2026

Assessments

8 assignments

Taught in English

Build your subject-matter expertise

This course is part of the Own Your Career Specialization
When you enroll in this course, you'll also be enrolled in this Specialization.
  • Learn new concepts from industry experts
  • Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
  • Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
  • Earn a shareable career certificate

There are 5 modules in this course

Networking can feel awkward, transactional, or like a chore you keep meaning to get to. It doesn't have to. In this course, marketing strategist Joe Apfelbaum and community-builder Tami Schlichter, who together have trained over 10,000 business owners and sales professionals, teach you how to network the way the pros do β€” strategically, generously, and consistently.

You'll learn how to separate networking from prospecting and adopt the giver's mindset that produces the biggest long-term opportunities. You'll prepare an elevator pitch that makes people curious, find networking opportunities in unconventional places (airports, coffee shops, religious gatherings, online communities), and master the three-step approach for trade shows. You'll build a CRM and follow-up system that fits your existing workflow, design a focused social media strategy, and develop the daily habits that compound over months and years. By the end of the course, you'll have a complete networking system β€” from the first hello to the long-term reconnection. Whether you're new to networking or want to take your existing relationships to the next level, this course gives you what you need to build a network that genuinely creates value, both for the people in it and for you.

Networking done wrong costs you relationships, time, and credibility. You’ll separate networking from prospecting, apply three core strategies that move your goals forward, and sidestep the most common mistakes that derail new networkers.

What's included

4 videos2 assignments

4 videosβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Business Networkingβ€’2 minutes
  • Networking vs Prospectingβ€’3 minutes
  • Successful Networking Strategiesβ€’3 minutes
  • Mistakes With Networkingβ€’2 minutes
2 assignmentsβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Networking vs. Everything Elseβ€’10 minutes
  • Your First Outreach Sprintβ€’20 minutes

When you show up without a plan, a pitch, or a giving mindset, even the best networking event becomes a missed opportunity. You’ll get clear on your goals and your offer, build a giver’s mindset, and craft an elevator pitch that makes people lean in instead of tune out.

What's included

5 videos1 reading1 assignment

5 videosβ€’Total 17 minutes
  • Effective Networking Preparationβ€’2 minutes
  • Understanding Yourselfβ€’4 minutes
  • Managing Networking Expectationsβ€’3 minutes
  • Establishing a Giver Mindsetβ€’6 minutes
  • Elevator Pitch Strategyβ€’2 minutes
1 readingβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • The Authentic You: Why Showing Up as Yourself Winsβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Show Up Readyβ€’10 minutes

Networking opportunities don’t only live at after-hours mixers and industry events. You’ll find your best networking venues, choose the right groups, and build a playbook for connecting in person and online.

What's included

4 videos1 reading1 assignment

4 videosβ€’Total 14 minutes
  • Networking Everywhereβ€’2 minutes
  • Popular Networking Groupsβ€’4 minutes
  • Trade Show Networkingβ€’5 minutes
  • Virtual Networking Strategiesβ€’3 minutes
1 readingβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Choosing the Right Networking Groupβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • Where Networking Happensβ€’10 minutes

Without a system to manage your contacts, your best networking conversations fade into a list of forgotten names. You’ll set up a CRM that fits your workflow, build a follow-up rhythm by contact tier, and dramatically improve your response rates.

What's included

4 videos3 assignments

4 videosβ€’Total 18 minutes
  • CRM for Networkingβ€’4 minutes
  • Follow-up Systemsβ€’5 minutes
  • Social Media Strategyβ€’3 minutes
  • Getting Responsesβ€’6 minutes
3 assignmentsβ€’Total 50 minutes
  • Stay Top of Mindβ€’10 minutes
  • Set Up Your Networking CRMβ€’20 minutes
  • Tier Your Networkβ€’20 minutes

Everything you know about networking is only as valuable as your ability to put it into practice every day. You’ll run productive networking calls, host your own events, reconnect with dormant contacts, and build the daily habits that make networking automatic.

What's included

5 videos1 reading1 assignment

5 videosβ€’Total 17 minutes
  • Perfect Networking Callβ€’4 minutes
  • Running Networking Eventsβ€’5 minutes
  • Reconnecting With Contactsβ€’3 minutes
  • Automatic Networking Habitsβ€’5 minutes
  • Becoming a Connectorβ€’2 minutes
1 readingβ€’Total 10 minutes
  • How to Run a Networking Event People Want to Come Back Toβ€’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ€’Total 30 minutes
  • Network Like a Proβ€’30 minutes

Earn a career certificate

Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.

Instructor

Madecraft
71 Coursesβ€’2,882 learners

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Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you can’t afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, you’ll find a link to apply on the description page.

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