I love networking.

For me, it’s about building meaningful relationships with people I trust and admire. I know not everyone feels the same. For some, it’s more transactional and about getting something as quickly as possible from someone else. That’s why I developed my course on Strategic B2B Networking for Driving Sales.

My goal with this course is to help people develop networking habits that build real relationships, that are useful without being ick. If you are working on establishing new relationships yourself, make sure you reach out to people that you don’t necessarily see every day.

Ideally, you’ll want to have 7 kinds of people in your professional network.

I am always looking for practical tips for both “overzealous” and “reluctant” networkers. If you have any suggestions, please let me know!

The 7 Kinds of People You Want in Your Network

1/ (Current and former) Customers

These are people that have already bought from you. You should be strengthening these relationships, even when they’re inactive, because they may soon be in a situation to buy from you again—or serve as a source of referrals, or as a reference.

2/ Prospects

There are likely many people who “could” someday be a customer, but aren’t today. Get to know them, so when they’re ready to buy, you’ll be top of the list and front of mind.

3/ Mentors

Mentors are people you can learn from. Seek out people who are ahead of you in their career, or who have expertise you seek to develop, and build a connection.

4/ Peers

Remember how important it was in high school to have study buddies in every class—someone who shared notes, helped you out when things got tough and kept you laughing? You still need people like that—these are people at about your level, in similar roles to yours, both inside and outside your organization. You can bounce ideas off them, ask them questions too mundane for mentors and compare notes.

5/ Referral sources (upstream)

Some people will never be in a position to hire you, but know lots of prospective clients and have good relationships with them. Often they are upstream—meaning a customer buys from them before they would buy from you. For example, if you’re a decorator, it might be helpful to have architects and realtors as referral sources.

6/ Support sources (downstream)

You will look better if you can anticipate future needs of your client and have the connections to help them. Decorators need to be able to recommend painters, carpet installers and handymen.

7/ Mentees

It’s more than good karma that justifies finding people coming up in their careers behind you. Mentees force you to explain your logic and how you do things, which often helps you clarify your own strategy. You might be surprised by what you learn from them, since they are establishing their approach in a different time. And finally, people you mentor might be good hires one day.

And remember: Loose-ties are the key to a strong network.

Go beyond your close colleagues and invest in maintaining relationships with more casual contacts. If you focus your relationships too narrowly, you’ll end up with a group of people who all have the same connections.

By building ties across a broader community, you increase your reach, your sources for information and ultimately, your personal brand.