Why I Pause on the Networking Game

I used to be that person at every business mixer in town with name cards ready.

Your network is your networth, right?

So there I was, scheduling coffee sessions, connecting on LinkedIn, and making sure to follow up properly.

Last month, I attended a casual networking event at a trendy café in the city.

The usual scene — business owners from all industries mingling around, exchanging what they do. One runs a logistics company, another handles corporate training, someone else does property development. All quite impressive people with valuable offerings.

But then came the awkward part when they asked, “So what do you do?”

I explained my digital marketing services, but could immediately tell — most of them couldn’t see how I could help their specific business.

Out of ten conversations, maybe only one person’s business actually matched what I could offer.

Going home that evening, I felt a bit “why like this ah…”

I had collected insights and knowledge from all these successful people, but what value did I give back?

It felt unbalanced. Like I was there to absorb information but couldn’t reciprocate properly.

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That’s when I decided to temporarily close the networking chapter.

Instead, I’ve spent this past year focusing on expanding my expertise across more industries, developing services that can truly benefit a wider range of businesses.

When I return to the networking scene, I won’t just be there to collect contacts — I’ll come with actual solutions for various industries, not just one narrow segment.

True networking isn’t about how many cards you collect, but how much mutual benefit exists in each connection you make.

Sometimes to build something meaningful, you need to first build yourself.