Chamber Chat: What business owners get wrong about networking

And the one word that might change everything, shifting from transactional networking to relationship‑driven “NetWeaving” could reshape how business owners connect and grow within their communities

The Vista Chamber of Commerce is changing the networking game to focus more on building relationships rather than a more transactional approach. Courtesy photo

Let me guess. Someone has told you recently that you need to “get out there and network more.” Maybe it was a business coach, a mentor, or your own internal voice nagging you on a Tuesday afternoon. And if you’re like a lot of the business owners I talk to, you heard that advice and felt, if we’re being honest, a little bit drained just thinking about it.

You’re not alone. And you’re not wrong.

Traditional networking has a reputation problem. Walk into the wrong event, and you know exactly what you’re going to get: a room full of people scanning each other’s name tags while mentally calculating whether this person is worth their time. Business cards are changing hands like currency. Conversations that feel more like auditions than actual human connections. You drive home with a pocketful of contacts you’ll never call and a vague sense that you’ve wasted an evening.

That’s not networking’s fault, exactly. It’s the mindset we bring to it.

At the Vista Chamber of Commerce, we’ve been talking for years about a different approach, one that flips the whole premise on its head. We call it NetWeaving, a concept developed by author Robert “Bob” Littell in his book “The Heart & Art of NetWeaving.” And once you understand it, you’ll never walk into a room the same way again.