So, two questions: "How good is your networking?" and "How do you know?"

When I first started trying to grow my business through networking, I thought I was doing a great job. I attended events. I called people. I sent emails. Wasn't that what I was supposed to do? The problem was, I had no real clue at what level I was performing and whether my efforts were meeting my needs. Then I took a great networking class where one of the tools they taught was the "networking scorecard."

Now, since then, I've seen a number of these systems, but they all had the basics in common. You set up a scorecard of point values for different networking activities. Each day, you record your score. Suddenly you have a tool that tells you exactly how well you are doing with your networking. If you can somehow record some metrics about the results you are seeking — sales calls, number of contracts signed, value of those contracts, etc. — then you've got some real power.

When I started actually tracking my behaviors and results like this, I was amazed. First of all, I discovered that I wasn't doing nearly as well as I thought I was. Then, as I increased my level of networking activity, I could see how each increase would increase the frequency of getting a signed contract and how the values of those contracts also increased. I could also see the delay factor, which told me how long it took for an increase in activity to show up in my bottom line.

Is it a perfect science? Not a bit. But I'll tell you, when it comes to networking, a close approximation is way better than wandering around in the dark. It's also such a small amount of effort for such a big return of information, not doing it didn't make any sense.

Tomorrow we'll talk about how to set up a scorecard of your own.

Greg Peters, founder of The Reluctant Networker LLC, writes, speaks and coaches about good networking practice. For more tips that can help your connections count, go to www.thereluctantnetworker.com.