My father was a newspaperman who headed the Associated Press in St. Paul, Minn., and his whole life depended on deadlines and contacts. When I was 18, he told me that every time I met someone, their name should go into my Rolodex, now known as a contact management system. Write down a little bit about that person—jobs, hobbies, interests, family, education and so on—and fi nd a creative way to stay in touch. I now have more than 12,000 names in my system, and they have saved my skin more times than I can count.

If you need a job, money, advice, help, hope or a means to make a sale, there’s only one surefire, fail-safe place to find them: your network. When your superior talent, enviable experience, guts, hard work and sparkling personality aren’t enough, you have to turn somewhere, and that somewhere is your network.

You need to build a network of people with a variety of skills and contacts before you need to use their particular talents and abilities. The corollary is that you will also become part of their networks, ready to be useful when possible. If I get you in my network, and you get me into your network, then we each have two networks, because you can then call me and ask me if I know someone, somewhere, who can guide you to someone or something you need.

The first real networking school I signed up for after college was Toastmasters International, and 40-plus years later, I am still using the concepts I learned at these meetings. In addition to developing your speaking skills, you learn about doing your homework, self-confidence, appearance, and becoming an interesting person and valuable resource to others. It can help you gain and polish the tools to become a successful networker.

A few years later, when I was an inexperienced new owner of a struggling envelope company, I learned I needed all the help I could get. I begged for appointments with people who were doing what I wanted to do, who could mentor me and teach me a few tricks.

I developed more than a network—I made some terrific friends. And they were willing to introduce me to members of their networks. Listen and learn from the masters, and then when you become a master, pass along the favor. Your network will either have a member who can help you or who knows someone else who could be helpful. But you have to ask! My lifelong philosophy is: Never say no for the other person.

Networks are important for personal interests as well as business contacts. Just about every topic you are interested in probably has some club associated with it, and they are filled with folks like you who have a day job and a life beyond.

In our global business world, having a network that extends beyond the city limits is essential. With phone, e-mail and the Internet, it’s just as easy to build a global network as a local one.

How do you get started? Begin with your friends and family, then try your banker, lawyer or accountant. Start a blog. Twitter, as I do. Check the nearest university, where you’ll find students and faculty with contacts around the world.

And don’t be afraid to hire a network. If you aren’t an expert at something, and don’t know an expert, you can always hire an expert. Your network can help you to know where to look.

My network has been central to my success in business as well as in my personal life. As the old saying goes, “It’s not what you know; it’s whom you know!”

Harvey Mackay is a motivational expert and author of five New York Times Best-Sellers, including Swim with the Sharks Without Being Eaten Alive. He’s a nationally syndicated columnist and chairman of the MackayMitchell Envelope Company.

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