Networking is part of successful business. There are basically three types of networking. One is to do good work, and let satisfied customers speak for themselves. Another type of networking is to make sure people know about your good work. This doesn’t mean bragging or exaggerating. It simply means making sure people know about who you are and what you do. That’s what lunches or dinners, holiday cards, or other such things are for. It’s a way of making sure your name is ‘out there’ to people who will appreciate what you do and who you, in turn, respect and admire for various reasons. A third type of networking is where you ‘schmooze’ with people and flatter them, pretending to be friends with them when you’re not, and the like. It also sometimes means taking a side in a petty political conflict or turf war that you don’t really care about, pretending that you do care. It might help to keep this distinction, regarding different types of networking, in mind. You can do one or two kinds of networking without doing the other.