You don’t have to have a gregarious personality to be an effective networker. In fact, people who are on the shy side often are very good at the kind of networking that matters. Although they might have some trouble breaking the ice, they are frequently the better listeners and therefore are better at forming lasting relationships.  

If you consider yourself to be more demure than dynamic, don’t let that stop you from networking where you can. If you don’t like to go to the big mixers to chat up strangers, consider the people that you already know. Do you belong to an organization, or do any volunteer or charity work? Are you involved in your child’s school? These are all great opportunities to deepen existing relationships and build your network. Online networking is also an excellent way to establish initial contact with people, so you might want to join an online who’s who organization. However you choose to approach it, you can be confident that you can be at least as good a networker as Boisterous Bob.