What Networking Advice Should Women Over 40 Ignore?

Nobody needs another 'power networking' strategy from a 28-year-old who's never had to skip an event because of a parent-teacher conference.

Stop Passing Out Business Cards Like Halloween Candy

If the thought of attending another "Women in Business" luncheon where everyone goes around the table and gives their 60-second elevator pitch makes you want to take a nap, you're not alone. You're just over 40.

Most networking advice is written for 24-year-old tech bros who are trying to "hustle" their way to the top by collecting business cards like Pokémon. "Never eat alone." "Always be pitching." "Your network is your net worth." It's exhausting, it's transactional, and for women who have already spent two decades building careers, raising families, and navigating life, it feels incredibly hollow.

You don't need a bigger network. You need a deeper one. Here is the traditional networking advice you have full permission to ignore.

Bad Advice #1: "Never Eat Alone"

Please, for the love of peace, eat alone. Eat alone in your car. Eat alone in a quiet cafe. Protect your energy. The idea that every lunch hour must be monetized or used for "connection" is a fast track to burnout.

As an experienced professional, your energy is your most valuable asset. Spending it on forced small talk with a stranger who just wants to sell you life insurance is a terrible ROI. Instead of trying to meet 50 new people this year, focus on deeply connecting with five. Five women who get it, who challenge you, and who mention your name in rooms you aren't in.

Bad Advice #2: "Always Have Your Elevator Pitch Ready"

Nobody wants to be pitched in an elevator. Or at a coffee shop. Or at a dinner party. When you lead with a rehearsed, sterile pitch about how you "help female entrepreneurs actualize their paradigm shifts," people tune out.

Instead of pitching, get really good at asking interesting questions. "What's the most exciting thing you're working on right now?" or "What's the biggest bottleneck in your business this week?" When you listen intensely and offer genuine insight without immediately trying to sell your services, you become memorable. Expertise doesn't need to be pitched; it demonstrates itself in conversation.

Bad Advice #3: "Show Up Everywhere"

You do not need to be in every Facebook group, at every local chamber meeting, and on every new social media app that launches. Showing up everywhere guarantees you will have an impact nowhere.

Pick two rooms. One room where your ideal clients hang out, and one room where your peers (people who inspire you and push you to be better) hang out. Go deep in those two rooms. Be the most helpful, consistent person there. The Business Blender Ecosystem was explicitly designed to be one of those rooms — a place where you don't have to perform, you just have to participate.

Stop treating networking like a numbers game. Treat it like community building. The women who win the long game aren't the ones with the most business cards. They're the ones with the deepest roots.

Cheers to your success,

Lori Walker

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