Duncan Mathison and Martha I. Finney

Let's face it: Even when you're on top of the world, chances are good that the idea of networking sounds like a big, fat drag. You can probably think of 100 other things you'd rather do -- like cleaning the blades of your ceiling fan. But if you're one of the 14.9 million who are competing for what seems to be a handful of jobs, your confidence has probably taken a hit. So now is probably not the time to be meeting anyone new. In fact, now is not the time to get out of your pajamas.

CareerBuilder.com

Two strangers meet at a networking function. One person speaks up first. "Hi, I'm Laura Mulford," she says, offering her hand to her partner.

"Raj Babu," he responds with a handshake. "Nice to meet you." The whole exchange takes less than four seconds. Ten minutes later, neither person can remember the other's name.

Ah, names. Some people have gift for remembering them. But for far too many of us, they go in one ear and right out the other. Unfortunately, referring to everyone as "hey" or "you" can be suicide when it comes to networking.

Ivan R. Misner, Ph.D., with Michelle Donovan

Networking is more than just shaking hands and passing out business cards. Networking is really about building your social capital, according to the results of a survey of more than 2,000 businesspeople throughout the United States, U.K., Canada and Australia, published in "Masters of Networking" by Ivan Misner and Don Morgan. The survey respondents rated the traits related to developing and maintaining good relationships.

Here are the top 10 traits that make a master networker, ranked in order of their importance as judged by the respondents.