It’s not who you know that’s important. It’s what you know about who you know — plus being able to access and use that information — that counts.

Get that right, says Jeffrey W. Meshel, and good things are bound to happen. Meshel, author of One Call Away: Secrets of a Master Networker, is a real estate and financial executive, president of Mercury Properties, Mercury Equity Group and Paradigm Capital Group. At his presentation earlier this month during the Business Expo at the Rhode Island Convention Center, Meshel said he has 10,000 names in his personal database.

“My true passion is networking ... at the end of the day, I collect people,” he said. “I throw seeds out, and I see what happens. Maybe I find that a tree won’t grow over here, but it will grow over there.” Once you get the reputation of knowing a lot of people, Meshel said, others will begin to see you as a person who can make things happen, and opportunity will come your way. You become the “magnet.”

Speaking of magnets, Meshel is chairman of an organization called The Strategic Forum with offices in New York City and South Florida, the two locations where Meshel spends most of his time. His Web site describes the forum as an organization of business leaders from diverse backgrounds who get together, dedicated to exchanging ideas and developing opportunities among members. Meshel, of course, is at the center of the action.

At the Business Expo, he suggested adopting a canny mix of altruism and self-interest.

It sounds too good to be true, Meshel said, but an unselfish attitude can work wonders. “Don’t live in a world of ‘what’s in it for me?’ ” Meshel said. “Ask how you can help the other person. Ultimately it will come back to help you.”

Meshel said collecting business cards is useless if you just end up with a lot of cards that don’t mean anything. He suggested writing notes about the person you just met on the back of the card, and then make sure the information ends up where it can be put to use. “Knowing who you know is crucial . . . The technology, the software, allows you to do very cool things. But if you don’t put them [the names] in your data base, then don’t bother to collect them.”

Meshel suggested keeping a “passion list” about the people you meet. If you know someone is a wine connoisseur, for example, then perhaps a fine bottle of wine is the best way to develop a relationship. “You need to be thinking outside the box,” Meshel said. “It comes back in spades.”

To illustrate the power of networking, he asked members of the audience to introduce themselves, and tell what they needed, and see if anyone could help. One man came to the microphone and said he was looking for people who wanted to buy houses. Someone in the audience suggested he target high-end apartment complexes, where people paying might be tired of expensive rents. Someone else suggested bridal stores, where couples about to tie the knot might be considering home ownership.

Meshel said he’s about to bring his networking skills to the Internet, where he has developed a new Web site called paradigm5.com. People on the site list their skills, accomplishments and interests, and what Meshel called “semantic search technology” will match them up with other people on the site who can provide business opportunities. The site doesn’t become fully active until June 16, although a preliminary, or beta, version is running at www.paradigm5.com.

asmith@projo.com