A Strategic Approach to Networking

So many business people attend networking events with the desire to get new business which, almost 100% of the time, leads to networking letdown.

 

Here are a couple of suggestions to help eliminate networking letdown (which I am on a personal mission to do).

1. Before your next networking event, decide who you want to meet. Are there gaps in your network? Do you need a good lawyer or accountant? Are there gaps in your contacts’ networks? Do you they need a landscaper or a personal chef? Imagine if you were able to refer them? You’d be a hero.

2. Design your introduction. Introductions are key to ensuring that conversations happen. It’s inevitable that you’ll be asked, “What do you do”? Be ready with a well thought-out, memorable (in a good way) response.

3. When you meet someone you like – stay connected. Ask to connect with him/her online. And even book a next meeting if you’d like to continue the conversation.

Every networking event gives us an opportunity to meet people with whom we can build a mutually beneficial relationship. With a bit of planning, we can create a profitable network to benefit ourselves and our contacts.

Stay in Line When You’re Online

Being active on social media is good for business. It helps nurture and grow high quality business relationships. When it's used properly. One of the best ways to be active online is to post testimonials about your contacts.

Here are a few things you can do:

1.      Like your contacts' Facebook pages. (For me, that's the BNI Golden Horseshoe page.) And be sure you're connected on LinkedIn.

2.      Post Thank You’s to your network online. Imagine how great that makes your contacts look?

3.   When one of your contacts has done great work, write about it. Third party testimonials build incredible credibility.

A couple of things to keep in mind when you’re posting:

1.      Don’t promote yourself – promote others – Givers Gain. Keep it short and sweet. Fifty words should do it.

2.     Watch the spelling. Typos don’t reflect the professional image you likely want. And photos should be of good quality.

3.     Add hyperlinks to connect to your contact’s website and Facebook page. Posts without links or graphics can seem boring. (Social media folks say they’re called dead posts. Who knew?)

4.     Use tagging (recognizing the people you’ve mentioned in the post), and hastags that represent your subject.

Most importantly when you’re posting online – be positive, supportive and respectful. Kind of like we all should be, all the timeJ.