April 15, 2015
People often lose sight of the fact that networking is about like-minded individuals who are getting together to discuss and learn more about how to make their business better than they could have ever dream they could be.
Naturally, in these groups, through trust and the building of relationships, people become walking advertisements for each other. However, if you don’t successfully network for yourself and your business, you won’t have that free advertising and will lose the people in your group who could be of great benefit to you. Not to mention, you could be passing up the chance at life long friends, so we want to make sure you are doing this correctly for that reason as well.
NETWORKING TIP #1
So, what do you think tip one is? It is something that I think it very important if you want to be a part of your networking community. The first tip is to ask open ended questions while you are attending a networking event. This means questions that ask WHO, WHAT, WHERE, WHEN & HOW as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no. Asking these questions let’s the other participants know that you care about them and their businesses and are interested in what they have to say. This can mean the difference between someone helping you with your business because they trust you and value your opinion and someone totally forgetting who you are in the group because you don’t speak up. It is as easy as being a good listener.
NETWORKING TIP #2
Next, do what you can to be known as a powerful resource for the other people in your networking group. When people view you as a powerful resource, they will remember more about you and the details of your business. If you own a lawn company and someone in your networking group has a neighbor who is looking for that sort of service, they will be much more likely to refer them to you as someone who is knowledgeable and trust worthy. After all, that is a big part of what people are looking for when they network with others. No one wants to work with someone they can’t trust.
NETWORKING TIP #3
Finally, I suggest that you be able to very clearly articulate what you are looking for out of this networking group, what you can do for others and what others can do for you. If you want something done correctly and quickly, you must be able to go into these groups prepared to be helped and also to help others. You want to be clear and helpful. Just as no one would want to work with someone they don’t trust, people also don’t want to work with people who don’t seem to have a grasp on what they can do and who the can do it for.
I hope this gives you some insight on how to prepare for your networking group and how you can be successful with just a few easy tips.
What other tips do you think are important when becoming a great networker?