I was researching online today and found an interesting resource at the About.com Sales Blog on networking. This is a passion of mine so I read through and found some very interesting advice. I’ll share a few things and then you tell me what you think.
Separating the vital from the trivial is an important skill in business. Especially today given the limited resource of cash has been further reduced.
The article encouraged planning ahead to some degree:
“…inquire ahead of time if the host issues a list of attendees and if they do be sure to request one. Read through and study it so that you have an idea of who you want to connect with while you are there.”
If you can’t get this list, a call to the registrar or membership director will yield some good results too. (more…)
I regularly attend networking events and the most common activity among them, besides eating of course, is the 30 second promotion. This is where the microphone is passed around for each attendee to give a 30 second promo for their business.
Outside of the meet and greet time earlier, this is the best opportunity to recruit links. However, 99% of the time this opportunity is squandered with the unprepared business-as-usual sales pitch.
I often see the eyes of those around me roll back as the facilitator finishes the directions and passes the mic to the first speaker. They then move on to checking their Blackberrys, going for seconds, or reading the handouts on the table.
This is the norm in almost all networking groups, and often by design. Chambers, associations, chapters, alumni groups – they all tend to get directions from their facilitators that sound something like this:
“For your 30 second promos, please tell us your name, the company you work for, what you do, and one thing people don’t know about you.” (more…)
I remember leaving a lunch event years back with a stack of business cards in my hand after sharing with people my Technology Consulting business.
The cards weren’t mine.
I was so excited to have met so many prospects and potential customers in one place in just a couple hours. I was diligent to transfer the data from the cards into my contact manager so I could follow up and drum up some business.
I followed up.
Then again.
And again.
I was doing what the gurus told me, “the fortune is in the follow up.”
Yet, I didn’t get any business from this event.
Was I at the wrong event? Was I just wearing the wrong suit or said the wrong things? Maybe it was just a fluke – next week would be different.
What happened?
You are certainly familiar with the myriad options for business networking. Events with LeTip, BNI, Associations, Trade Shows, and the local Chamber of Commerce are just a few examples. (more…)
