Business Networking Tips
Business networking is a long-term effort focused on relationship building and expanding your degrees of associations.
Networking falls into the strategy category vs the task/tactic category.
- Be genuinely curious
- Variety is the spice! Visit as many groups as possible.
- If possible, pursue volunteer positions in networking organizations
- Who, What, When, Where and How. Ask questions based on those qualifiers to spark more informative conversations vs Yes/No type questions.
- Be clear about who you are, what you do and for who, and why you do what you do. In other words, be prepared to answer the previous question.
- Be clear about what you are looking for or need.
- Pursue being a powerful resource for others. If not there yet, then build up your portfolio. Being a resource will attract people to you.
- Follow-up with key contacts right away. Schedule 1-on-1 meetings for the really important contacts/leads.
There are many sources for networking, Meetup.com is one example to find groups. Local or regional chamber of commerce organizations host many networking events, too. Of course, the first step to any effective B2B networking strategy is to build the business alliance network on WinWinUSA.com!
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