Digital Marketing

The keys to successful networking

Over the many years since I became a business owner in 1990, I have realized the incredible value of having strong relationships with contacts. Networking with these contacts, or approaching someone new for the purpose of networking, is an important aspect of any marketing plan.

Personally, I have run a home management services company, helped run a drum teaching and repair business, was a radio host, blogger, and writer in various fields (review, blogging, freelance, published author). Many of the strong relationships we have built in each of these industries over these 30 years remain valuable contacts today.

Understanding what networking entails is vital, you need to know and be prepared for the hidden behind-the-scenes activities that make it all happen. Before starting a campaign, think about how your communications should reflect the image of your company. This can include color scheme, design, logos, links, and other intricacies that reflect your brand. Also consider the visual effect of your communications: if it appears clean, concise, attractive and uncluttered. Clean, sharp and simple is the best way to go.

Networking means you need to have something to offer. Will you include your name in your ad? Can you include any aspect of your business activities, policies, or community projects in your customer email newsletter? Can you partner with them for a special sale or get your staff together for a volunteer activity? Can you offer them great resources, for no other reason than to simply help them? Will you recommend clients? Perhaps you can be a mentor, provide advice, offer services, discounts to your staff, redeem coupons. Networking campaigns will vary over the years and you may have to find reasons to reach out and reconnect with those contacts (at least once a year).

It’s equally important to have a plan in place so that when someone comes up and does something nice, they can express their gratitude quickly and efficiently.

Keep a brief log of the communications you have had with your networking group. It’s easy to use a simple program like Excel to create a short worksheet where you can enter names, contacts, and the latest campaign project. Color code the worksheet so you can see at a glance who to follow up with. Every time you reach out, be sure to offer something: a helpful link, a contest they might be interested in, a discounted product, a free gift of some kind, an idea to network those who want to join or check if they need more content for your blog.

Finding new contacts for networking is rarely a problem. Start with your current stack of business cards, your vendors, employees, and customer lists. Don’t forget your personal phone book where you have a list of people you already know. Send each of them a quick note to let them know how much you appreciate them, what it is you appreciate about them, and how you hope to work together in some way, or maybe you’re getting closer just to let them know how you’re doing. doing and what you are doing.

Visit local job centers to learn about businesses in the area that complement or compete with yours. Small business advisory groups, workshops, and events can be found through your local library and government offices. Don’t forget to network with the staff while you’re there; At the very least, introduce yourself, invite them to communicate and give them your card. If you are going to an event, have plenty of business cards handy. Write on the back of your card (or theirs) a note about the conversation and what you promised to do, that is, you may have said “I will contact you tomorrow to let you know who my son’s baseball coach is.” and you also wrote it down on the card he gave you. After the event, it’s easy to take a look at the collected cards by remembering all the people you met and reaching out, referring to the conversation and keeping your promise.

Be on the lookout for articles and interviews with people who specialize in a field similar to yours: learn about the steps they have taken, the successes and mistakes they have experienced, the resources they might recommend. Visit their websites and try to find out why they chose that layout, the layout, the images, etc. Reach out to them to let them know that they influenced you, that you liked their article or interview, or that you would love to connect with them on social media. Look for resources, helpful links, and articles on like-minded websites. Check their media pages to see where they’ve gotten exposure; maybe the media listed there are interested in you too.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *