Professionals net-work all the time getting to know one another and thus creating trust. I regularly receive referrals from my friends and acquaintances in all my social networks. That happens because they know what I do and they know me. And likewise, I know them and what they do so I can easily make excellent referrals.
Disclaimer here: I don’t care for these types of groups. It feels too networking young professionals much like the dating and bar scene. Everyone’s seems to be scrounging around for business and not interested in anything deep or meaningful. Plus there are tons of the same types of persons at these meetings so you have lots of competition and not a lot of differentiation. What happens is your services become commodity services instead of personal-it becomes about your price instead of your inherent value.
Now that you’re ready to start networking, you’ll want to do it effectively. In order to do that you need to be able to carry on a conversation with the people you meet. Ok, I can tell you’re cringing again… Not to worry. The key to keeping a conversation going is to ask lots of questions. Following are questions you can ask when you first meet someone at a networking event. Keep asking questions and the conversation will flow naturally.
When you choose the right group, you’ll meet with like-minded people, build effective business and personal relationships, and promote your business too. When you go consistently and regularly, people will get to know you. As well as talking about you, you’ll be referring others to your connections too.
Carve out your niche – by focusing your website on one or two keywords your website customers will find you more relevant to their search. Don’t try to be all things to all people by placing 100 keywords in your meta tags. Use no more than a dozen.
For more info: Check back regularly for the NY Women’s Business Examiner’s tips on the best business resources, networking groups and business development. Visit Global Visionary Startup Services for additional business plan options.
For the actual presentation, the fact that you have timed it and run through it will have not done any harm. No doubts you’re still going to be nervous and all the symptoms above will still be there but here’s a great tip for how to keep it in control.
Obviously, you are going to have to make sure that you have all the necessary equipment, which can include a computer, telephone, internet, and specific software defined networking programs.
Consistency: It is necessary to be consistent through the different networks by adding the same information and profile picture when using similar IDs.
All of these components come together as a laser for a particular reason. In other words, the minds in your group are not aimless. They all have a specific direction, and that is to accomplish whatever is most important to the others.