For professionals to succeed, visibility is the key. For those of you who are shy or reticent, and with busy lives we all lead, it is getting more difficult to develop connections with other people. The workplace has many obstacles to those who are shy, to the point that they prefer solitary work than working on projects with others.
Think of making your own eBay store for marketing and selling bulk items, since they have a longer stay than normal auctions. Join the eBay community and read the forums to networking groups auckland stay updated.
When you network with people who need your products/services (or know others who do) there will be a natural interest in knowing more about your business. Stop, not so quick – the story of you and your business comes later. First, let’s walk through what happens at a networking event and I will give you a tip for each step.
Enter the room with confidence, stand up straight and smile. Look for a friendly face and introduce yourself. If you don’t see an opportunity to meet someone right away don’t panic. A sure fire way to strike up a conversation is to get in a line (to sign in, for food, for drinks, for the restrooms). You can also approach the person hosting the event and ask for an introduction. In addition, if the list of attendees is available prior to the meeting you can identify someone you would like to meet and approach someone to ask if the person you are looking for is at the meeting.
Find your source for networking events. If you prefer official recommendations, go the route of your local Chamber of Commerce and head to their events–and ask members at those events what groups they prefer. If you dig word-of-mouth suggestions, ask fellow mom entrepreneurs or business colleagues where they go to swap advice with others. If you’re an online gal, head to Meetup.com where you can find hundreds of networking groups in your zip code and by your type of interest.
The answer is one word; software defined networking. Since recruiters maximize the use of their networks and others, all you have to do is be so well networked that a recruiter can’t help but find you. If you really are well networked, as recruiters tap into their networks, your name will always come up as a referral. The more often recruiters hear, “You should call ____, they sound exactly like what you are looking for” the higher the probability you will get a call.
Cold calling is direct to the customer and the first words you say need to be inviting for the customer not to hang up. The tip is to advise them if they don’t have to talk them for their email address for you to send information. That way to have their email for future contact and potentially encourage them to be a lead.
Practice active listening. You’ll captivate the talker by speaking less. The majority of people enjoy talking about themselves. They’ll enjoy the conversation so much they won’t notice you have hardly spoken.
When you learn networking is not about sell, sell, sell and me, me, me, you will soon find more people are attracted to you and what you have to offer.