Key Podcast Highlights
What Are Four Tips for Networking?
1. Face-to-face networking is more beneficial than online networking. It provides more opportunities and builds longer lasting relationships.
2. Remember that you don’t have to be the life of the party. If there’s 20 people in the room or 200 people in the room, just focus on a few. If you walk away with one good connection that could potentially lead to more sales or more opportunities.
3. Pick a networking organization and stick with it. There’s a lot of networking events all over the place. So, you can go to meetup.org or you can keep an eye out on your local business papers. You can also go to trade shows or join your industry association.
4. Don’t underestimate how much time online networking can take. To really be successful at online marketing or online networking, you really have to invest the time to pose questions, respond to questions and build relationships that way.
Transcript
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Gene (00:01):
Hey everybody, it’s Gene Marks and welcome to this week’s episode of the Hartford Small Biz Ahead podcast. Thank you so much for joining me. I have some advice that I want to give for this episode about networking. Networking is a big deal for a lot of business owners, and I have to say when I look at my own business and I look at the new clients and customers that I’ve gotten over the years, when I look at the leads that I get… the bottom line is that I get my leads primarily from referrals and from personal relationships. We do email marketing campaigns, we’re active on social media. We do some Google AdWords and certainly that contributes a little bit to the work that I get, but particularly for B2B business, a professional services firm like mine. I mean our bread and butter is through relationships and networking is a really important part of those relationships.
Gene (00:54):
Now, this past week, there was a really great article that was written by Susan Laborde, I hope I’m pronouncing her name right. She’s a tech writer for tech report and it was called 35 Plus Most Insightful Business Networking Statistics of 2024. Now, I’m not gonna go through all 35 of them of course, but I wanted to just draw out some of my thoughts from these statistics that I can share with you. Sort of like four things, four pieces of advice that I have for you when it comes to networking for your business. Okay? So, the first is this. Face-to-face networking is, it’s just simply better than online. I mean, it’s just, it provides more opportunities, it builds longer lasting relationships. According to the networking statistics article, 95% of people in a survey share the same sentiment. They believe that meeting in person just yields better results than online meetings, you know?
Gene (01:50):
Then of course, there’s a whole bunch of things that you get from a face-to-face meeting that you don’t get from online. Body language and interactions and building more of a human a relationship. I close more deals when I meet people face to face. I get it. There was a role for Zoom meetings, there’s a role for social media and things like that, but I just gotta tell you that face-to-face meetings to me from a networking standpoint, are really important. Now, which brings you into number two, okay? If you’re gonna go face-to-face to a networking event, say it’s like a local business card exchange, or a local networking event or an industry event. I’m gonna get to some of these in just a minute, but I just wanna share with you a couple of tactics when you’re at these events… nobody likes these events, right? I mean, nobody like goes outta their way to go to a networking event. Maybe a small percentage of people do but it’s not a really normal situation, it’s an awkward situation to be in. So, you walk into a room, you don’t know that many people, you have to put the smile on. You gotta really make an effort. It’s tough. So, there’s a few things I wanted to…
Gene (02:58):
Just share with you when it comes to sort of going to these face-to-face events, okay? For starters, this is what I’ve learned over the years, okay? You don’t have to be the life of the party. You don’t have to be wearing a lampshade. If there’s 20 people in the room or 200 people in the room, just focus on a few, you know? I mean, there is nothing worse than when I am with somebody at a networking event, and they’re looking at me and in their eyes, just glancing all else around the room as if saying like, well, I’m talking to this guy, but I’m looking for better opportunities around me. It’s kind of a dis. You shouldn’t go into a networking event with high expectations. I mean, if you walk away with one good connection, just one that could potentially lead to more sales or better relationships or some type of opportunities, then good for you.
Gene (03:42):
You don’t have to sit around and meet 50 different people. So you walk in, you introduce yourself to a small gathering, or you walk up and you say hello to somebody there. Everybody’s there for the same reason. So it’s easy to start up a conversation that way, but I mean, just focus on that person, okay? Look them in the eyes. Engage in that conversation. Be present in that conversation. Don’t look around, don’t be distracted. Don’t look for better opportunities. If you’re speaking to somebody, you’re speaking to somebody, and that person should be getting a hundred percent of your attention. For all you know, you wind up speaking to that person the rest of the evening. Good if it turns out to be a great relationship and somebody that you can develop something with, more power to you. So focus on that person.
Gene (04:22):
Two other bits of advice that I’ve learned at face-to-face networking events. One is business cards still matter. Yeah, there are tons of apps that share contact information or exchange it virtually or whatever. But I gotta tell you, different people have different apps. They don’t all work very well. They’re kind of confusing. They’re awkward to use. It’s 2024 and when you go to a networking event, you’re still carrying around business cards. They still matter. So have a business card that you can give to people and also collect business cards when you leave and make sure they go into your database. Finally, a lot of these events, 38% of professionals believe that restaurants and bars are ideal for networking. That’s fine, but here’s a little bit of advice for you.
Gene (05:04):
Don’t drink. When you are there on a networking event. You’re at work, okay? I mean, I know you might wanna relax and knock back a few, but I recommend just not. Have a Coke. Have something that’s non-alcoholic. Stay on your game. Be sharp. Don’t let alcohol sort of confuse your senses in any way. You’re at a work event. It’s a work thing. I wouldn’t be drinking. Bad things usually happen when people start drinking, particularly if they drink too much. So face-to-face, certainly better than online. Number two, when you’re at a face-to-face event, bring business cards. Don’t drink and focus on the person you’re talking to. Be present, okay? Have low expectations. Try to make that one good connection. Number three. And, you might say like, “what events should I choose?”
Gene (05:48):
“Where should I go?” I mean, there’s a lot of networking events all over the place. So, you can go to meetup.org, you can keep an eye out on your local business papers. There’s no shortage of them. I’ll tell you what, the ones that I prefer. I prefer industry events. I like trade shows and I like industry associations. These things take up a lot of time. They take a lot of commitments. So, I would tell you that if you really wanna get the most out of networking, join your industry association, go to those meetings, participate in their networking events, you’ll meet lots of like-minded people in your industry and potential customers as well. Do the trade shows. I know trade shows can be expensive, and they can be hard as well.
Gene (06:29):
But according to the statistics in the tech report article, five to 20% of new customers are captured from trade shows according to the surveys that they got. So, it is definitely a place to get leads and to make relationships. Industry events and trade shows… I prefer them over just general business card exchanges or networking events. But again, that’s up to you. My advice though is pick an organization and stick with it. Okay? If it’s a business card exchange that’s run by the chamber, good, join the chamber and go all in on chamber events. Get to know their audience, their community, their group. People can see that. They want to build relationships, and the only way they build relationships with you is by seeing you a lot and getting a chance to spend some time with you at multiple events.
Gene (07:18):
So just because you might join your chamber and go to their business networking events exclusively. If you’re a member of a chamber, they might have hundreds or thousands of members for all you know. It’s a pretty good audience for you to develop a business. You don’t have to be jumping around from trade show to trade show or event to event. Pick an organization or two, particularly an industry organization and stick to that. So that’s my third piece of advice. Finally, you can’t speak about networking without talking about online networking. And yeah, I do agree that face-to-face is better. But again, according to the statistics provided, up to 70% of small business owners do their networking online. I get it. It takes a lot less time.
Gene (08:00):
It’s a lot less money. There’s no travel involved, there’s no whatever. Just know that any online networking that you do, I think is gonna have less results than face-to-face networking. But you get out of it what you put into it. And when it comes to putting into it, what you wanna do online is you want to pick, pick a platform. You don’t have to be a on them all. I mean, X or Twitter is not a bad platform. If you’re in certain types of industries and you want to develop a group there. Facebook groups are super popular. They are the most popular among business owners. And then of course, LinkedIn is also super popular as well with a ton of LinkedIn groups. Reddit is also a good place to go if you want to network with like-minded people. Just remember online networking, they say it saves time because you’re not going to onsite events. In my opinion, I think they take more time. I think to really establish a presence online and to really build a relationship with people, it takes more work. You have to be a lot more present…
Gene (08:54):
In these groups. You have to be participating almost every day. You have to be typing your responses and going back and forth. And again, most of these groups are professionals. It’s not like people are yelling and screaming at each other. It’s nothing like that. But just be prepared if you’re gonna do online. I think it’s a myth when people say that it takes less time to network online than face-to-face. I think it takes more time. So let’s recap. Okay, I have four bits of advice to you when it comes to networking. First of all, check out the article, the 35 most important statistics business networking statistics of 2024 at TechReport.com. Number one piece of advice, you gotta do face to face. I think it is much better than going online. So face-to-face meetings are important.
Gene (09:36):
Number two, when you’re at a face-to-face event, you bring business cards, don’t drink and just focus on a few people. Try not to be the life of the party. Walk away with one good leader, opportunity or relationship, and you’ve succeeded. Number three, if you’re gonna go face-to-face, I prefer industry events or associations or chambers, but pick a group and stick with it. Don’t flit around on a number of different groups. Join an organization or an association and go all in so you can really get to know the members of that organization. It will take time. And speaking of time is number four. A lot of people think that online networking takes less time. I think it takes more time than face-to-face because to really be successful at online marketing or online networking, you really gotta invest the time to pose questions, respond to questions, build relationships that way. So just know that going in, my name is Gene Marks, and those are some of my thoughts on networking in 2024. If you’d like any advice or tips or help in running your business, visit us at SmallBizAhead.com. You have been listening to The Small Biz Ahead podcast from The Hartford. Again, my name is Gene Marks. Thanks for joining. I’ll see you again next week. Take care.
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