networking

Networking

One of the hardest things for small businesses to conquer is how to network well, this problem is mainly one of confidence and a practised idea of what to say and do to promote your offline or internet business in a short sharp and effectively captivating way to enable you to build a relationship with other individuals who may well promote you to others even if they do not need your product themselves. In essence you become your own personal billboard.

Networking is a a means to build trust with other people or businesses that can see how your product or service can genuinely benefit other people and can seroiusly promote your business if done correctly. Below are a few tips to help you network more effectively.

1. Figure out what your specific goal is for the network session you will attend, this will help you focus on networking with the right people i.e. if you sell cakes then you need to look for groups or associations etc interesting in buying cakes. By doing this you will get the most out of your networking session.

2. Try to be a good source of information ‘ the go to guy or gal’, people always want to know people who know things or people who can do things, can answer queries easily, come up with good ideas and suggestions. By simply being that go to guy or gal can keep you in the forefront of people’s minds.

3. have a pre-prepared answer to the most commonly asked questions ‘so what do you do’ and ‘so how can that help my business’ of all the questions I have come across these are the most common two (I am sure you know others). The idea here is to stun the person with an genuine answer that rolls off your tongue as though it was second nature – Why would you want to do this? – well it gives the impression that you know your stuff, and that builds trust. Be careful not to sound like a prerecording when you answer remember personality counts for everything in the delivery of this prerehersed answer.

4. Ask open-ended questions that will allow the person to give you information on their business or self during your networking sessions and shows them that you do not want to just sell to them but are interested in them. An open ended question starts with any of the following; who, what, where, when, and how.

5. Do not start a networking conversation with your business card, many people will instantly put up their defences to you believing you will give them a sales pitch, which reflects badly on your business. Get to know each other first you may find that actually you do not want to do business with them.

6. stay abreast of world affairs or have a backup topic as this could help you both into a conversation sometimes before you discuss business.

7. make contact quickly with new contacts and try to steer clear of self promotion in first contact instead talk about the meeting or other topics,make a mention of some of the business things you discussed (your business, but make it brief) and compliment or state your good impression etc of their business,letting them know that you enjoyed meeting them. This is how you formulate a good networking experience for them so they build trust in you and your products.

Hopefully these tips will help you to network better remember follow up with new contacts and any referals given you quickly as if not this will reflect badly on your business.