If you want to give visibility and exposure to your company, you have to know the importance of networking for business. Active networking is a strategy that allows you to meet people who can become your customers or collaborators and help you grow.
Is it important to attend professional events? Of course, but you should not limit yourself to being present. Many confuse networking with attending several events related to their professional sector, but, to be effective, it is necessary to develop a well-planned strategy and actively participate.
The networking asset is a useful tool to connect with other professionals or companies to generate business opportunities and establish your brand, giving notoriety strategy.
Its advantages include:
- Meet potential clients, strategic allies and even employees.
- Exchange information that helps you stay updated and generate growth for your business.
- Promote your business or personal brand in order to give visibility to your company or professional service.
To achieve these objectives, try to make you well known and do it in an intelligent and strategic manner.
Importance of networking for business
In the first place, it is important to define what the objective is when attending business or professional events.
Try to achieve:
- Visibility for your company.
- Collaborations for your company.
- Find and attract talent to the business.
- Expand your customer base.
- Know you as a benchmark in the sector.
Based on the importance of networking for business, you can choose among the various events that take place in your city or country those that are most convenient to fulfill your purposes.
It is not that you attend all, it would be exhausting, besides that it would distract you from all your other activities, since not only you must dedicate the hours or the couple of days in which they are celebrated, but to plan so that your attendance yields the fruits desired. Here we share the guide of before, during and after.
How to prepare in advance?
First, be selective and analyze in which event you can learn more and contact the people that really interest you. Choosing events with cost will guarantee that the attendees really have an interest and also seek to get the most out of your business.
Establish what objectives you want to meet and develop a strategy in which you define the conversation topics that you will address with your new acquaintances and the type of questions you will ask the speakers. For that, you will have to do a previous investigation and get to know thoroughly both the lecturers and the themes of the event to always have a timely comment to make.
If you know in advance who will attend, it will be easier for you to develop proposals that may be of interest to you, and you can even anticipate them so that in the event you already have a door open.
Also, prepare your elevator pitch for when they ask you what you do or turn your company. The most effective is to make it brief and concise to achieve greater impact. So it is important that you prepare it in advance and practice it.
Finally, bring enough business cards that include your contact information and preferably, the address of a website where others can know more about you and your business. Make sure that this site is working well and has an attractive design. You have to realize the importance of networking for business because, in personal meetings, they will judge you according to your business profile. The visual and technical aspect of your page will also speak of your professionalism.
What to do during the event?
It is time to leave shyness at home because your assistance should not be limited to sitting and listening, but you should participate.
Although it may be intimidating, what you must remember is that others may be as scared as you are, but they all have the same intention as you: to relate and do business.
Participate with questions to the speakers is a good idea. It will make you stand out, hence the importance of networking for business will advance and, when you get up to formulate them, present yourself with your name and your profession or company.
You must not forget the digital communication and use the hashtag of the event with photo publications or related comments that will make your contacts notice you, whether they are present or not.
Taking advantage of the breaks to comment on the event or recent news from your sector with other attendees is the real reason to be there, so get closer to other groups and get involved in the conversation.
Do not know how to join an already formed group? Create Yours! Approach another person you see alone and introduce yourself, he or she will appreciate it and you can engage in a conversation that attracts other attendees who are a bit isolated.
Recognize the importance of networking for business, just as the business whole. It is important that you introduce yourself and talk about what you do because it is important for others. So give them the opportunity to do so and listen carefully, because that is where collaborations and alliances will come from.
Give business cards, but also receive them and, as soon as you have the opportunity, write down in them a characteristic feature or the subject discussed with that person so that you remember it later.
How to follow up on the events?
Do not let too much time to continue with your new acquaintances the topics discussed. If you have photos of the event with other participants, upload them to your social networks and tag your companions. To stopped passing information about your company to someone, write an email and do it. If you committed to scheduling an appointment, call and schedule it.
Importance of networking for business is huge. You have carried out lots of things to create an active communication. Write a blog, make a call, add your new acquaintances to your social networks, do whatever is necessary to maintain the impetus of the event and take advantage of the contacts made to boost your business.
These are activities that you must put on your agenda while you write down the days in which the event will take place because you must dedicate time immediately afterward so that the newly created relationships do not cool off.
Practicing networking actively means being prepared for the event itself and giving continuity, but above all, realizing the importance of networking for business is crucial. Participate in all possible ways to make yourself known and others to remind you when they need your products or services.
