A couple weeks ago I attended an outstanding social media conference – SOBCon (“SOB” stands for “Successful Online Business”) and met some amazing people. Not only did we connect at the conference but there are a LOT of people to follow up with after the conference to continue the conversations about business opportunities.
So I stopped networking.
That’s right – I needed to create real connections and opportunities so I stopped networking for a couple weeks. Here’s why:
How often do you go to a networking event, meet people and collect business cards – then go to another networking event, meet people and collect business cards – and so on?
How often do you follow up with those people? How often do they follow up with you?
Guessing your answer is “Not that often…”
The purpose of networking is to build business relationships and create results for both people – that takes time. You need a solid foundation if you want those new clients, that new job, that referral machine that builds your business and anything else you’re thinking of right now. You need to follow up to get all those things (and more).
Without follow up business cards are just paper and lost relationships (funny how often that happens in networking…) Lesson: know when to STOP (new) networking and give your current network attention.
You can start today – do you have any cards on your desk or people to touch base with? Here are…
SOME WAYS TO EFFECTIVELY FOLLOW UP:
- Connect on Facebook and/or LinkedIn (yeah, kind of obvious) BUT: When you invite the person send a personal message reminding them where you met them and why you want to connect. TEST: How often do you get personalized invitations?
- Engage people on Facebook, LinkedIn & Twitter! Once you “connect” – say something! Here’s an example of one Facebook wall post that created 10+ conversations (and lead to this blog post).
- Forget the coffee (at first) and grab the phone. Don’t try to set up an hour long coffee meeting with everyone. Set up a 20 minute phone call, find a common ground and a way to help each other. THEN look into meeting in person if you have immediate opportunities to look into.
- When you get 20 business cards (we’ll assume you have them for a reason and you’re not just a random card collector) don’t put yourself in the situation to collect many more until you follow up with at least 15 of the original 20 people.
That should get you started. That should also help you create the foundation for valuable, long term relationships instead of fleeting conversations at random events.
Get out there and build the network you already have!
Who can you follow up with TODAY?
Who can you reconnect with TODAY?
AWESOME Article!
I love the content and that you not only make the suggestion about stopping, but also about how to build from where you are.
Good info and good action to have people implement right away!
Very well done.
Yes, but….
I have stopped handing out and taking business cards just because it is suppose to be “What you do at networking events.” Having a handful of business cards means nothing unless you are list building.
Instead, if I want to follow-up with the person because we made a connection and I want to do what I said I would do (contact them with info, set up an appointment, etc), then I ask for their business card. I only give out cards when someone specifically asks me for one.
Now to the real heart of networking. Networking is all about building a community of people you know and/or are getting to know. If you just go to an event once, then you really can’t make a judgement about the group. If you go to every networking event, well, too much of anything is bad. If, however, you need to selectively choose the events where you will run into people that will support you, people that might be good resources for you and/or people that might want/need your services. I do not recommend networking with your friends and buddies unless you just want a night of relaxing with your friends or need some support. I do recommend doing some serious research to find out where your target client, customer, prospective employer, etc will be and then go there.
Always go to a networking event with an objective in mind and then make that objective happen.