Bare Bones Marketing has been networking…
Who put the “work” into “networking”? Whoever it was, knew what they were talking about!
As a new business, I’ve discovered the real world of networking. And by “the real world” I don’t mean corporate networking, which is what I’m used to. In the corporate world, unless you’re in sales, networking is a way of building relationships, friendships and maybe the odd recruitment connection if you’re in the market for a new job.
When you’re in a small business, especially one in which your product is you and what you offer, networking is a constant sell. I mean constant. All the time. You can’t have a bad day.
I’ve been to three networking events now, each very different. From fairly structured to just a “mingle”; and each has its benefits. But all of them are hard work. You have to be confident buy diazepam 5mg tablets uk enough to speak to people you’ve never met, often without introduction, interrupt conversations and yes, butt in (but in a nice way). However, you can’t be too confident, or you’ll scare people off. Friendly and approachable but not gushy. And have an “elevator pitch”. More about that soon…
Anyway, networking is all about meeting people, honing in on the contacts that you’ve made that might be fruitful, but not discounting others (because you never know). It’s about following up, without being pushy, and not forgetting that you might be able to pass business someone else’s way. It’s about marketing yourself and being marketable for people to recommend you to their network.
In short, they shouldn’t call it “networking”, they should call it “hardworking”…
Here are the links to the networks I’ve been to so far.