3 Tips On Successful Networking For New Business Owners

With more and more new businesses created everyday, networking is the basic activity to get the visibility and exposure for new businesses. New business owners often find networking a waste of time rather than a value activity to invest their time. The truth is, with the right techniques and approach, anyone can be successful in networking and receiving more referrals than ever! I will share the most important tips that I think new business owners will be able to benefit from.

The first thing is to make sure you have a memory hook before you attend networking events. Memory hook is something that makes the person you talked to remember you even after the event is over for a long time. Most business owners have stories as memory hooks and this is one of the best ways to create memory hooks especially if they are funny or easy to relate. I have one business associate who is a Manual Physiotherapist and always share his clients stories with us and how he treated some unusual body alignment issues. Another proven memory hook is your company slogan, if you have a memorable company slogan, you may want to make good use of it so that people can remember. I have another business associate who has a very strong and impact slogan which is - "We make Entrepreneurs rich in any economy!"

The next important thing you need to do is to follow up with your contacts after the networking event. The key factor here is personalization. You need to address your contacts individually in the emails, this is important as you do not want to make them feel that you mass send to all the event attendees. It is also wise to select a few contacts whom you can work closely with to follow up as soon as possible. A rule of thumb is that I always follow up within 24 hours after any networking event whenever possible.

The last tip I have for you is to do some preparation before you attend any networking events. There are so many events happening everyday so I would advise you to check out who are the organizers and the possible attendees so that you can prepare some topic of interests to initiate conversations. It is also important to be consistent in order to make yourself visible to the organizer and other regular networker. Hence, you may want to select a few networking events to attend regularly.