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Cardiff Business Club: How to network more purposefully
Date Posted: 21 April 2017‘Networking’: the word alone is enough to make many of us feel apprehensive and cause others to cringe. But despite our aversion to it, networking is proven to work. Whether it’s generating business referrals, establishing connections which lead to mutually beneficial partnerships, or even getting you a job, when done purposefully, networking can have a number of measurable benefits.
Purposeful networking doesn’t mean that every interaction has to deliver a quick return on investment – it can simply refer to building your network of connections, raising your profile, garnering advice to support your business growth, and so on.
Here are six ways to make your networking more purpose driven:
Be selective
Choosing the right networking events to attend can make all the difference; find out a bit about the type of attendees who go along - are some of your target market or peers likely to be there?
Check out the online profile of the events – what do conversations on Twitter and LinkedIn reveal about them? The structure and attendance of the event will give you a good indication of the type of results you can aim for.
Prepare
Consider what you’d to achieve out of the event and prepare a tailored elevator pitch that supports it along with some questions to ask to help filter out whether a connection is going to be fruitful.
For example, if you’re looking for potential event sponsors, include this in your pitch and try and find out whether the person you’re speaking to is currently looking to raise their company’s profile.
You should also familiarise yourself with the event participants and sponsors – having a couple of interesting facts about the keynote speaker up your sleeve can be a great conversation starter.
Be bold
It can be intimidating ‘working the room’ at a networking event, but the first approach is always the hardest. You can keep circling the room like a fish in shark infested waters, hoping for someone to talk to you - but it won’t be a productive use of time.
The chances are the people busily reading their event pamphlet whilst clutching a glass of wine will be relieved that you stopped to introduce yourself.
Look for ways to help others
By moving the focus from you to them, you’ll relieve a lot of the pressure associated with networking.
Ask questions and listen out for challenges your fellow networkers are facing to see if you can help – whether it’s by introducing them to someone, sending them some useful information or giving them some advice, think about what you can offer. The favour may well come back to you one day.
Focus on quality over quantity
It’s not about how many people you speak to, but about the value of the conversations you do have. You could come home with 20 business cards and no tangible outcome, or just 1 or 2 cards and a new client or collaborator. If it’s available, perusing the guest list in advance can help you pinpoint the attendees you’d most like to speak to.
You can also use the ‘right pocket, left pocket’ trick to help you remember the most promising conversations; just put the business cards of the people you’d like to build a connection with in one pocket or card holder, the others in another.
And if you find yourself stuck in a fruitless conversation that isn’t going anywhere, tell the person it was lovely to meet them and then move on.
Follow-up
Be sure to follow up with those you connected with soon after the event – if you’ve promised to do something for them, keep your reputation reliable by being true to your word.
Even if there’s unlikely to be an immediate reason for someone to work with or contact you, you never know when the connection might come in handy. So invest the time in sending them a connection request on LinkedIn, emailing them occasionally and replying to or sharing their social media posts.
By following these steps you'll ensure your networking has purpose and is worth the effort.