When I started my business Jennovative Marketing LLC back in 2015, I had no experience with networking. I had never been to a networking event nor did I really understand how networking works. Not to mention, I’m also an introverted person and not the most outgoing. I knew that to be successful at networking I had to meet with people one-on-one outside of networking groups, which as an introvert I’m comfortable with that, I enjoy it. Going to a big event and giving an elevator speech in front of 50 some people was not as easy. But over time it got easier.
My Networking Failures
One networking mistake I made was if anyone took an interest in me and gave me their business card, I would follow up with an email mentioning how they seemed interested in my business, and ask if they wanted to meet and learn more. Then, it was crickets – almost no responses. It wasn’t that I was trying to come off as a sales person, I just didn’t know any better. So then I started changing up my emails to something along the lines of… “Your business sounds very interesting, I would love to meet and learn more about it (something along those lines).” Then I would get almost 100% email responses back.
People like to talk about their business and themselves, they are not interested in being sold to. I might have done a sales pitch maybe a handful of times, as well. But, I don’t really recall that because doing that is super uncomfortable for me anyway. Instead, I just take a general interest in people and their businesses. I love to learn about how people got started. It is cool how some people’s eyes just light up when they start talking about how they started their dream of owning their own business. I also learn stuff from asking people what they are currently doing for their marketing. It sounds like a lead in question to a sales pitch, but it barely ever goes there.
My Networking Success
All My Past and Current Clients Came From Networking!
Most of my clients I’ve had long-term approached me asking if I could help them with their marketing. Not the other way around. So just showing up on a regular basis to networking events can be enough. When I would go to ABLE Breakfasts through the Brookfield Chamber I noticed not many of the marketing people showed up on a regular basis, so I think my commitment to showing up regularly made a difference. But, I still had to talk to people and meet with people outside of networking events to build relationships.
All my clients came through networking, so it is really hard not to see the value in it. I could of signed up for a service site like Upwork, utilized social media, SEO practices, etc., but I liked the concept of building relationships with people in person. However, I have now found Zoom to provide almost the same benefit. You get the face-to-face interaction and so many other possibilities. You don’t have to deal with the hassle of driving somewhere, picking a place that works for both people, and you save money and time. However, I do really enjoy in-person meetings and plan to still do them.
I like how virtual meetings allow you to meet face-to-face, be able to easily share a link through chat, share your computer screen to demonstrate something, ask a question, or present something. Communicating virtually also provides the opportunity to network with people outside of the state face-to-face.
What I Learned About Networking
It is a lot easier to be successful at networking if you have a goal to just meet with two people you genuinely find interesting at each networking event. Of course, you get people who want to meet with you, as well. I would also like to note: ever since I chose to focus on marketing for wellness businesses I’m always genuinely interested in hearing about a person’s business. Wellness is something I’m super passionate about. I get excited to hear about wellness concepts, new wellness business concepts, and different alternative treatments. I also find I just click with people, when I get to talk about wellness sometimes I feel the conversation could go on for hours. But, I usually keep my conversations to an hour.
When I email people saying, “I’m interested in learning more about your business,” I genuinely am. I found the best way to network is to meet with people who I like, and typically have an interesting business. So meeting with people I’m interested in didn’t often turn into business, but it has been beneficial for other reasons. I have partnered with different people on projects through networking, learned things about business, gave referrals, received referrals, utilized others services both personally and professionally, and so much more.
My Experience with Different Networking Groups
I have been apart of many different in-person networking groups from large one’s like the Brookfield Chamber with over 300 members to smaller groups around 50 some people. I’m also now currently apart of two virtual communities. One has been around for 10 years and has thousands of people across the country, and the other one is a newer community with over 100 people.
I have learned different things from all the networking experiences I have been apart of, and will be incorporating all the best things into my own networking/community group. But I know there is always more to learn.
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