Five Networking Strategies for Small Businesses

Nowadays, social media networking and digital marketing seem to dominate everything. While having an online presence is essential for modern businesses, an in-person approach is sometimes best, allowing you to build rapport and customize your message.

5  Small Budget Networking Strategies

Here are five networking strategies that will help your small business emerge from its digital bubble and become prominent in people’s minds.

Attend a Chamber of Commerce Event

Look into your local Chamber of Commerce and see what networking opportunities they have coming up. This will allow you to network and find potential clients and colleagues within your market in a personable way. You can then tailor your message to their needs and answer any questions they may have immediately.

For example, when someone asks a financial advisor, “what is a reverse mortgage?” during a networking event, the advisor can tailor their response to answer the question and provide a solution to a perceived problem unique to the individual. You may be able to give insight based on your geographical location and the local economy and even strike up a conversation with a newly minted real estate agent.

Host Your Own Client Event

If you can’t find a local networking event to attend, consider hosting your own. As a small business, getting as much exposure as possible is important. Putting together a simple event will attract potential clients and help you build rapport with like-minded individuals in the area.

If the task seems too daunting, consider contacting complementary businesses with similar goals. For example, if you are a carpenter, contacting a local plumber and electrician to co-host takes the burden off you and adds value that encourages potential clients to attend.

Join a Mastermind Group

Joining a mastermind group can help you meet other small business owners, set goals, create accountability, and build a referral network. These groups usually meet once a month, virtually or in person, to discuss successes and challenges.

A mastermind group cannot only lead to new clients but also act as a sounding board for different ideas. Small business owners often know the solution to a problem but must communicate it verbally with their peers. Mastermind groups can be motivating and uplifting.

Perfect Your Elevator Pitch

Don’t just focus on where you will pursue networking opportunities; think about what you’ll do when you get there. An elevator pitch is a standardized statement that explains what you do in one minute or less. It should be succinct and inviting, encouraging listeners to ask questions about your business to learn more.

While the statement should be pretty standard, you might find success by tweaking it slightly to pertain to different situations and solutions. Like the previous financial advisor example, the advisor might have a somewhat different response for another business owner with a young family versus one nearing retirement age. The base information is the same, but the solution to the perceived problem differs.

Create a Referral Program

Create an incentive program encouraging your previous clients to send their friends your way beyond doing a great job. When you do your job well, previous clients will recommend you passively, such as when a friend or coworker asks about your services. Adding an incentive program, such as a gift certificate for successful referrals, encourages your clients to actively promote your business and build your network for you.

It is important to remember that while social media is an integral aspect of business networking today, getting back to basics is equally as crucial for success.

Other Networking Tips

To maximize your networking efforts, you must focus on three key areas: building genuine connections, providing value to others, and staying engaged over the long term. By prioritizing these elements, you can create a robust network to help you achieve your goals and grow your business.

Online networking

Digital marketing is essential to building your professional network. The connections you create with strategies like using influencers and posting content on your social media networks help add relevant contacts to your networks.

There is no understating how important social media is for networking. If you are looking for ways to connect with others in your field, you should start with Twitter.

Use the search function to find relevant accounts and follow industry-relevant hashtags. They take time to interact with those accounts and contribute to discussions involving areas in which you are XP experts, allowing you to connect with relevant people and providing a starting point for real-world conversations should you meet at the next industry event. Never underestimate the potential of social media when it comes to forging new business relationships.

How to network at trade events

Trade shows and fairs are fantastic networking opportunities, but it’s very easy to do in the wrong way. Consider how many people are at your event and how many of them are doing the same as you.

If you’re doing nothing more than handing out plain business cards, hoping to get an email sometime in the future, you’ve wasted your time.

Instead, you must a) ensure your memory and b) follow through with your connection. A unique business card is a good way to make an impression. Handing over something that clearly shows all of your contact details and is unique will go a long way toward encouraging further communication.

Using cards will help you stand out and make it far more likely that your potential contact will contact you after the event. Make an impact. You do want to be remembered after the event.

Your business card is a lasting reminder of you, but when you realize how many get passed around at network events, it can be challenging to remember which card belongs to which person. Use unique business cards, and you’re far more likely to be remembered after the fact.

The follow-up

If you hand out all of your business cards and then carry on with your day, you’ve missed the point of networking. Following up with the contacts you’ve made is the only way to start building a relationship with them.

When your networking event is over, gather all the contact details you have collected and make it a task to contact those who want help y or could prove helpful in the future. Failing failure means you will result in time and money.

Ideally, you want to create a pool of contacts that can help you, whether that help is in the form of developing new ideas, new sources of feedback, or even further introductions to new customers or suppliers. Remember that business relationships are often a case of give and take, but with the right networking strategies, your business could soon have access to a much wider range of resources.