Today’s technology has us practically confined to our homes and offices when it comes to talking to people face to face. How are you supposed to make that “perfect” connection over the phone, email, web, or text message? You take it back to “old school” and make an effort to go out and meet people in person.
Do you like to play golf? I bet someone in your industry does too. What about attending seminars? You probably see a lot of like-minded people out there looking for a personal connection too. Many business deals are made on the golf course, so you may want to take a few lessons. Plus, it’s a stress reliever. Win win.
You can add value to yourself and your business simply by meeting someone who will benefit someone else. In turn, they may also know someone who needs your service. That is networking at its finest.
Dr. Ivan Misner, founder and president of the Business Networking Institute, is quoted as saying, “Who do you regularly work with that provides complementary services to yours? A plumber needs to know a kitchen fitter and a plasterer. Photographers, rental of wedding cars, florists and pastry chefs have a constant stream of references in all directions.”
How do you take your “virtual” connections and translate them into personal connections? Try to attend seminars that your colleagues and clients attend. A hugely beneficial site for you to connect for business is LinkedIn. This is a wonderful site to promote yourself, your business, provide a short resume, recommendations, etc. On this site, you can join groups that interest you or your business.
Find groups to join and learn from on LinkedIn. A sample group is LinkedOC headed by Bryan Elliott. He started this group for business professionals in Orange County, CA. who wanted to learn how to improve themselves and their business. Each month schedule a guest speaker on a topic of interest at a local hotel. Each month, 200+ professionals converge on a conference room to meet, generate business for themselves and each other at the social hour that occurs before and after the seminar.
Also look for business groups like BNI, short for Business Networking International to join. This grouping of business professionals is incredible. Not only will you meet new people almost every week, but you’ll also get to meet the people who know the people in our group. What a phenomenal way to expand your business horizons!