Networking Made Easy

OK, so you have finally decided to take that step out of your comfort zone and attend a networking meeting. All the marketing gurus tell you that you have to get out there and make contact with new people to build your community. It’s not about sitting in your office waiting for the phone to ring, or the emails to land in your in box.

So here you are, taking that first step for mankind (or for your business anyway!). And the voice in your head is saying , “I hate going to these things, I hate having to sell myself, who’s going to be interested in me anyway, I feel like such a cheeseball”.

Well, here’s a great tip to make it a lot easier on yourself and get great results. Imagine that it is your party. Imagine that the whole time you are at the meeting, you are the host or hostess, and so playing that role you will want to make sure everyone is having a good time, they all have what they need.

As the host or hostess, you would be coming from that place of service and that is exactly how to be when networking, it is all about how you can help others first, lead with service and the sales will follow. So when it’s your party, it is your responsibility to mingle, to chat to people, to introduce your guests to each other, to do your utmost to ensure everyone is happy. Asking them what they need from you.

So coming from that place of service rather than selling means offering to give, to help, to serve. So my clients often ask me, how do I approach this? What’s the best way to do it?

The easiest way is to give them something. And what I mean by that is that it’s much easier to offer someone something for free first, rather than to ask them for something. For example, if you are a service based professional, you might want to offer a free complimentary session, and so you would put this on your business card or your leaflets, brochures, etc. It must be something of value, and something that gives them a taster of you. So if you were selling a product, then the obvious is a small sample of whatever it is you are selling, or something related to it in some way.

The idea of networking is to get out there and make connections with your potential clients and anyone that can give you referrals, letting them know what you do, and just as important finding out what you can do for them. Once again coming from that place of service, offering to help them in any way you can, whether it’s sending referrals their way, setting up a complimentary session, working together somehow to support one another, connecting them with one of your colleagues they could work with.

So going out to network isn’t quite as daunting as you might have thought, it’s just a matter of looking at it in a different light. As givers, it’s a lot easier when you can see it as giving, going to a networking to give rather than sell yourself.

And remember, it’s your party, so enjoy it!