Tag: face-to-face networking

3 Key Take Aways on How to Optimize your 1-to-1 Meetings into Referrals for Your New Connection

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Attending Networking events may be a key comment in your marketing.  If it isn’t, you might want to consider how networking could benefit your referrals and recommendations.  It is a proven fact that people do more business with people they like, know and trust. So, what are some things you can do to build that in your first encounter?
(1) Ask The Right Questions
Instinctively we ask people we meet, “What do you do?”  They in turn have a canned, preprepared answer or sales pitch on a 5-10 second highlight of their best services.  What if you asked the question differently?
– “What is your gets you up every day?”
– “How is your most ideal client?”
– “If I were to introduce you to your most valuable Power Partners, who would they be?”
– “With knowing what you do, who would be someone I could introduce you to?
– “What is your favorite book and how has it helped your business?
– “Where do you find you get the most business?”
– “In given a specific ideal client, what can I tell them in Why you would be the best fit?
—-> You get the idea
(2) Write Down Key Take Aways 
Document some memorable notes on their business card or in a notebook.
*** Be sure to collect 3 business cards (you’ll see why in a moment). 
How in the world will you be able to remember every single person, their ideal client and niche without writing it down?  This is great for your memory as well as enhancing that encounter further, reminding your contact what you remembered and how best you can refer them. If I took the time to visit with you on a deeper level, I would want you to remember key points of our conversation.
(3) Earnestly think of the 3 people in your network this person might find value in meeting 
A key networker in my cycle shared with me, that if I collect 3 business cards from the person I am meeting with, I am more likely to earnestly make efforts to refer them to 3 other people. If this is your business, and you are gaining credibility, making a personal introduction hand in hand with a business card with show far more value to your meeting than just a meeting with no additional follow-up.
Networking and relationship management will either build or halt your efforts.  It takes a village to build a business and it also takes consistent visibility, follow-up and relationships to take you to a higher level of business. 

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don’t get left behind ~ 

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links

Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis 
 

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You Networked, Collected Business Cards … Now What? Three Things You Can Do To Engage Deeper


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If you are like me, you might attend multiple networking events each week. Not only is this a great opportunity to meet new people, but also collect contact information for connecting deeper. There are a few tactics I have in place when I connect with someone new that may benefit you if you are trying to optimize your networking experience.
(1) Remember a Few Key Take Aways From Your Visit 
Write down a few things you remember about this person that will spark a memory later when you send them an email thanking you for connecting and encourage a follow-up meeting.This is so very important and what a lot of people forget – EMAIL them a memory from your encounter.  It will not only show that your encounter was memorable, buut that you value their connection.
(2) Connect with them on LinkedIn
Connecting on LinkedIn takes the face to face meeting to a higher level showing your contact your interest on connecting further. Adding them to your “Professional Network on LinkedIn” provides them with a deeper visibility to you and vice verse.
(3) Visit Their Website and Connect With Your New Connect in Social Media Platforms 
If you take the extra step of visiting their website, you will probably learn a bit more about the service they offer, learn about potential networking opportunities, but also see if they have a presence in other social media platforms.  Fanning and Connecting to the other social platforms takes your engagement to a higher level of getting to know them and learning more about what they have to offer.
Networking is an opportunity to build relationship marketing on a deeper level.  You have already met the person, seen their face, heard their heart for their business and now you are taking that next step to get to know them better.  These 3 components may really enhance your next networking encounter.  Don’t just take a business card and walk away, take the time to dive deeper and it will open doors you may have never imagined.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don’t get left behind ~ 

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links

Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis 
 

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Utilizing Social Media to enhance Face-to-Face Networking


If you are like me, you have met many people through face-to-face in networking meetings and events.  It is a wonderful resource to be able to meet someone, talk about mutual interests, exchange business cards and . . . then what?   

Do you intentionally connect again in person to dive deeper; talking about each others specialties?   

Do you load their contact information in your contact list or maybe send an email or two talking about the things you do in hopes there is some mutual benefit? 

If you have tried this in the past, chances are the relationship quickly ends after your first email or exchange of business cards.

How can you build on that initial meeting and maintain the business relationship?
First off, the initial meeting doesn’t provide enough time to really dive into all of the skills, services and specialties that your connection has to offer.  Even in 10 minutes, it is difficult to breakdown a list of the reasons why each of the service offerings can be of benefit to someone. Taking the time to really get to know this person and ideally the best way to refer business to them would require many meetings, discussions and examples of how they have helped other clients in the past.
One of the best ways to get familiar with the additional information that should be shared is a mutual exchange of relationship building through social media.  Here are some starter ideas of how to get that conversation in the right direction.
(1)    Connect with that person on LinkedIn
     a.       Connecting on LinkedIn shows your contact that you are interested in continued networking past the business card exchange
     b.      Depending on how they have their profiles configured, if they have their contact information loaded right into their LinkedIn profile, you export your connections into Outlook (for example) and it will populate there for you.  
(2)    Send a personal message thanking them for the connection
     a.       Messages in LinkedIn can be searchable in your Inbox, the same way names / titles / industries / specialties are searchable under People, Company and Group sections of the platform. 
     b.      Include questions they can respond to in your message; such as asking them more about their specialties or some other interest such as personal goals or their favorite book.
(3)    Ask if they connect in other social spaces and send them your social links as well.
     a.       If you are a Twitter, Facebook, Pinterest, Google+ or LinkedIn Company user, a great way to build followers and pages you are following is by connecting to those you are connected to in your network.  Due to space in most cases, the easiest way for those to be shared mutually is through a personal message.
     b.      Sharing of content in the social profiles provides a great means of communicating your services
Because social media is a great social medium for sharing business experiences, life events, service offerings, relatable story telling and promotions, your new connection will have the opportunity to not only share with you, but will also have the opportunity to learn from your sharing and contribute questions and reciprocal discussions in return.
By taking your business card exchange to a new level utilizing your social media resources, your relationships can continue to grow past the initial meeting and hopefully lead to another face-to-face discussion about other things you are mutually interested in.
It takes commitment, time and care; but then again, any good relationship takes work to maintain.  Give it a try and see if you set the trend in your network with relationship building.

~ Social Media is changing the way people do business.  Don’t get left behind ~ 

Hollie Clere, of The Social Media Advisor is a social media manager, trainer and author in LinkedIn, Facebook, Twitter, Blog, Google+ , Pinterest and the tools to manage them. Click here for her Social Media Links

Sign up for your Free Social Media Analysis 


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