Many business owners out there who run successful businesses knows the importance of networking for your business. This article will give you the basics of how you can implement networking into your business to grow as a company. There are two different types of networking when it comes to your business strategy. The first type is networking offline and the second networking online. Many people don’t use their social media enough to network within the industry and become confused when they get invites via LinkedIn from a complete stranger. Lets’ break this down for you, I am sure we all have at least one type of social media of which we just use to post pictures of our cats, children or business. The question you have to ask yourself with this is “am I just posting to a dead audience?”
Most successful businesses online use social media to network and integrate their services with others through social media. How can networking contribute to your business?
If you are on Facebook, why not join a few Facebook groups within your country or industry and see what people are looking for. Ask the questions you don’t know because there is always someone bound to come back with an answer. You could do the same with LinkedIn, connect with those from within your country, industry and who are interested in your business type. You will also need to be active on these different channels so that you can post and update your products and services to those who want it. Networking online doesn’t always give it that special feeling that we get when we actually meet people but it does create a level of curiosity for them to want to know what you do.
Facebook networking:
Where do I start?
- Look for groups that are based within your industry or country
- Host online events for networking your product or service
- Connect with other business owners who share the same or similar interests as you do and collaborate on projects together
- Think outside the box, be original and work on the team as a whole
- Don’t forget to use the #hastag so that people know what you are talking about & the algorithm can pick you up
Alternatively, you could create a group specific to networking and invite others to join and branch out to each other.
LinkedIn Networking:
- Find groups/networks based in your industry or country
- Add people who are in that country or industry to your connections list
- Collaborate with them and find out how you can help each other in business
- If there are no groups then create a group and keep it open to business professionals
- Use the hashtag of what you want to come out of your posts & reshare on your LinkedIn profile with that hashtag.
Okay, now you have that better understanding of how the network can help you online. Let us take it offline here for a minute. Creating events is a great first step in arranging a network group of businesses to work along side you. You could create an event basically about anything, but keep the network running by letting others have their say in business. When you create these events have a theme topic up for discussion or a person who represents that topic well to give further in site into the “how” factor. Speak up, take action and go forward with your plan, remember not everyone will be your client. Many people want to network to get objective views on their products/services or even ideas going forward. Networking among other businesses is great to help you get on your feet and pushing forward. Most importantly, remember that in the beginning you can’t take on every role of your business otherwise you are going to crash and burn very quickly. Businesses take time to grow and you need to give yourself that time to work on it and make it work.
On the third of December 2020 at 20h00 I
will be hosting an hour workshop about networking online and offline. The
training event is free of charge and anyone is welcome to join and bring a
friend. Alternatively, if you are reading this past 2020 you can visit my YouTube
channel or training website
where I upload my training sessions to help everyone.
