Opportunities from Business Networking and Marketing Events

Business networking is leveraging your connections to bring you new opportunities. And it means turning those connections into relationships.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Don’t let that fool you, though. Because it involves relationship building, it can be a deceptively complex process.

The aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary.

–Peter Drucker

Think about it. How many people do you know? How many of these people truly understand what you do? How many of these folks have directed prospects to you as referrals? And how many of those referrals have turned into a business? I’ll wager far fewer than you would like.

Related: 13 Employee Engagement Lessons From Best Employee Brands

Business networking is much more than showing up at networking functions, shaking a lot of hands and collecting a bunch of cards.

Networking for new opportunity must be strategic and focused. Not everyone you meet can help move your business forward. However, everything you do should be driven by the intention to grow your relationships.

Networking your business means you have to be proactive. Very dynamic, as business opportunities rarely come to you on their own. The core of networking is doing something specific each week that is focused on building relationships.

Preparation for a networking event

Prepare open-ended questions

This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no.

This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them. A key point.

Have your elevator speech down cold

Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes you doing it special or different from others doing the same thing.

To get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.

Business networking … pick out your targets

Know who you want to meet and do your homework on them.

But leave some time for the unexpected attendees.

business networking examples — Business networking examples.

At the networking event

Wear name tag

Your nametag is your best friend for several reasons.

First of all, a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. And people are less likely to approach you if they don’t know (or forgot) your name.

Secondly, it’s free advertising for you and your company.

Third, nametags encourage people to be friendly and more approachable.

Confidence is EVERYTHING

You are good enough. You are important enough. You are worthy. Everyone is just someone.

The biggest names in the world that I’ve met have all been regular people when you get down to it.

Is that your experience?

Assume neither of you has lots of time

Try to keep the conversation moving and tight.

This one is tricky, and you have to read the signs. Is the person you’re speaking to giving you the “I need to move on” signals?

Are their shoulders turned away from you? Are they looking around instead of making deep eye contact?

There you have it. Smile politely and make your exit.

Lead with most interesting topic

If you’re going to say, “I’m here to ask about a business partnership,” then start with that.

Most people want to start with soft things like the weather, but in most cases, what’s critical gets buried in trivia.

Don’t do it. Believe me.

Take notes

On the back of business cards, write down quick notes about your interaction with the person.

Did they mention they were looking for graphic designers who specialize in logo design? Or that they recently adopted a puppy?

Write that down. In your follow-up, you could mention someone you know who designs logos and ask how that puppy is doing.

And pay close attention at all times, ok?

Determine common points of interest

The common point of interest is an essential element to every conversation and interaction.

Your objective, as you meet new people, or even as you talk with those you already know, is to discover the points as soon as possible. It connects people to you.

It allows them to feel more comfortable talking to you.

And it increases your approachability as people will be linked to you by the commonality you share.

business networking tips — Business networking tips.

Watch your body language

Body language creates simple, subconscious non-verbal cues that too many people ignore and it hinders their approachability.

Pay attention to the messages you want your body language to send.

Finish with action

Because you’ve kept it short, because you are letting this person go on to the next thing, your goal now is to decide whether there’s some “there” there.

If yes, then move on to business cards and next steps. If no, then be clean and enjoyable about it. Just say thanks and pleased to meet you, and move on.

Believe me; that’s an excellent way to move on.

Business cards are for continuing business

If you’re done talking, exchanging a business card is great only when you have further business to do. Send your message quickly.

Within 24 hours is probably the best way. Do you agree?

Networking business opportunities … post networking event

Options for Communication

Your friends, colleagues, customers, and coworkers will choose to communicate with you in different ways. Some will want face to face; some will email, others will call, while others will do a little of everything.

The bottom line is: make all of them available.

On your business cards, email signatures, websites or marketing materials, let people know that can get in touch with you in whatever manner they choose.

A good idea is to give people as many options to contact you as possible. There’s nothing more annoying to a “phone person” than when she discovers she can’t get a hold of you unless she emails you.

Reach out

You don’t have to physically meet a person to network with them. If the individual you’d like to chat with has a blog or wrote an article you liked, reach out to them. The worst thing that could happen is they say no or don’t give a reply. The best things that could happen are virtually limitless.

Follow through

When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them.

Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.

Summary

Your results will vary.

First, all you shy people who have been clenching your jaw while reading this, it’s okay. I get it. I know that it’s a lot easier to do this when you’re not shy. Me? I tend to be on the private side. I just push hard NOT to be shy when it’s important.

Second, remember, things don’t usually follow a formula. That’s okay. Do what makes sense at the moment.

Finally, I want to re-stress that these are thoughts on what works best in meetings. Give them a try and push yourself to try new things and approaches with people.

Looking to create a smashing brand image?

What do you think?

Are you devoting enough energy to improving your enablers for success?

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is entirely up to you.

It’s up to you to keep improving your continuous learning. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that struggle gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.

When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Need some help in building better customer trust from your customer engagement? Creative ideas to help grow your client relationships?

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that struggle gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.

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Mike Schoultz likes to write about the topics that lead to small business success. He also likes to share his many business experiences. Find him on G+, Facebook, Twitter, Digital Spark Marketing, Pinterest, and LinkedIn.

6 Surprising Secrets to Being Creative With Your Listening Practices

As we begin to come out of the coronavirus pandemic, I think it’s a good time to review an essential leadership skill: listening practices.

active listening skills — **Active listening skills.**

So often the key to overcoming a difficulty—whether it’s in the workplace or at home—is to stop talking and start listening. I often like to joke that if God had wanted us to talk more than listen, he would have given us two mouths.

Yet few people have mastered the art of listening. Why is this seemingly simple skill so difficult?

Research published by Wendell Johnson in the Harvard Business Review examined one way the listening process goes wrong. Johnson found that because of how our brains work, we think much faster than people talk. As we listen to someone talk, we have time to think of things other than what the person is saying. As a result, we end up listening to a few thoughts of our own in addition to the words we’re hearing spoken. Usually, we can get back to what the person is saying, but sometimes we listen to our own thoughts too long and miss part of the other person’s message.

To sharpen your listening practices, learn to apply these skills:

success skills — **These are successful skills**.

Resist the Temptation to Jump In
- Sometimes people need time to formulate their thoughts. Particularly if you’re an extrovert, control the impulse to finish people’s sentences or fill silences with your own opinions and ideas.

Pay Attention to Body Language
- Listen with your eyes as well as your ears. Watch a person’s face and body movements. Are they avoiding eye contact? What about the tone of their voice—do you hear confidence, eagerness, or perhaps irritation? Be aware of clues that their silent behaviors provide while being sensitive to your own nonverbal signals. For example, is your body language encouraging someone to continue with a conversation, or silently telling them to stop?

Ask Questions
- This is not about interrogation or control. Use well-thought-out questions to seek information, opinions, or ideas that will help you understand exactly what is being said. Use open-ended questions to encourage communication; for example, “Can you tell me more about that?” Ask clarifying questions to check for understanding; for example, “When did this happen?” Ask prompting questions to encourage deeper thinking; for example, “What do you think caused this to happen?”

Reflect Feelings
- Acknowledge any emotions the person is expressing and show them you understand by restating their feelings back to them in a nonjudgmental way. This demonstrates that you not only understand their message but also empathize with their feelings.

Paraphrase
- Again, resist the temptation to respond with your own thoughts. Instead, restate in your own words what the person said. This demonstrates that you heard what they said and assures that you heard them correctly.

Summarize
- State in a nutshell what was communicated during the entire conversation. Don’t worry about repeating the exact words. What’s important is to capture the main points and general sequence of what was said. This is where you want to reflect the speaker’s conclusion back to them to indicate that you understand.

These practices are not easy—they require time and effort to master. But once you do master them, you’ll build more satisfying relationships. You’ll also avoid a lot of the errors, frustrations, and inefficiencies that come from unclear communication. Think of how our homes, workplaces, nation, and the world could change for the better if we all learned to listen to one another.

11 Ways to Develop and Maintain a Positive Personality

Too many people succumb to the mistaken belief that to maintain a positive personality comes from natural, unteachable traits that belong only to a lucky few — the good-looking, the fiercely social, and the incredibly talented. It’s easy to fall prey to this misconception.

After college, I spent almost 2 years of training as a naval aviator. An important element of that training was the use of checklists in the learning and refresher process. Checklist utilization remains an important part of my business and personal life. It is always a good idea to have a helpful checklist for reminders of improvements for your positive personality.

You will perhaps have heard this very old story illustrating the difference between positive and negative thinking:

Many years ago two salesmen were sent by a British shoe manufacturer to Africa to investigate and report back on market potential.

The first salesman reported back, “There is no potential here – nobody wears shoes.”

The second salesman reported back, “There is massive potential here – nobody wears shoes.”

This simple short story provides one of the best examples of how a single situation may be viewed in two quite different ways – negatively or positively. And it is not difficult to see which one you want, eh?

When I speak to smaller audiences, I often ask them to describe the most likable people they have ever worked with. People inevitably ignore innate characteristics (intelligence, extraversion, attractiveness, and so on) and instead focus on qualities that are completely under people’s control, such as approachability, humility, and positivity.

These qualities, and others like them, describe people who are skilled in emotional intelligence (EQ). TalentSmart research data from more than a million people shows that people who possess these skills aren’t just highly likable, they outperform those who don’t by a large margin.

Ninety percent of top performers have high EQs, people with high EQs make $29,000 more annually than people with low EQs, and a single-point increase in your EQ adds $1,300 to your salary. I could go on and on.

Being likable is under your control, and it’s a matter of emotional intelligence. Unlike innate, fixed characteristics, such as your intelligence (IQ), EQ is a flexible skill that you can improve with effort.

Here are some examples of emotional intelligence that will improve the odds of maintaining your positive demeanor in any task:

Maintain patience

The proper timing of your words and acts will give you a big advantage over people who are impatient.

For example: Don’t click send on the email right away — breathe and reread it. The classic example would be getting irate and sending something with hostility.

Much of real happiness is a matter of being aware of what you’re doing while you’re doing it — and enraged people aren’t typically conscious of their actions.

Keep an open mind

Those who close themselves off from certain ideas and associate only with like-minded people are missing out on not only personal growth but also opportunities for advancing their careers.

Having an open mind is crucial in the workplace where approachability means access to new ideas and help. To eliminate preconceived notions and judgment, you need to see the world through other people’s eyes.

This doesn’t require you believe what they believe or condone their behavior, it simply means you quit passing judgment long enough to truly understand what makes them tick. Only then can you let them be who they are.

Use a friendly tone

The best communicators speak deliberately and confidently, which gives their voice a pleasing sound.

Smile often

The greatest asset a person can show is a ‘million-dollar smile’. This allows people to lower their guards during conversations with you.

Be genuine

Being genuine and honest is essential to being likable. No one likes a fake. People gravitate toward those who are genuine because they know they can trust them. It is difficult to like someone when you don’t know who they really are and how they really feel.

Likable people know who they are. They are confident enough to be comfortable in their own skin. By concentrating on what drives you and makes you happy as an individual, you become a much more interesting person than if you attempt to win people over by making choices that you think will make them like you.

Ask thoughtful questions

The biggest mistake people make when it comes to listening is they’re so focused on what they’re going to say next or how what the other person is saying is going to affect them that they fail to hear what’s being said. The words come through loud and clear, but the meaning is lost.

A simple way to avoid this is to ask a lot of questions. People like to know you’re listening, and something as simple as a clarification question shows that not only are you listening, you also care about what they’re saying. You’ll be surprised how much respect and appreciation you gain just by asking questions.

Don’t seek attention

People are averse to those who are desperate for attention. You don’t need to develop a big, extroverted personality to be likable. Simply being friendly and considerate is all you need to win people over. When you speak in a friendly, confident, and concise manner, you will notice that people are much more attentive and persuadable than if you try to show them you’re important.

People catch on to your attitude quickly and are more attracted to the right attitude than what — or how many people — you know.

When you’re being given attention, such as when you’re being recognized for an accomplishment, shift the focus to all the people who worked hard to help you get there.

This may sound cliché, but if it’s genuine, the fact that you pay attention to others and appreciate their help will show that you’re appreciative and humble — two adjectives that are closely tied to likeability.

Use positive body language

Becoming cognizant of your gestures, expressions, and tone of voice (and making certain they’re positive) will draw people to you like ants to a picnic.

Using an enthusiastic tone, uncrossing your arms, maintaining eye contact, and leaning towards the person who’s speaking are all forms of positive body language that high-EQ people use to draw others in.

Positive body language can make all the difference in a conversation.

It’s true that how you say something can be more important than what you say.

Create a strong first impression

Research shows most people decide whether or not they like you within the first seven seconds of meeting you. They then spend the rest of the conversation internally justifying their initial reaction.

This may sound terrifying, but by knowing this you can take advantage of it to make huge gains in your likeability.

First impressions are tied intimately to positive body language. Strong posture, a firm handshake, smiling, and opening your shoulders to the person you are talking to will help ensure that your first impression is a good one.

Greet people by name

It feels great when people use your name. Courtesy of Hero Images/Getty Images

Your name is an essential part of your identity, and it feels terrific when people use it. Likable people make certain they use others’ names every time they see them. You shouldn’t use someone’s name only when you greet him.

Research shows that people feel validated when the person they’re speaking with refers to them by name during a conversation.

If you’re great with faces but have trouble with names, have some fun with it and make remembering people’s names a brain exercise.

When you meet someone, don’t be afraid to ask her name a second time if you forget it right after you hear it. You’ll need to keep her name handy if you’re going to remember it the next time you see her.

Balance passion and fun

People gravitate toward those who are passionate. That said, it’s easy for passionate people to come across as too serious or uninterested because they tend to get absorbed in their work.

Likable people balance their passion with the ability to have fun. At work, they are serious, yet friendly. They still get things done because they are socially effective in short amounts of time and they capitalize on valuable social moments.

They minimize small talk and gossip and instead focus on having meaningful interactions with their coworkers. They remember what you said to them yesterday or last week, which shows that you’re just as important to them as their work.

The bottom line

Likable people are invaluable and unique. They network with ease, promote harmony in the workplace, bring out the best in everyone around them, and generally seem to have the most fun.

Add these skills to your repertoire and watch your likeability soar!

Useful Digital Spark Marketing library references

Competitive Growth Strategy … the Story of In-N-Out Burger

Customer Service Tips … How to Take Charge with Basics

Collaboration and Partnerships Are Key to Business Growth

Body Language Communications Are Great for Augmenting Messages

Feelings and emotions do have a critical role in your marketing messages, don’t they? And body language communications will contribute significantly to those feelings and emotions.

What does your body language say? Does it say you’re confident, smart, and enthusiastic—or quiet or insecure?

Here is an interesting fact to keep in mind. Only a small percentage of communication involves actual words: 7%, to be exact. In fact, 55% of communication is visual (body language, eye contact) and 38% is vocal (pitch, speed, volume, tone of voice). The world’s best business communicators have strong body language: a commanding presence that reflects confidence, competence, and charisma.

So here are 10 ways you can augment your messages with strong body language communication:

Draw attention

Use visual descriptions as examples to help people understand your key points. It will help them be remembered better.

Eye to eye

Always, always look people directly in the eye. For large groups select several people in the audience to look at. Engage them with your eyes.

Use facial expressions explicitly

Reflect passion and generate empathy with the listener by using soft, gentle, and aware facial expressions. As much as possible avoid negative facial expressions, such as frowns or raised eyebrows. What is or isn’t negative is dependent on the context, including cultural context, so be guided by your situation.

Pause

If you have been asked a hard question or you want a different way to draw attention, simply pause. Pay attention to your breathing … slow breaths.

Be natural

Even if you were to succeed in controlling your body language “by the book,” you would look fake. While there are certain aspects of body language that can be improved upon to create a more effective message, you still need to act like yourself and not be robotic.

Vary your gestures

Avoid being stiff and unemotional. Vary your gestures to remain personal and real.

Direct gestures toward the audience.

Direct gestures let you more clearly indicate a favorable outcome to the listener. Direct the most negative gestures away from yourself and the listener. Clearly indicate that you wish that no obstacle stands in the way of your intended message.

Get buy-in

Get your audience agreeing with you by using positive gestures like nodding in agreement, smiling, and using open gestures. away

Smile

A basic must do. Puts your audience at ease.

Encourage participation

Use open gestures and walk around and towards the group naturally.

So do are you sending the unspoken messages that you are intending to send? It does make a difference. No one is born with this skill … it takes lots of focused practice. Dive in today and notice your body language communication improvements.

Remember this simple fact. The body language communication influence you have on others is usually way beyond what you imagined it to be. Let it be your difference-maker.

The bottom line

What we found most interesting in this concept is its simplicity. Making the simple complicated is commonplace … but making the complicated simple, awesomely simple is real creativity!

Lots of ideas are being generated and the process is definitely great at customer engagement. We believe its success will generate more business experimentation in communications.

In summary, remember that people communicate with people …, not brands or businesses. It’s all about social communications and relationship building.

It’s important to make the distinction between a digital strategy that involves social platforms and a true social strategy. For a social strategy to succeed, simply joining the conversation is not enough. You must lead it.

Need some help in building better customer trust from your customer engagement? Creative ideas to help grow your customer relationships?

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy to improving your continuous learning for yourself and your team?

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of your business. Find him on Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way.

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Body Language Mistakes: Ones You Don’t Want To Make

The most important thing in communication is hearing what isn’t said. Peter Drucker knew a great deal about body language, yes? Let me repeat Peter Drucker’s position on communication … the most important thing is hearing what isn’t being said.

On the flip side, you can significantly damage your verbal messages through body language mistakes. In this regard, body language is a form of mental and physical ability of human non-verbal communication, which consists of body posture, gestures, facial expressions, and eye movements.

Check out our thoughts on team leverage.

Humans send and interpret such signals almost entirely subconsciously, but it shouldn’t be this way.

Related: 10 Extraordinary Ways for Learning to Learn

Feelings and emotion have a critical role in your marketing messages, don’t they? And body language communication will contribute significantly to those feelings and emotion, for good or bad.

Before we continue, let me ask you a question.

What works best for marketing message design in your business? We would love to hear what it was. Would you do us a favor and post it in the comments section below? Be the one who starts a conversation.

With the advent of the Internet, the number of marketing options available to both budding and experienced entrepreneurs has become staggering.

What does your body language say? Shouldn’t it say you’re confident, smart, and enthusiastic—and not quiet or insecure? Many people read your body language to decide whether you’re likable, trustworthy, and competent, among other things, within one second of meeting you. That needs to be your goal.

Here is an interesting fact to keep in mind. Only a small percentage of communication involves actual words: 7%, to be exact.1 In fact, 55% of communication is visual (body language, eye contact) and 38% is vocal (pitch, speed, volume, the tone of voice).

The world’s best business communicators have strong body language: a commanding presence that reflects confidence, competence, and charisma.

You may have heard that you only have a few seconds to make a first impression, but the truth is, the other person’s brain has made up its mind (so to speak) about you much faster than that.

Until we get to know someone, our brain relies on snap judgments to try to categorize the person, predict what they will do, and anticipate how we should react.

One way to hack this split-second judgment is to be aware of your body language and use them to complement your messages. Whether you’re applying for a job, asking for a raise, or meeting with a new client, altering or being mindful of your body language can influence the other person’s perception of you, and may change the outcome of the situation.

Here are nineteen common body language mistakes you’ll want to avoid so as to not convey the wrong impressions:

Body language … crossing your arms

This gesture makes you look defensive, especially when you’re answering questions. Try to keep your arms at your sides.

No smile

Lacking a genuine smile sends an intense message you rarely want.

Body language mistakes … change head position quickly

If you suddenly make a head movement when you are asked a direct question, you will send a message you may be trying to deceive.

Not something you usually want, is it?

Body language signs … limited eye contact

When you limit your eye contact you are sending the message of little self-confidence. When engaging people always maintain good eye contact.

Holding your hands behind your back

This gesture can make you look rigid and stiff. Always aim for a relaxed, a natural, hands-at-your-sides posture.

Little participation

When you don’t use open gestures you signal your tendencies to be a loner. Always use a walk around style with a group.

Standing with hands on hips

Standing with hands on your hips signals aggressiveness, like a dog puffing themselves up to look bigger.

Usually, a bad signal to make.

Don’t remain calm

When you get excited and lose your calmness, you lose trust. To demonstrate authority, remain calm with little to no emotion.

Show your desire to create trust.

Leaning forward

Leaning forward makes you appear aggressive. Always try and maintain for a neutral posture.

Forget to engage

When you don’t show engagement, you limit the buy-in with your audience.

Use positive gestures such as nodding, smiles, a quick laugh, and open gestures.

Stepping back when asked for a decision

When someone asks for a decision and you step back, you are conveying fear or uncertainty.

Stand your ground, or even take a slight step forward to show conviction

No variation

When you show little to no variation with gestures or emotion, you can quickly lose attention. Vary your gestures and emotion to keep strong attention.

Just changing your body language very slightly can have an amazing impact on the people around you. Using body language communications can make you much more efficient in getting your messages delivered effectively.

Rushing it

When you are stuck with a tough question, don’t rush to answer.

Breathe slowly and pause. Occasionally just pause for effect.

Nodding too much

When you nod too much, you convey an artificial look. Even if you agree with what’s being said, nod once and then try to remain still.

Watch breathing changes

When someone is lying to you, they may begin to breathe heavily. It’s a reflex action.

When their breathing changes, their shoulders will rise and their voice may get shallow. In essence, they are out of breath because of their heart rate and blood flow change.

Your body experiences these types of changes when you’re nervous and feeling tense.

Quickly breaking eye contact

Quickly breaking eye contact can make you seem untrustworthy or overly nervous.

Hold eye contact a hair longer, especially during a handshake.

Being motionless

It’s common knowledge that people fidget when they get nervous, but you must also avoid not moving at all.

This may create a sign of the primitive ‘fight,’ rather than the ‘flight,’ response, as the body positions and readies itself for a possible confrontation.

Speak and engage in normal conversation and move your body around in subtle and relaxed unconscious movements.

Cover the mouth

Frequently putting your hands over the mouth, is sending a message you don’t want to deal with an issue or answer a question.

Try and keep your hands for gestures or by your side.

Shuffle feet

When you shuffle your feet you send a message of discomfort and nervousness.

It demonstrates that you want to leave the situation. It shows you are being deceitful.

Practice it daily … like anything you need to be good at, it takes lots of practice.

Need some help in capturing more improvements in your staff’s leadership, teamwork, and collaboration? Creative ideas in running or facilitating a team or leadership workshop?

Call today for a FREE consultation or a FREE quote. Learn about some options to scope your job.

Call Mike at 607-725-8240.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that fight gets better every day you learn and apply new ideas.

When things are not what you want them to be, what’s most important is your next step. Call today.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.

Are you devoting enough energy continually improving your continuous learning?

Do you have a lesson about making your learning better you can share with this community? Have any questions or comments to add in the section below?

Mike Schoultz is the founder of Digital Spark Marketing, a digital marketing and customer service agency. With 40 years of business experience, he blogs on topics that relate to improving the performance of a business. Find him on G+, Twitter, and LinkedIn.

Digital Spark Marketing will stretch your thinking and your ability to adapt to change. We also provide some fun and inspiration along the way. Call us for a free quote today. You will be amazed at how reasonable we will be.

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Business networking is leveraging your connections to bring you new opportunities. And it means turning those connections into relationships.

Sounds simple, doesn’t it? Don’t let that fool you, though. Because it involves relationship building, it can be a deceptively complex process.

The aim of marketing is to make selling unnecessary.

–Peter Drucker

Think about it. How many people do you know? How many of these people truly understand what you do? How many of these folks have directed prospects to you as referrals? And how many of those referrals have turned into a business? I’ll wager far fewer than you would like.

Related: 13 Employee Engagement Lessons From Best Employee Brands

Business networking is much more than showing up at networking functions, shaking a lot of hands and collecting a bunch of cards.

Networking for new opportunity must be strategic and focused. Not everyone you meet can help move your business forward. However, everything you do should be driven by the intention to grow your relationships.

Networking your business means you have to be proactive. Very dynamic, as business opportunities rarely come to you on their own. The core of networking is doing something specific each week that is focused on building relationships.

Preparation for a networking event

Prepare open-ended questions

This means questions that ask who, what, where, when, and how as opposed to those that can be answered with a simple yes or no.

This form of questioning opens up the discussion and shows listeners that you are interested in them. A key point.

Have your elevator speech down cold

Have a clear understanding of what you do and why, for whom, and what makes you doing it special or different from others doing the same thing.

To get referrals, you must first have a clear understanding of what you do that you can easily articulate to others.

Business networking … pick out your targets

Know who you want to meet and do your homework on them.

But leave some time for the unexpected attendees.

At the networking event

Your nametag is your best friend for several reasons.

First of all, a person’s name is the single context of human memory most forgotten. And people are less likely to approach you if they don’t know (or forgot) your name.

Secondly, it’s free advertising for you and your company.

Third, nametags encourage people to be friendly and more approachable.

Confidence is EVERYTHING

You are good enough. You are important enough. You are worthy. Everyone is just someone.

The biggest names in the world that I’ve met have all been regular people when you get down to it.

Is that your experience?

Assume neither of you has lots of time

Try to keep the conversation moving and tight.

This one is tricky, and you have to read the signs. Is the person you’re speaking to giving you the “I need to move on” signals?

Are their shoulders turned away from you? Are they looking around instead of making deep eye contact?

There you have it. Smile politely and make your exit.

Lead with most interesting topic

If you’re going to say, “I’m here to ask about a business partnership,” then start with that.

Most people want to start with soft things like the weather, but in most cases, what’s critical gets buried in trivia.

Don’t do it. Believe me.

Take notes

On the back of business cards, write down quick notes about your interaction with the person.

Did they mention they were looking for graphic designers who specialize in logo design? Or that they recently adopted a puppy?

Write that down. In your follow-up, you could mention someone you know who designs logos and ask how that puppy is doing.

And pay close attention at all times, ok?

Determine common points of interest

The common point of interest is an essential element to every conversation and interaction.

Your objective, as you meet new people, or even as you talk with those you already know, is to discover the points as soon as possible. It connects people to you.

It allows them to feel more comfortable talking to you.

And it increases your approachability as people will be linked to you by the commonality you share.

Watch your body language

Body language creates simple, subconscious non-verbal cues that too many people ignore and it hinders their approachability.

Pay attention to the messages you want your body language to send.

Finish with action

Because you’ve kept it short, because you are letting this person go on to the next thing, your goal now is to decide whether there’s some “there” there.

If yes, then move on to business cards and next steps. If no, then be clean and enjoyable about it. Just say thanks and pleased to meet you, and move on.

Believe me; that’s an excellent way to move on.

Related post: Positive Attitude Is Everything for Customer Engagement

Business cards are for continuing business

If you’re done talking, exchanging a business card is great only when you have further business to do. Send your message quickly.

Within 24 hours is probably the best way. Do you agree?

Networking business opportunities … post networking event

Options for Communication

Your friends, colleagues, customers, and coworkers will choose to communicate with you in different ways. Some will want face to face; some will email, others will call, while others will do a little of everything.

The bottom line is: make all of them available.

On your business cards, email signatures, websites or marketing materials, let people know that can get in touch with you in whatever manner they choose.

A good idea is to give people as many options to contact you as possible. There’s nothing more annoying to a “phone person” than when she discovers she can’t get a hold of you unless she emails you.

Reach out

Follow through

When people give you referrals, your actions are a reflection on them.

Respect and honor that and your referrals will grow.

Summary

Your results will vary.

First, all you shy people who have been clenching your jaw while reading this, it’s okay. I get it. I know that it’s a lot easier to do this when you’re not shy. Me? I tend to be on the private side. I just push hard NOT to be shy when it’s important.

Second, remember, things don’t usually follow a formula. That’s okay. Do what makes sense at the moment.

Finally, I want to re-stress that these are thoughts on what works best in meetings. Give them a try and push yourself to try new things and approaches with people.

What do you think?

Are you devoting enough energy to improving your enablers for success?

So what’s the conclusion? The conclusion is there is no conclusion. There is only the next step. And that next step is entirely up to you.

It’s up to you to keep improving your continuous learning. Lessons are all around you. In many situations, your competitor may be providing the ideas and or inspiration. But the key is in knowing that it is within you already.

All you get is what you bring to the fight. And that struggle gets better every day you learn and apply new lessons.

When things go wrong, what’s most important is your next step.

Test. Learn. Improve. Repeat.