As an aspiring entrepreneur, networking is a big part of the job. It opens the door to a world of business opportunities, as it helps you to meet like-minded individuals, generate new leads, and build strong business connections. Networking also boosts confidence, increases your professional visibility, and builds your reputation as an aspiring business owner.
1. Look for Networking Opportunities
As we touched on above, networking is vital when starting and growing a business. Effective networking helps you to identify possible business partnerships, generate client referrals, and find customers for your business. A few ways to network include:
● Business events. Attend conferences, career fairs, alumni meetups, speaking events, and webinars.
● Social media. Connect on social media platforms such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram.
● Networking groups. Start your own networking group and invite other business owners to join.
● College connections: consider going back to school. You can earn an online MBA and make great connections through your professors, classmates, and alumni. Possibly there are those you can connect with from a prior college experience or other industry or skill-based courses you have taken in the past.
Your local Chamber of Commerce is another great resource for connecting with other business professionals in your area. Plus, potential customers, clients, and business partners in your community will be able to find you more easily.
2. Build Lasting Connections
Networking is important as an aspiring entrepreneur, but so too is leaving a lasting impression on the people you meet. Be sure to hand out business cards and copies of your resume, wear a nametag when attending events, and shake hands with confidence.
Business cards are a great way to leave a lasting impression on the people you meet at conferences and other events. There are a number of things that the right designer can do to help you with to make your brand and information stand out – strong design, paper weight and treatment, fonts, spot glossing, custom foils, colored edges, and more. A team like Strategy Driven Marketing can help you put your best foot forward on your initial contact and each step moving forward.
3. Maintain Positive Business Relationships
As vital as networking is, building business connections is just the start. To maintain these connections you’ve made, following up with the people you meet is also important. Here are a few ideas for building and maintaining new business relationships:
● Follow-up with new connections after each networking event, preferably within 24 to 48 hours of meeting someone.
● Send new contacts an invitation to connect on LinkedIn.
● After following up, regularly check in with your connections via email, text message, or LinkedIn message.
● Offer help in some way: Share informative content with them, offer a free information session, or invite them out for a cup of coffee.
It can be a good idea to establish and maintain good relationships with local lending institutions should the need for funding arise for your business. Keep in mind that lenders will scrutinize your credit history, so it’s wise to review your credit report. It will make you aware of any irregularities in your credit history so you can work to resolve them.
The Bottom Line
After all the hard work you’ve put into launching a business, networking is one of the best things you can do to attract clients, build business connections, and advertise your services.
Networking can be challenging — as it requires the ability to practice active listening and communicate both verbally and nonverbally — but it’s one of the most important skills to master as an entrepreneur. The ability to network effectively allows you to market your services, build long-lasting connections, and eventually, take your business to the next level.
To learn more about the importance of networking and how effective networking will benefit you as an aspiring entrepreneur, contact Strategy Driven Marketing to talk strategy and custom applications for your business and budget.
Meet the Author
Clarence Wilkins has wanted to be an entrepreneur since he was a kid. He started his first business -- a neighborhood lawn mowing venture -- at 13 and hasn’t looked back since. He created Bizz Pop to offer advice and business growth and development resources to other entrepreneurs.