New Year Networking Nuggets

Been out and about over the last few weeks, attending yearly Holiday functions and parties hosted by various business and industry support organizations. In some instances I knew people at the venue; in others I knew no one. Being a bit of an extravert helps – but many times I must admit I’d rather be doing other things then networking – like cooking a proper dinner for my kids who are home from college, or working on my book while sipping a nice pinot noir and listening to David Gray…

Odds are you’ve been in the same boat – dragging your butt out to a function when you’d rather be someplace else. Bottom line – networking, when done right, benefits you and your business in many ways.

Here’s how to supercharge your networking efforts, so you make the most of your face-to-face and social/viral options!

• Be upbeat, giving succinct info about your value, rather than a boring laundry list of services.
• Listen, ask pertinent questions, and share effective resource and productivity tips with enthusiasm.
• Be authentic and communicate strategically with each unique audience
• Mix up your elevator pitch to keep things fresh & memorable. One new angle I experimented with got a hearty chuckle: “I deliver heftier profits than the bank” then I quantified what I meant in the next 20 seconds.
• Social networking communities are fantastic places to strut your stuff, especially when your tweet or post offers great industry advice, smart recommendations on open source apps, terrific vendors, prospecting or sales tips, speaking or event news, media placements, etc.

Dedicate consistent time each month to experiment with new face-space and social community interaction opps as part of your overall strategic marketing efforts. That means getting to Chamber of Commerce events, and attending segmented industry, trade and special interest groups. Get your business profile out there on Twitter, LinkedIn, and facebook to start, and seek out and chat with peers, colleagues, major and segmented news portals and industry thought leaders. And get some videos up on your own YouTube page and on your website as soon as you’re able.  Action, enthusiastic communications and targeted investments of your time will help you boost your brand awareness and your bottom line in 20-10!