When someone comes up to us at a networking event we can become so focused on making sure that they know what we do that we forget everything else.

I have had 20 minute conversations with people and had them walk away and I don’t even know their name. This is because they are so focused on telling me what they do and how they can help me and what kind of referrals they are looking for that I am pretty sure they forget to tell me the most simple thing….their name.

Here is another common thing that happens…

I am at a networking event and someone comes up to me. They say hello and tell em their name. I tell them my name and then before another sentence is said they launch into their pitch.

They tell me how they have been in business for over a year and they quickly ask if I have a website. I barely say yes when they move on. They go on to tell me all about how they can help me “optimize” my website and get me to the first page of Google. They can get me in all the online “yellow pages” sites and have customers banging down my door to do business with me and coming to my shop and buying my products and services and my phones will be ringing off the hook. All for ONLY $____ a month.

I generally listen politely because I always find this pitch amusing. (Sadly I have heard it a ton of times ).

After a few minutes they tend to run out of pitch. So I politely ask them a couple of questions (for my own curiosity). Things like “What sites will you add me to?” And “Do YOU do the work?”.

They (seeing a possible sale..) rush to assure me that I will be on dozens of sites and that they don’t actually do the work “they have people” that do.

They then ask “So do you want to set up a meeting and get started?”

This is where I have to break their hearts. Mind you we are now about 10-20 minutes into this exchange. And now they are going to discover they have completely wasted their time (and mine to be honest, but they seem so desperate I don’t have the heart to stop them).

I explain to them that I don’t have a store front. I explain to them that I don’t particularly care if my phone rings since I am an internet based business. I explain to them that I am already on the first page in Google (in fact I can tell them I am #1-20 on Google depending on how you search). I explain to them that I know how to get on everyone of the sites they “get me on” for free. And then the last one….

I explain to them that I have a course that I sell for $197 (one time fee, instead of  $XXX per month forever) that will not only teach people how to do what they are selling, but also how to do 3 other marketing tactics 100% for free other than a few hours of their time.

This is usually when they politely thank me (sometimes not so politely) and wander off in search of their next victim.

I say victim kind of tongue in cheek, but sometimes unfortunatly this is how these people make you feel.

If they had taken 2 minutes to ask a couple of questions about me, my business, my business model, etc. They would have saved themselves and me a ton of time. They would have saved themselves the heartache and frustration of doing their entire pitch only to discover that it was in vain.

But they had blinders on.

They were so focused on them and their objectives that they forgot the point. They forgot to look for prospects. See…I am not their prospect. I am NOT their target market. BUT I might be a good connection for them. I meet people all the time that just want “someone to do it for them”. Of course now that I have been accosted I am certainly not going to send my customers over to this person. But that is another story

Does this situation happen to you? Have you been the “victim” of the story? Please share your thoughts….(or horror stories )

In my world business is a constant. Why is that?

Because I am an entrepreneur. Therefore the most correct and true answer to the question “What do you do?” is and always should be “I am a marketer.”

Even if I sell vitamin supplements or own a wonderful coffee and smoothie shop or am a nail tech. Even if one of those is “what”  I do, my position is marketer.

I understand that especially as an entrepreneur you are probably responsible for a lot of things. There are many hats that have to be worn in business and most times with entrepreneurs we feel like we have to wear most of the hats ourselves.

But wearing all of those other hats does no good if there is no business. And there is no business if we do not market.

AND…you never know when the stage will be set and you will have the opportunity to market your business. So if you think like the marketing director of a company where you LOVE your job and making that company a raging success is your primary goal, then you will be on the right track.

Here’s an example. I went to a movie last night. It was actually a set of 3 movies with the final one airing at 12midnight because it was a new release.

I attended this event with my daughter and the daughter of a friend. We had a wonderful time hanging out in the line, playing card games and talking with the people around us.

Once we entered the theater to take our seats we had the opportunity to meet some of the people behind and in front of us.

One of them made a comment “I should have brought business cards, I could have handed them out”. She was a massage therapist.

But notice the issue with her statement?

“I SHOULD have brought business cards.”

Now she was going to a movie marathon and if she was like us she had already been at the theater 4 hours before they let us in the theater at all.

The fun part was that both me and my daughter immediately pulled out business card holders fully loaded from our bags.

The woman laughed. Then she explained that she was actually OUT of business cards and needed to order more. So that is one reason she had not brought them with her.

We then had a very nice conversation with her and she told us that she has been a massage therapist for 4 years and works from her home. She loves her business. But notice I have not given you here name?

It is because, sadly enough…I do not remember it. And I do not have a card to reference.

My daughter ended up in a conversation with the people in front of us about books and such. In the end they asked her for her social media information so they could connect with her online. She wrote down her social media information and gave that and a business card to them.

Now did we go to a “networking event”? Were we at a business function? No.

But we were still prepared.

We were ready at a moments notice to put on our marketers hat and get to work. Even if it was only for 2 or 3 minutes before the opening scenes of the movie began.

Now 3-4 people in that sold out theater have my business information. Will they use it? I hope so. But they certainly wouldn’t if I had not been prepared to give it to them.

Are you missing out on business opportunities? Are you “turning off” and not being in business mode? How much possible business are you leaving on the table by not being prepared?

This is where most business owners miss the boat. They think that they can join their local Chamber of Commerce, go to a few meetings and pitch their products to the people in the room. Well this is the exact wrong thing to do. It’s about about building relationships. And… The game of networking has changed over the last few years.

With Social Media taking over the world and more people going online, there is a huge opportunity out there that most people don’t even think about. People are going to less and less live events and spending more time online to build their relationships and follow up.

Here’s 3 steps you can take to build better relationships with the prospects and connections you make and convert them from occasional acquaintances to raving fans.

Step One – Make it about them
Whether it’s a face to face meeting or someone you meet online via Social media, ask about them. Find out more about their business, their life and their thoughts and ideas.

This one is a classic and should be common sense but I can’t count the number of times that I have met someone and all they talk about is how wonderful their products and services are. I even have someone that I have known for years and even to this day, I can’t have a conversation with her without her telling me about how great her company and product is.

I know that it’s great. I do believe that, but after the 200th time of her telling me about it, I loose interest in not just the product but also in her. I don’t even like talking to her any more because I know the conversation will always end up with her talking about how wonderful the product it.

Now, I do believe that she is passionate about her product. I am about mine too. That’s fine, but you need to be able to talk about someone and something else as well or you will loose the conversation.

Step Two – Connect Online
Social Media is an awesome way that you can easily and quickly follow up with people you meet at a live event. Connect with them on Twitter, Facebook & LinkedIn. This way you have a way to easily keep in touch between face to face meetings.

Many times people actually prefer to connect online. They are used to it and spend a large amount of time connected to Facebook and the others.

This gives you a way to keep in touch and get to know each other even if you don’t get a chance to get together for coffee or pick up the phone.

Step Three – Be Consistent
It’s all about staying in touch and following up. If you don’t follow up you can’t build the relationship. That’s just a fact. People aren’t going to trust you, let alone give you money, if they don’t know you at all. Meeting one time in a room of 30 other people isn’t enough to build a relationship and build the trust needed to get people to want to do business with you.

That’s it. I know it sounds simple. Well… It is. You just need to follow those steps and you’ll build better and longer lasting business relationships that will not only bring in new clients but a flood of referrals as well from people that will happily vouch for you and your business.

Are you still confused on how you can use Social Media effectively in your business. I’ll show you how you can keep up with all your Social Media in 15 minutes a day and build new relationships and followers each and every day for your business. Check out http://MarketingMentorTraining.com/social-media-extreme

You know you met somewhere before but can’t remember who they are, where you met them or what they do.

I get that all the time.

I meet as many as 50 new people each and every week. Sometimes even more. As much as I try, I just can’t remember everyone.

It’s very awkward and makes it hard to start the conversation.

I know that many other people have the same problem as well.

You should make it as easy as possible for others to remember you and make the conversation as smooth as possible. So here’s a couple of tips that will make it easier for others to remember you when the situation comes up.

Wear a name badge
This is one of the cheapest ways tools you can get for your business and it makes a world of difference.
They will run you about $15 for a nice one that includes your company name, your name and most likely even a logo. And, they last for years.

Here’s how important this is. First off, make sure your name is large and easy to read. When you first walk up to someone, you want to make it easy for them to see your name right away. This will help refresh their memory. Even if they don’t remember your last meeting at least they can say your name. Don’t take offense to someone not remembering you name. Make it easy for them to read it so they can remember quickly.

Next, your company name and logo.
I love having my company logo on my name badge as well. If they don’t remember my name, chances are they will still remember my company name. That makes it much easier for them to recall our last meeting.

Plus, many people know my company name and reputation even if they have not met me before. This helps get the conversation going. I have a ton of people that I have met at an event that had never met me but were following our company on Facebook or had been to our website. They instantly get excited because they have something to talk about and it gets the conversation rolling much faster.

Third, Remind them when you first walk up to them.
Something like “Hey here! We met last time month at the Chamber mixer. Hows it going? Its been a while.”

If they then have your name on your name badge and you have reminded them of where they met you last, it will set the conversation at ease and help them remember who you are much easier.

It makes the rest of the conversation go much more smooth and you can re-connect better.

Remember that people have a ton of connections and are very busy in their worlds. It may take a bit for them to remember who you are. Don’t take it personally. Just help them out and you will make a much better connection with them and build the relationship.

Want to build better relationships with the people you meet and build a follow up system that will work for you for years to come? Check out The Ultimate Follow Up System where I’ll teach you how you can build an automated follow up system that will keep your name in front of your prospects and clients and build you as the go to resource for years on autopilot.

If you are an entrepreneur you need to be. For a business owner, especially in today’s world, there is no such thing as turning it all off.

I have been at the grocery store shopping for milk and eggs and ended up trading business cards with the person in line with me. My partner has exchanged business cards with the guy handing him his coffee at the Starbucks Drive Thru window.

But I have also attended workshops and when talking to someone else that was attending this same event I asked them if they had a business card and they said “No I didn’t think to bring them since it is Saturday and I am not working today.”

That person missed an opportunity to market their business to me. Even though I had a pad of paper with me, I did not take the time to write down their information. I did not take the time to write down their web address so I could go look at what they had to offer later. But if I had been able to get a business card with that information I would have that information at my fingertips.

Also there is more to networking than just shoving a business card in someone’s hand. The first step is to actually talk to someone.

If you attend a live event do you go to the event, check in and go sit down in your seat and wait for the event to start?

This is what most people will do. They will check in and then go wait for the event to start. They will sit quietly in their seat and check their phone for new email. They will surf their Facebook using the app on their phone. Maybe they will talk to the person they came with quietly.

Today I was attending an event where everyone was just like this. Everyone quietly sat in their seat and waited for the event to start.

That is everyone accept one person.

One person in the room found their seat, put their stuff down to claim that seat and then walked over to the closest person and introduced herself.

She walked up shook hands and introduced herself. She then asked them about what they did and why they were at the event today.

She did this with EVERYONE in the room. At one point after she had met everyone that was currently in the room, she moved over by the door and greeted everyone new as they entered the room.

Now even in the face of this opportunity, no one else in the room took advantage of the opening she provided. They all talked to her. Everyone had what appeared to be a pleasant conversation with her. But as soon as she moved on to the next person they each went right back to sitting quietly waiting.

If you do not talk to the people around you how are you going to know who you are in the room with.

There is a thought process that says that every single person you need to know to make all of your dreams come true, no matter what they may be, is already connected to you in some way.

So if you have a goal in your business, there is a possibility that the person you need to meet to make that goal happen is sitting next to you in that conference you were sitting in this weekend. And if they are not the person, they may be friends with that person.

But you will never know because you didn’t say hello.

I hear people everyday in today’s world complain about the volume of work they have. They say they are not getting enough new customers or enough business. But they close their business at 5 each night and go home and relax and take weekends off and only have their business cards with them during office hours.

So my parting words to you are…

“If you want a different result you have to do something different…”

What are you doing today to market your business and change your future (and current) reality?

That in itself is pretty common. Most people do it if they can. why not? It adds credibility to what you sell.

If it is done ethically!

You have to be careful about when you are name dropping and there are a few strict ethical rules you should be following any time you are using someone else’s name.

There is a difference between someone you have met, seen at a seminar, even had coffee with at some time, and someone you can call a friend.

I’m seeing this more and more with people when they call me up to “get together to get to know each other” and it’s nothing more than a ploy to get me to listen to their sales pitch.

It’s bad enough that they aren’t being honest about their intentions, but what about when they start dropping names. “I’m a good friend of ______________ and they said I need to meet you!”

Ever heard that one before? I have! Just recently, a girl called me up with this line. She said she was a good friend of one of my best friends and wanted to meet me.

Come to find out, she wasn’t a friend. They met once over coffee ONCE.

Now, if I was interested in her products before (which I wasn’t) I surely wasn’t going to be once I found this out.

She didn’t “Twist the truth a bit”. She flat lied to get a meeting with me. See where I am going with this?

Had she said she had met my friend and that they told her she should meet me, it wouldn’t have been as bad. But the “Good friends” line just killed her credibility with me.

To make it worse, come to find out she had done with with many other people my friend knows.

Don’t make this marketing mistake in your business.

Name dropping or claiming to be friends in order to get an appointment or sale is just bad karma. You will get found out and it will kill your reputation.

Be honest. Be upfront. If you just met a person, don’t claim to be their friend. If you plan on pitching your wares, be honest and tell people that. Don’t go around telling people that you just want to get to know them or make a new friend if that is not your intention.

It won’t do you good, might hurt the reputation of the person you are talking about and will definitely ruin your own reputation very quickly.

It’s unethical and people will see though you’re scam very quickly. No matter how great your product is, it will not serve you in the end and you will loose more business than you would have ever got by just being honest up front.

Well surprise! It’s not. It is actually about Geek Speak in general. The “geeks” of the world made this term popular a few years ago by forgetting that everyone in the world does not understand how to format a hard drive. And many people, even today, don’t understand the difference between a hard drive and ram.

But what we tend to forget is that WE ALL speak geek. It just happens to be our very own dialect. Kind of the same as I can’t tell the difference between Chinese and Japanese, because since I don’t know either of them they sound very similar to me.

I also don’t understand the things that my accountant says to me, or things that I hear everyday at live networking events.

Accounts payable, accounts receivable, P & L reports, swedish massage, deep tissue massage, etc are all words we may hear on any given day. But how many of us TRULY understand them. I mean really understand to the point that we could explain it to our 10 year old child who may have never heard the words before.

Car people speak geek speak. Marketing people speak geek speak. Fundraising Non-Profits speak geek speak. Real Estate Agents speak geek speak. Every industry on the planet has their own version of geek speak.

I find myself doing it, even though I am aware of it, it still happens. I was talking with someone the other day about my blog. I was telling them how often I post and that I added a new plugin and had made some changes to the theme. Then I noticed it. The look. You know it, you have seen it or maybe you have felt it. That glassy eyed, confused look that says “I am listening to you because it is polite but I have no idea what you are talking about” look.

I stopped and asked the question I should have asked to begin with “do you know what a blog is?” The answer I got was “I have heard of it, but I don’t understand what it is”.

Geek speak strikes again!

I asked if they wanted to understand (some people don’t after all) and when they said yes, I explained it in basic detail. I made sure to ask questions often and let them know that if I said something that didn’t make sense to stop me and ask.

Sometimes people will not ask you to explain something because they don’t want to sound like an idiot. They will listen politely and the go home and ask their family or friends. Or they will simply walk away confused.

This is NOT the feeling you want to leave people with.

Think about your industry. Do you have words that you use every day? Do these words describe things that you do or that you offer that are only available in your industry?

Guess what…that is your geek speak. You understand it. To you it is as simple as the words we, us, they and them. These things are part of your daily life and they seem way to simple to not be understood by everyone.

But things that seem so simple to you make no sense at all to the rest of us. We may know the words, but we do not truly understand what they mean.

So how am I ever going to understand if I need what you have to offer if I don’t even know what it is?

Every so often you need to find a child in your world and offer to buy them ice cream or another special treat if they will help you out. (Yes, bribe them or rather pay them for their pain and suffering since you are probably going to bore them)

Then sit down with them and tell them what you do. BUT…tell them what you do, exactly the same way you tell people you meet at networking events. Don’t change anything. Or maybe read them your brochure or your website.

Then have them explain to you what you do. What did they get? Is it right? Do they look at you with a blank stare totally confused?

You spoke geek speak. Go back to the drawing board. You need to figure out how to explain what you do in generally understood words and in a way that anyone, no matter what age they are will understand it.

When you can do that, then you are on the right track…

Where do you hear geek speak? Is there one particular industry (besides computer people) that you find it hard to listen to? Share your experiences below, you never know who might be reading and realize that they too are speaking geek speak…

About The Author:
Cindy Clemens is a mom, author, speaker, marketing consultant and Co-Owner of My Business Marketing Mentor. Her goal is to teach marketing in a simple easy to understand format that businesses can use to help gain marketing ideas & market their businesses to boost sales. Throughout the MBMM blog you can sign up for updates, news, free downloads and more. So take a look around, leave a comment or two and enjoy.

As we were going through what was included and I was answering a few questions he had, he had looked up my Facebook profile and stopped cold in his tracks.

He then asked one questions kind of sheepishly…

“If you are so good at this, why don’t you have more people connected to you on Facebook?”

My answer… I go for quality before quantity with all my lists. Social Media, email marketing, mailing, everything.

He wasn’t sure about that and I didn’t get the sale.

Am I hurt by this? Not one bit because I know what is really important in marketing.

I’m not focused on a big list. I’m focused on a quality list. A responsive list. People that know, like and trust me.

It doesn’t matter if you have 10,000 people on your list, any list, if most of them really don’t care about what you have to share with them.

It still amazes me how often I send out an email and get a ton of responses to the email. I’m talking about as many as 10% replying to my email with comments, answers to questions, additional thoughts on the subject and even a ton of thanks you replies for sending them the information.

That’s what you should be focusing on. Responsive lists of people.

It doesn’t matter if it’s an email list or the newest Social Media Frenzy, you want to grow a solid list that wants your information. Not a huge list of people that don’t really care.

Keep that in mind with any of your marketing or advertising. Are you blasting your message out to a bunch of people that could care less or are you connecting with a great group of loyal followers that want your information, will absorb what you have to say and appreciate you sharing your knowledge and services with them?

So, want to get on my list?

It’s about relationships, not a sales pitch.

If I want a sales pitch I’ll watch infomercials. At least they have better actors.

Now there isn’t anything wrong with telling people what you do if they ask. That’s expected. But, what amazes me is when I ask someone what they do and they go on for 20 minutes on how great their product is and how I should jump on board with them and that I’m insane for not already “taking advantage of this great opportunity”.

I actually had someone do that not that long ago. She was part of a network marketing company. First, let me say that I have no problems with network marketing. There are some awesome companies out there. But… She was trying to recruit me to be a rep for the company. She kept going on about how great the compensation plan was and how much money I could make.

Ok, so get this…

I wasn’t interested in another project (like I don’t already run 90 miles and hour already). She never asked anything about me to see if I was qualified to sell the product. She spouted of how when she gets involved with something people following her make a lot of money (VERY cocky!)

To make it even better, it was for a travel group.

I’m not much of a traveler. I like staying home and hanging out with the dogs. I don’t mind vacations some times but I am not much of a world traveler at all.

So how does she think I would do as a rep for a company. Someone that doesn’t really like to travel selling travel packages.

Doesn’t make sense does it?

She never asked. She never found out anything about me to see if I was a good fit at all.

The entire conversation was about her and how great she was.

End result, I really don’t care much for her and am not afraid to tell people so. I won’t buy from her when I am ready to go on vacation and I won’t recommend anyone to her.

See how this works.

Be sure to have a real qualification with the people you meet to see if they are a good fit before you run your mouth for 20 minutes on your product. Even if they aren’t a customer of yours, you could end up with a great relationship and get a ton of referrals down the road because the LIKED you.

It’s relationship marketing 101. People buy from who they know, like & trust. Not who can talk the most.

Try keeping it simple. Put it in terms that people will relate to. Not just how great YOUR product is.

Oh, and let the other guy talk too. Remember conversations are only conversations if they are two way. One person talking is a sermon.

And don’t pitch your product until you know if the person you are talking to might actually be a good customer. Without doing so, you are wasting their tie and yours.

If you liked what you’ve read so far and want to learn how you can build your list and grow your business using email follow up as a marketing tool for your business, check out my free report on the Top 10 Mistakes Most Businesses Make When Using Email To Market Their Businesses and make sure you aren’t making these same mistakes in your business. You can download the free report at http://marketingmentortraining.com/top-10-mistakes

This has always been one of my favorite ways to market any business while keeping costs down. It not only gets you out there but also builds relationships faster than any other advertising or marketing you can do.

Here’s some of the benefits of using networking to promote your business:

1.It’s usually the most cost effective way to get out there. Some networking events are free. Even the higher prices “Leads Groups” like BNI or Le Tip are only a few hundred dollars per year to be part of. Compare that to a newspaper ad at a few hundred dollars per month. If you are just starting out or money is a little tight, this is the best bang you can get for your buck.

2.You’re in front of your prospects at least once every month. Many networking groups meet once a week. The more you are in front of prospective clients, the more likely they will be to use you instead of picking up a “yellow book” and looking for someone they don’t even know.

3.You build better relationships. People but from people they know, like and trust. When you are part of a networking or leads group, you build better relationships than you ever could from an ad in the local newspaper. They know you and the longer you are there, the more likely they will feel trust for you and know you are the right person for the job. Also, they may not need you today but next month when they do, they won’t even bother trying to shop around for the best price. They will just call you.

4.You build a mini sales force for your business. How would you like to have 3 people out there marketing your business’s services? Part of being in a networking group is the referrals.  As you build these relationships, the other members are also looking for people that need your services too. There isn’t a better pre-sale than when someone says, “you need a good auto mechanic? I know this guy and he’s just great!”

5.And last, the most underrated and mentioned reason Networking groups are great to market your business… They have a built in Mastermind group. If you are looking for other marketing ideas or help with your marketing plan, you have a group of other like minded business owners or managers that are all there to help each other. This can sometimes be worth much more than the referrals can be depending on the people in the group. You may get your million dollar marketing idea just from feedback others in your networking group can give you

So, get started with networking right away. It’s on the easiest ways to help your small business grow by leaps and bounds if you network it right. Pick up a local Business Journal at your local bookstore. Call you local Chamber of Commerce and ask them about networking groups.

Get involved and remember, you’ll get back what you put in to it. If you are involved and focus on building the relationships, you’ll see your returns back very quickly!

Do you attend networking groups in your area? Comment below and tell us your thoughts about networking groups…

Networking events like your Chamber Of Commerce and local networking or leads groups are a great way to find prospects, partners and potentially even a built in sales force very quickly if you keep just a few basic rules in mind.

1. Build Your Image – Look the Part
First impressions do count. Your first impression will last for years to come and can either work in your favor or against you. Shorts and flip flops aren’t the best dress to impress new people on your professionalism and skills (unless you work for a travel agency specializing in Bahama cruises, then it might just be perfect)

2. Be Proactive
Be proactive and find people to come up and introduce yourself to. Other people there are doing the same thing you are…Trying to get new business and meet new people.

Don’t be afraid to walk up and say hi.

3. Ask, Don’t Just Tell
Remember this is a two way street. If someone asks what you do, go ahead and tell them about your products and services. Then… Ask about what they do. What’s their business? Let them talk about their business and educate you about who their perfect customer is.

I see it all the time where someone shows up to an event and all they want to do is talk about themselves and how you NEED their product. They never seem to care about anyone else. Once they are done talking about their product, they just want to move on to someone else and repeat the same pitch.

This doesn’t give you a good impression to others.

4. Business Cards – The Must Haves!
Be sure to get your business cards printed before you go to any networking event. Make sure that you bring plenty of cards. Business cards are cheap. You don’t want to be embarrassed when someone asks for a business card you have to say “Sorry I just ran out.”

Also, be sure to get cards from everyone you meet. It doesn’t matter if you are just starting your business or have been in business for years, you need to always be building your rolodex of contacts.

5. Wear a Name Badge
Many people hate name badges but this is one of the most important items you can have for your networking. First off, people will feel more comfortable with you if they see your name. Second, as you go to more events, people will forget your name. It’s just a fact of life. BUT, they will feel more at ease when they come up and see your name on your badge. This will encourage them to come back over to you and talk to you. Nothing is more embarrassing than forgetting someone’s name and trying to have a conversation with them. Help others feel at ease and encourage them to come back and talk to again. This is what builds the relationship.

6. Follow Up Is The Key
So what do you do with all those cards after the event?

Get them in a Contact Management System and follow up!

It doesn’t matter if you use Outlook, ACT or any other system out there. You just want to get them in the system so you have a quick way to access all those contacts quickly in the future.

The important thing is to follow up quickly with them.

You should follow up via email, or phone call within the next 1-3 days at most. Make it a priority.

7. Show Up Early, Stay Late
Show up early to any event that you going to. This gives you the most chance of getting to know a few people before the crowds get there.

Stay late. Some of the best connections are made at the very end of an event. You get the people that are more dedicated (like yourself) and you can build strong relationships in a first meeting with someone this way.

8. Be Consistent
Don’t just got to an event or group once and expect to make a difference. You need to show up more than once. Show people you are dedicated. Show them that you aren’t a fly by night. Some groups will take a few meetings for them to even feel that they can trust you. Schedule it like any other appointment you might have and dedicate yourself to it.

In Conclusion

Using Networking can be one of the most important parts of your marketing mix. I’ve seen my own company grow from 15 clients to over 300 clients mostly directly because of networking. It’s the best way a new business can get involved and get exposure without spending a lot of money.

Just keep these guides in mind as you are making your way to each event in order to get the most out of every event you go. Remember, you’ll get out of it what you put in to it.