Business Networking 101: How to Get Started

Business networking has always been one of the principles of success of influential entrepreneurs. It is a central component of customer acquisition, recruiting, cooperation and the development of new business areas. Very often, new business opportunities arise when a random meeting has resulted in a new business contact, however, there are many other ways to network successfully. Let’s find out a few of them.

Conferences, trade fairs and other events

The classics of business networking are meetings, trade fairs and all kinds of network events. These are often very precisely geared to a specific target group; for example by sector or professional group. There are two ways to participate in such business networking events: active and passive.

Active means, for example, to hold a lecture at a conference or run a trade fair stand which ensures that others can become aware of you and approach you. This way of attending a business networking event is particularly exciting,

Passive participation, on the other hand, may mean listening to a lecture or attending a trade show as a visitor. But this should not mean waiting for others to approach you. Successful business networking always means to actively approach people – although it may seem nerve-racking, it can easily be learned.

You can also join into informal discussions at formal conferences: perhaps the small group of smokers who stand at the door (you do not have to smoke yourself) or the sociable table at the lunch buffet is perfect for business networking. Even if it turns out that the other participants already know each other to a large extent, you should not be intimidated or even deterred, because sometimes a new person is all the more interesting.

Business Networking Online – LinkedIn

The internet is teeming with a number of platforms that can be used for business networking. However, these possibilities are slightly different from physically being at an event or a conference. In addition, the people you can reach here, as well as the kind of networking tactics, vary.

First and foremost, sites such as LinkedIn refer to themselves as a “Business Social Network”, so you should definitely have an account on there. LinkedIn is great for automatically updating address books which greatly facilitates the maintenance of the network. New acquaintances should always be added to your contacts and in addition, you can also see if one of your own acquaintances has a connection to a person which you would like to get to know. In this case, it is worth asking for a contact reference. This also makes Linkedin extremely useful as a network maintenance tool.

It’s also worth taking note that if you are looking for new contacts, you should also consider joining relevant groups and take the initiative to present yourself with contributions, as well initiate discussions, provoke, and ask questions. However, you can never be sure if your contributions are really read by the right people as it is often the case that most readers are not really interested in finding contacts. Instead, they want to present themselves by strengthening their own online profile.

Maintaining your own contacts – how to get the most out of your network:

A good professional business network also wants to be maintained. This can be at a dinner or coffee appointment, or a business event to which guests are invited. Another great way to maintain your network is via a launch party of a new product or service where you can invite the most important business customers. This is how people remember each other, talk about new projects, discover new pages of acquaintances – which also creates new business opportunities.

In addition, many groups on LinkedIn tend to hold various meetings where you may receive an invite to. Such invitations turn out to be relatively easy to establish good contact opportunities for business networking. This is because the host usually asks for references from attendees beforehand so that everyone has an idea on who is attending.

It is important, above all, that you keep your network contacts in mind and, if you have the opportunity, you also mediate yourself by introducing others to your network.

Care should also be taken to keep your network up-to-date: For example, if you are working on a new website and you met someone who asks your URL, you should get in touch at a later date and inform them when the site goes live. You can also just meet with contacts spontaneously when you’re in the area or invite them to a party. All of this is also part of business networking!

Business Networking Tools

An important tool for business networking is a business card, so you should always have them ready! This is not just about exchanging contact data after particularly interesting discussions, but more about having them handy at all times.

Another really essential business networking tool is the Elevator Pitch, which is the ability to briefly and succinctly describe your own project, concern or need – in a way that everyone understands! You can also practice that by prescribing a text at home or telling friends about your own project. Only if you master that perfectly, you can really get the most out of every situation. Wherever you are, you should have a healthy dose of self-confidence! Nobody is too unimportant to address someone!

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