Networking 101:
Intelligent Business Networking
In the previous “Networking 101” article (found HERE), I introduced professional networking as a powerful tool for gaining referrals, growing your business, and connecting with your community. This article will examine some intelligent networking strategies that can help you and your business maximize the results of your efforts.
Hunting vs. Farming
If you’ve ever attended a large, unsupervised networking event, you probably had dozens of business cards thrust into your hand within a matter of minutes. The owners of these cards may have exchanged only a few words with you as they flitted from attendee to attendee. These individuals are not aiming to create genuine referral relationships – they’re simply looking to sell products or services to the people in the room. In other words, they’re hunters looking to bag “kills,” as opposed to farmers carefully raising a dependable supply of sustenance.
The hunting-versus-farming analogy applies quite handily to networking. Hunting can secure immediate results, but the hunter has to return to the hunt and make another “kill” every time he or she wants to profit. By contrast, networking farmers don’t prioritize immediate gains. Instead, they focus on cultivating relationships with like-minded fellow networkers over a period of time. This approach gives them a solid, reliable “crop” of high-quality networking interactions that can yield countless referrals year after year – the fruits of your labor.
Mixing Networking Venues and Activities
Previously I mentioned some examples of different types of networking organizations, including:
- Strong referral groups consisting of regular memberships
- Casual networking groups that offer more open-ended attendance and relatively loose (if any) membership requirements
- Community service organizations
- Professional associations
Strategic networkers will want to get actively involved, not just in one type of networking group, but in several of them. By participating in each kind of group simultaneously, you can gain exposure to different cross-sections of the community and business world. For instance, you might strike up valuable relationships with people who prefer casual networking groups to strong referral groups, or vice versa – connections you might never have made by sticking with a single type of organization. Additionally, the more your face and business name turns up in a variety of networking environments, the more visible valuable your brand becomes.
Creating Your Contact Sphere
Networking doesn’t just put you in contact with potential customers and general referral partners. It can also help you gather strategic allies with overlapping referral needs – the professionals who can easily trade referrals and work on collaborative projects with you. These individuals make up what’s known as a contact sphere. For example, if you’re a web developer, your contact sphere might consist of professionals such as writers, graphic designers, software coders, and members of various marketing professions. If you’re an acupuncturist, you might want to build a contact sphere that includes a chiropractor, a dentist, a primary care physician, a nutritionist, and other health and wellness professionals. These professionals tend to see (and seek out) the same types of clients, which makes them natural referral partners for each other.
Networking groups and events can make it easy for you to find the right mix of professionals for your particular contact sphere. This is especially true of industry-specific events, which typically bring a roomful of such professionals together to mix and mingle. But even general networking events can help you get to know professionals in your industry – or individuals who can introduce you to such professionals. But don’t settle for the first group of professionals who can fill those empty spots in your contact sphere. Take the time to get to know each professional and determine whether you’re a good fit as referral partners.
Part one of this three-part series on Networking can be found HERE. Part three is available HERE.
© 2018 Matthew W. Harrison and Harrison Law, PLLC All Rights Reserved
This website and article have been prepared by Harrison Law, PLLC for informational purposes only and does not, and is not intended to, constitute legal or financial advice. The information is not provided in the course of an attorney-client relationship and is not intended to substitute for legal advice from an attorney licensed in your jurisdiction.
