Networking

Thus far I have received three new invitations to networking events this week – on top of the regular announcements from organizations whose events I have attended in the past. Which got me to thinking about networking.

As a business person always searching to expand my sphere of influence, I regard networking events as important venues for introduction to people I have not met, and renew relationships with people I have. For a year or two I attending almost every event I was made aware of, and finally came to the realization that I could easily put my real career in peril as I pursued a job as a full-time networker. This led me to significantly cut back on, and become more selective of, the network events I attend. I also strive to derive greater benefit from the few that I do go to.

Some things I have learned about networking that I think are worth passing on are:

1. Do network – it’s the best way of getting to know potential colleagues, suppliers, and customers.

2. Carefully choose the networking events you attend. Go to those events that are most apt to attract the people you need to meet.

3. Go to each event with a goal. It might be to meet a specific person. It might be to reconnect with certain people. It might be to meet a specific number of new people with whom you will arrange follow-up meetings.

4. Follow-up with each and every person you recieved a card from with a phone call, a handwritten note, or an e-mail. If you believe that you want to establish a relationship with a person you met, setup a meeting.

5. Keep in touch with people in your network. Call them. Meet them for coffee. Send them newsletters.

6. Introduce people in your network you believe should meet. I often send an e-mail to two people introducing them to each other and include full contact information for each.

7. Manage your time, balancing all of your business activities including networking.

Networking event

A good friend invited me to a networking event last night. First, I really, really, don’t like networking events and tend to avoid them like the plague. Second, I didn’t really know what to expect as it was held in the once-stuffy Union Club, and was sponsored by a group called “3 Guys Present”. The invitations are to interesting people who want to meet other interesting people!

Wow – what an event. With over 100 people attending and everyone mixing it up with everyone else it was the best networking event I have attended. Good people, great food, fantastic networking. One reason, I believe, for successful mixing was that name tags contained just names, no companies, so everyone was curious about everyone else. The name tags also had unexplained dots of various colors which also generated a good bit of conversation. A second reason that I liked the event was that I met so many new and interesting people – most of the events I go to seem to be the same old. But out of 100 people, going in I probably knew no more that eight or ten, and am glad to say I now know many more. Running from 5:30 to 8:30 it was also one the the longest networking events I have attended.

We were all given a wonderfully warm welcome to the Union Club by the first female president in its long history, and a tour of the refurbished club was offered to anyone who wanted to see the facilities.

Now here is the best part. The 3 guys who started the event a year ago wanted to create unique networking events (which they did) that also  to promote area entrepreneurship (which they do).

At each event they honor and introduce a young entrepreneur who has come up through the ecity program (www.ecitycleveland.com), and provides a small grant to the entrepreneur. The featured business last night is called Cosfurs and is run by two seventeen-year-old sisters. They make fuzzy costumes and mascots and sell them over the Internet, and have more business than they can handle.

My congratulations to the three guys: Bob Aber, David Akers, and Jeff Nischwitz. I look forward to future quarterly events which they claim will go on for 40 years! May this model be duplicated.

Networking

I had breakfast with a dear friend and colleague this morning. We get together every couple of months just to reconnect and provide mutual support. We share frustrations, learn about latest joys and concerns, and give each other advice. The meeting reminded me of how important networking is to small business owners.

Networking is an over-used terms that instills in many people (including me) the fear of being thrown into a group of strangers, giving elevator pitches, and collecting business cards. Such group networking does have a place for expanding a range of contacts getting potential referrals.

But the more important network is the relatively small group of people you know and like, and whose counsel you savor and judgment you trust. Including the friend that I met with today, there are fewer than a dozen people that I  meet with frequently. We all have connections that are helpful to one another. When we meet we part company re-energized. We are able to share common concerns and walk away with fresh perspectives.