Do you want to grow your business? Do you want to meet new customers and / or suppliers?
Online networking coupled with effective offline networking offers great opportunities to business owners, staff and those seeking new employment.
In 2015, it is important to be actively seeking to connect directly with people who can help you achieve greater business success.
Why:
Think about how many business contacts you have and how many contact they have.
Consider if you are an Accountant for example and one of your clients tells you that they are in need of a tax specialist and you know such a person you can refer them which they would appreciate and make every effort to return the favour.
Does networking really work?
It depends. Recently I attended a Business Expo as an exhibitor at Parramatta and I had two enquires from professional entertainers enquiring about my performer representative services, a number of paid performing opportunities arise for my current performers and the opportunity to be part of the team again to organise the upcoming expo.
Prior to attending this Business Expo at Parramatta I had tried a number of other networking events and I did not get anywhere. Networking is no different to marketing generally, the pay off comes with persistence in the correct value adding marketing activities.
I think the Business Expo format can benefit a variety of businesses; particularly those that rely on a smaller number of regular customers eg those that offer a professional service including but not limited to: an Accountant, Photographer and Web Developer by comparison to say a supermarket.
So why not just network online, can’t you still provide referrals from contacts online?
You can, however to give and receive business from each other it is important to be able to demonstrate the quality of your work in your profession so that others feel comfortable in referring people to you.
What about the other types of business advertising?
We are not saying that networking is the only form of promotion. We are saying that networking can be a valuable part if done correctly, of a complete marketing strategy that includes online and offline promotion eg websites and flyers.
Do you want to know more about the value of networking?
You are invited to join a collaboration of new and returning exhibitors and business owners at the Annual Sutherland Business Expo held at:
Sharkies Rugby League Club on August 26, 2015 10:30am till 3:00pm.
You will join businesses including but not limited to
You will also have the opportunity to learn from some top key note speakers from “Refresh Your Thinking” who will be teaching 10 Secrets to Business Success and we will have some outstanding advanced Sales and Marketing tips from the dynamic duo Ed and Martha at Excellence Above Coaching and Trusted Web Expert.
If you would like to discuss how networking may be able to help you please contact me on michael@mkgevents.com.au