The Art of Online and Offline Networking for Business
Offline Networking
Your network is everything; business is often conducted via personal connections and recommendations (Social Capital.)
Ensure you utilise your social capital, reconnect with old friends, talk to family and even look to be introduced to someone new every day. Use your growing network to increase itself, refer other businesses, pass them a business card and because you have left them with a tangible product you will find that they will more often than not return the favour.
Clubs and societies are an excellent way to meet likeminded people and often even include breakfast, brunch and drinks! At these events it is easy to engage other people, ask their opinion on your business, this will help break down barriers, strengthen your connection and you might just learn something! Remember to leave something that will remind them about you and your business such as leaflets or a brochure (which is arguably the most important piece of literature that a company can commission.)
When you or someone in your network speaks be, active and constructive. Engage in the conversation and show your enthusiasm whilst being curious, and supportive. Create a positive energy around yourself and your business, because we all know that positive thinking is contagious and people are more likely to remember you for being positive.
Online Networking
We have found that online networking i.e. Twitter, Google+, Linkedin, Facebook etc… can grow your social capital very quickly but they tend not to be strong connections.
We’ve had to learn a lot about online networking during our journey of taking design and print ordering online with PrintUK.com and this is what we think about what social media platforms offer and the effects on businesses and discrepancies between them:
Facebook: Is great for creating a company personality. You can add friends, get your colleagues to add friends etc… but we have found that it is unlikely to convert much into sales.
Twitter: We’ve found twitter to be great for exposure and for finding companies to contact. Because of the limited characters per tweet, companies have to be inventive, short, snappy and impactful which is ideal for businesses and professionals.
Linkedin: Is all business; we have found that this can be a very important tool in showcasing our products, locally and nationally. If your main sales are business to business then LinkedIn is a great place to start.
Google+: The benefits of Google+ a) There are lots of interesting communities to join b) For search engine optimisation (SEO) purposes. Google+ is interconnected with your website and allows you to tag posts i.e. #printing which helps google realise what type of company you are and what you offer thus naturally helping with the google rankings.
In conclusion
Online networking offers quick exposure and brand awareness to potential customers which is fantastic but offline networking such as direct mailing of leaflets or meeting up personally and handing out brochures is slower but tends to create a more solid, loyal network; Therefore it’s imperative to run both an online and offline networking strategy. By growing your business organically the clients you gain will have an increased level of loyalty to you and you to them so never underestimate their worth.
Focus your time and effort on the people and organisations that you think could make the biggest difference to your business. It's all about cross-media marketing, using a combination of marketing methods for maximum impact.
Remember to follow up every new connection you make because the larger your network the better your business will perform.