Generating New Business Through Face To Face Networking

I started attending a business breakfast networking club about 3 years ago - my business was very new and I was initially very nervous about walking into a room full of strangers. I fought my nerves and plucked up the courage to make a commitment to the group - due to the work I've won and the people I've met - I've attended almost every week ever since.

As with all of these groups a lot of people have come and gone - it doesn't work for everyone. It depends on your industry - my work is graphic design, web development and search engine optimisation. I find that my services appeal to most people that attend. I offer a good service at a competitive price and find that I pick up business from most people that meet me.

There are lots of these breakfast networking clubs around, thousands actually - some are part of larger networks eg BNI, Referon, 4 Networking, BRX etc. Others are independent groups that have formed sporadically.

Be careful in your selection if you are looking for contacts with SME companies as opposed to solo professionals you may be better off networking with one of the more established groups. You are free to attend most groups at least twice before they insist you join - you can also ask to be put on the subs list if you would like to stay in touch but don't want to commit every week.

Once you've been networking for a while you will start to see the same faces over and over - these are the people that know networking works and commit to attend as many events as possible. Some companies base their whole new business strategy around it. These people may not be in a position to give you work directly but they will start to recommend you once you have built up a level of trust with them.

Sometimes it's not all about trying to win a project, it can be more beneficial to sit down with someone for 10 minutes and discuss how you can help one another. Bearing in mind the law of 6 degrees of separation you surely can find some synergies with one another. If not at least you will know more about one another's business.

The best way to get referrals from networking is to give them. You'd be amazed at the effort someone will go to if you have taken the step to trust them and recommend them to one of your clients.

Good luck with your networking, I hope this article has been helpful.