Rewind to sophomore year of college, and I am a networking fanatic. I spent a ton of time hopping from event to event in Boston, piling up business cards in stacks across my desk. Looking back, this wasn’t the most effective strategy. Meetings lots of people and adding them on LinkedIn is a good first step but it needs to be solidified by building relationships. Instead of endless networking, consider the following approach I have since embraced:
1. Be specific
Going to networking events takes time and energy. If you are going to put off serving your customers or building your product to network, you better have a darn good strategy for who you want to meet and how you want to help each other. More specifically:
- Who can teach you something and compliment your skillset?
- What are you looking for… designer, developer, salesman, friends?
- Do you want to find customers, mentors, partners? They might be in different places.
2. Be picky with events
Especially if you are in the entrepreneurship world, you will have your pick of many fantastic events to attend. Here in Boston, Paul Hlatky at GreenhornConnect.com makes that incredibly easy with the schedule and calendar that he manages online. Sort through the options and find what you believe to be the very best events for what you are looking for. If you try one and it isn’t what you thought, leave early.
3. Follow up meaningfully
Sending a quick email saying “it was nice to meet you” is a start but does not go nearly far enough. You must research each person you want to follow up with and share with them something meaningful – like feedback on their business or a recommendation of someone else to connect with. This is the start of building a relationship with them.
4. Build the relationship
Find reasons to talk to a person more. Maybe it is to ask their advice or opinion and offer your own for whatever they are working on. You don’t have to become best friends, but you should make an effort to keep up to date on what they are doing.
5. Be clear and abrupt
If you are courting a client through networking, don’t beat around the bush. Say, “It was awesome meeting you, I think your product is awesome, here is how I can help.” Now list precisely what value you would add.
Remember, it should be fun and exciting to be meeting all of these new people. Enjoy it!