In 2021 I ran a series of blog posts from guest contributors focused on maintaining our mental health. Following feedback in my Facebook group, I decided that my blog theme for this year’s guest contributors would be “taking our businesses to the next level”. This post is the sixth of this 2022 series, you can read the other posts in the series here:
5 Ways To Grow Your B2B Business Using Social Media
Personal branding: taking your business to the next level
How to create a 2-page marketing strategy
Making your business a tough nut to crack
Profit First: Next Level Cash Management
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You know that talking to people is important for marketing and growing your business, and you know that it feels easier to build your business when you have supportive people around you. Yet when it is called ‘networking’ rather than ‘talking to people’ it can sound scary and businessy and make you feel like you need to have special skills.
Networking is just talking to people. You can definitely do it, and it will help significantly in taking your business to the next level.
The point of networking – or getting together with other business owners if that sounds easier – is to meet people who need your services or products or who can support you, or, potentially, both. You might know a few people now who have become your clients; they were your friends or your family members, they have become your clients – that’s great, but you have mined that network now. You need to meet new people. That is all that networking is: going out and meeting new people who could potentially become your clients, or who could support you in your business, or both.
Networking needn’t be a huge thing in your head where you have to learn loads of techniques. I don’t want you to be held back in your business because you feel like you can’t go to meet ups and events because you haven’t yet learned ‘how to network’.
You have been networking your whole life. You have gone to the pub. I’m sure you have gone out and met the friends of your friend. You have gone on a night out and met some new people. That’s networking. It’s just at that point you might not have had anything to sell, so you didn’t realise it was networking. It is, and that is all it is.
If you have found yourself in the past at some kind of networking event that made you feel really uncomfortable and totally out of your depth, you didn’t know what you were doing and you felt stupid… that is because you were at the wrong networking event. It is not because you are terrible at networking. If you are in a room full of people who make you feel uncomfortable, who intimidate you or who don’t make you feel welcome, that is not your fault. It might not be their fault either; it might just be that they are not your people.
When I started my own business I knew I needed to get out there and meet some new people. Not only to find new clients but also to find people who face the same challenges as I do and who can support me. I went along to a local women in business networking event, and I cannot tell you how good it was. It was a room full of people like me. They were mainly middle-aged women, mostly mothers but not entirely, who ran their own businesses and who were all from my local area. We had such a great time. We just chatted. We exchanged business cards and told each other what we did, but we just had a good natter and a bit of giggle, and I met people who have now become clients, suppliers and really good friends.
That is what good networking looks like. So if it is not feeling like that, you are probably not in the right networking group.
I said that the point of networking is to meet people who need your services or who can support you, or both. I would say that far more important than networking with your ideal clients is networking with people who can support you, who you find supportive, and who you can support. It’s about finding your business ‘gang’. Some of them are bound to turn out to be your ideal clients, but even if they don’t, if you get a group of people together who all support each other in their businesses and who all turn to each other when they have a problem, who chat through issues and challenges, that group is going to refer business to each other.
There are different kinds of networking events – there are ones you have to pay for and there are free ones. I have paid a few quid to attend a particular event, but I have never signed up to one of these big paid-for networking groups. As yet. I haven’t felt like I have needed to because there are some amazing free and low-cost groups to attend. I would say that paying for networking when you are just starting out is quite a big outlay that you might not get that much back from, so I would recommend looking into the free and low-cost options first.
It is important to find ones at which you are comfortable, and it is important to go semi-regularly. People will tell you that you have to be there at every event, but that’s not necessarily the case. Our lives are busy – you do not have to commit to being there every week, but if you are a fairly familiar face within that group, it will be good for your business. You are going to have to attend a few where you only attend once, just to see if it is the group for you, but once you find ones that you like, try to attend as much as you can.
The great thing is that a lot of these networking groups also have social media groups and online platforms, so you can continue to network online.
If you are in my local area (Greater Manchester) you can sign up to receive emails from my networking group, The Organised Entrepreneurs Club. This started out as a Facebook group for my clients and suppliers, and the clients and suppliers of my accountant Caroline Boardman, but we now also offer events that are open to everyone. They are relaxed and friendly events and you would be so welcome, so sign up here to find out what’s on.
The Federation of Small Businesses offers a number of online and in person networking events all round the country which are often free of charge, and you do not have to be a member to attend. You can take a look at their events here.
Do you run networking events or attend a particularly good group? Please comment below with details of where people can find you and what kind of networking you do. It can be hard to find the right group but there are excellent groups out there, all round the UK.
The best thing you can do, if you want to build relationships within a network, is to be supportive. Be supportive to your network and they will be supportive to you, and that is invaluable when you are running a business. It is a lonely old thing to be doing, so finding and having a supportive network is a win in itself, but it can also lead to business for sure. Be generous. Introduce people to each other. If you meet someone that you really like but you can’t really do much for each other, you might know a person who is their ideal client, so make an introduction. If you are generous in that way, that will benefit everybody, including you.
Networking is not that scary or difficult. It is just talking to people, and it takes time. Find people with whom you are comfortable. If you are feeling uncomfortable, you are not terrible at networking, you are just in the wrong group. Go and find the right group for you.
Helen Calvert
August 2022
P.S. networking is just one of the topics in my soon-to-be published book, The No Bullsh*t Guide To A Happier Life!