{"id":11974,"date":"2012-09-06T09:56:22","date_gmt":"2012-09-06T13:56:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/37d57f8fa2.nxcli.io\/blog\/?p=11974"},"modified":"2012-09-06T10:15:13","modified_gmt":"2012-09-06T14:15:13","slug":"how-not-to-market-yourself-at-a-networking-event","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/small-business-marketing\/networking\/how-not-to-market-yourself-at-a-networking-event\/","title":{"rendered":"How NOT to Market Yourself at a Networking Event"},"content":{"rendered":"

Last week I attended a local group\u2019s networking event.<\/p>\n

You know the drill. You\u00a0show up, there are tables, dinner, speaker and lots of people I didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n

You may\u00a0not know this about me \u2013 or believe it based on my writing style, but I am actually… \"Networking<\/a>very shy. So networking events aren\u2019t exactly my marketing strategy of choice. But\u00a0that doesn\u2019t mean that I avoid them or ignore them. I actually enjoy getting out to\u00a0networking events every so often to see what other business owners are doing and\u00a0they are marketing their business.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s important to remember, however, the reason you are attending a networking\u00a0event. If the reason is to meet prospects, capture leads, and learn from other\u00a0attendees, make sure you are marketing yourself in the best possible way. Here are\u00a0some helpful tips from small business owners who have seen the best \u2013 and worst \u2013\u00a0at networking events.<\/p>\n

Listen to others.<\/strong> How many times have you attended an event and haven\u2019t been\u00a0able to get a word in edgewise? Dr. Bruce Hoag, work psychologist and business\u00a0coach, notes that far too often, he sees people attempt to be patient and polite by\u00a0asking him what he did first.<\/p>\n

Yet really, those individuals were bursting at the seams\u00a0to talk about their own business. You are doing yourself a marketing dis-service\u00a0if you talk non-stop about you all night. Ask the prospect what her needs are (not\u00a0yours). And pay attention and repeat back the information to demonstrate you\u00a0understand what the person needs.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t spend all night with people you already know.<\/strong> John Anderson, principal \u00a0of The Glowan Consulting Group, notes that in many networking situations, people\u00a0see others who they already know and want to reconnect with them.<\/p>\n

This is not\u00a0the way to market yourself, especially if you are attending the event to make new\u00a0connections. John recommends that in this case, simply say to the other person that \u00a0you will reconnect with them later in the evening and walk away.<\/p>\n

Make eye contact with people, not technology<\/strong>. One of the worst things you can\u00a0do at a mixer is show up and look at your smartphone all night. You are there to\u00a0engage and meet people.<\/p>\n

By engaging only with your phone, you\u2019re essentially\u00a0giving the message, \u201cI don\u2019t want to talk with you.\u201d And that\u2019s no way to market your\u00a0business.<\/p>\n

Dealing with the unprepared and secretive networker.<\/strong> Another networking\u00a0type that you want to avoid being is the unprepared or shy attendee. These are the\u00a0individuals that show up without business cards and cannot clearly describe his\u00a0business or what products he sells.<\/p>\n

Gail Wallance, president of Bellwind Consultants,\u00a0said that more often than not, these same shy networkers complain they cannot find \u00a0any clients.<\/p>\n

Follow-up is key.<\/strong> There is such great opportunity for marketing yourself in the\u00a0follow-up that happens after networking events. Take that stack of business cards\u00a0you obtained and send a quick \u201cnice to meet you\u201d e-mail. Follow the people and\u00a0businesses on Facebook or LinkedIn.<\/p>\n

Similarly, if someone calls you as a result of\u00a0networking, don\u2019t ignore the communication.<\/strong> Respond to the email and return the\u00a0phone call. You never know what potential partnerships will form, or whether the\u00a0person can be a referral source.<\/p>\n

If done right, networking can be very rewarding and an excellent way to market\u00a0yourself and your business.<\/strong> Don\u2019t make the mistakes described above. Listen to\u00a0prospects and what their business needs are, and follow up appropriately. Always\u00a0come compared. Being shy and unprepared is never good for marketing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Last week I attended a local group\u2019s networking event. You know the drill. You\u00a0show up, there are tables, dinner, speaker and lots of people I didn\u2019t know. You may\u00a0not know this about me \u2013 or believe it based on my writing style, but I am actually…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":61,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[79],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11974"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/61"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11974"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11974\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11980,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11974\/revisions\/11980"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11974"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11974"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.marketingforsuccess.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11974"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}