Business Networking is the act of meeting new people in a business, is a really valuable way to expand your knowledge, learn from the success of others, attain new clients and tell others about your business.
I highly
recommend business networking as a way to gain new clients and to build a
sustainable business. Here are the top 9 benefits for business owners of
getting involved in networking:
1.
Generation of referrals/Increased business
This is
probably the most obvious benefit and the reason most business owners decide to
participate in networking activities and join networking groups.
The great
news is that the referrals that you get through networking are normally high
quality and most of the time, are even pre-qualified for you. You can then
follow up on these referrals/leads and turn them into clients. So you are
getting much higher quality leads from networking than other forms of
marketing.
The increase
in business from networking is the major advantage, but there are many others
as well.
2.
Opportunities
With a
motivated group of business owners comes an abundance of opportunities! There
are always lots of opportunities that come from networking and in fact this is
where the benefits of business networking are huge!
Opportunities
like joint ventures, client leads, partnerships, speaking and writing
opportunities, business or asset sales… the list goes on, and the opportunities
within networking are really endless.
Just make
sure you are jumping on board with the right opportunities and don’t go jumping
into every opportunity that comes your way. The opportunities that you get
involved in should align with your business goals/vision, otherwise you might
find that you are spinning your wheels chasing after opportunity after
opportunity and getting nowhere.
3. Connections
Business
networking can benefit your business in so many ways
“It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know”.
This is so true in business. If you want a really successful business, then you
need to have a great source of relevant connections in your network that you
can call on when you need them.
Networking
provides you with a great source of connections, and really opens the door to
talk to highly influential people that you wouldn’t otherwise be able to easily
talk to or find.
It’s not
just about who you are networking with directly either – that person will
already have a network you can tap into as well. So ask the right questions to
find out if the person you are networking with knows who you want to know!
4. Advice
Having
like-minded business owners to talk to also gives you the opportunity to get
advice from them on all sorts of things related to your business or even your
personal life and obtaining that important work-life balance.Networking is a
great way to tap into advice and expertise that you wouldn’t otherwise be able
to get hold of. Just make sure you are getting solid advice from the right
person – someone that actually knows about what you need to know and is not
just giving you their opinion on something that they have no or very little
experience in.
5. Raising your
profile
Being
visible and getting noticed is a big benefit of networking. Make sure you
regularly attend business and social events that will help to get your face
known. You can then help to build your reputation as a knowledgeable, reliable
and supportive person by offering useful information or tips to people who need
it. You are also more likely to get more leads and referrals as you will be the
one that pops into their head when they need what you offer.
6. Positive
Influence
The people
that you hang around with and talk to do influence who you are and what you do,
so it is important to be surrounding yourself with positive, uplifting people
that help you to grow and thrive as a business owner. Networking is great for
this, as business owners that are using networking are usually people that are
really going for it, positive and uplifting.
7. Increased
confidence
By regularly
networking, and pushing yourself to talk to people you don’t know, you will get
increased confidence the more you do this. This is really important as a
business owner, because your business growth is very dependant on talking to
people and making connections. Networking is great for people that aren’t
confident as it really pushes them to grow and learn how to make conversations
and lasting connections with people they don’t know.
I was
certainly not confident when I started networking, in fact it completely
petrified me! But as I do it more, the more confident I get and the easier it
becomes, and the more benefit I get from it.
8.
Satisfaction from helping others
I really
love helping other people, and networking is a fantastic way that allows me to
do this easily. Networking is full of business owners that have problems or
issues within their business that need solving, and there is great satisfaction
from helping someone to solve a problem they have and get a fantastic result
from it.
9. Friendship
Lastly, this
one is more personal related rather than business related, but is a big benefit
none-the-less. Many friendships form as a result of networking because (mostly)
you are all like-minded business owners that want to grow your businesses, and
you meet and help each other regularly, so naturally strong friendships tend to
form. Some of my strongest friendships have been started from networking.