Networking as a business building strategy
Networking is a great business development strategy when done right! But many business owners fail to have a complete strategy for networking! There are several keys that make networking work better!
Networking Key #1:
Messaging. Have a compelling message and call to action when you do your 30 second or 60 second intro. Many business owners say their name, their company and what they do, but they don’t say how they solve the prospects pain. You need to get to the pain and leave some intrigue so that people will want to talk with you. Your goal is to enter into a conversation! When you have a compelling message — then people will walk up to you and say I need to talk with you!! That is what you want. Check out the resources at Compass Rose Consulting and download the template for a highly effective elevator pitch.
Networking Key #2: Your Business Card
The second key is to have a business card that is a lead generation tool. When you buy business cards you are buyiing your very own piece of advertising real estate. BUT, many do not fully utilize that real estate. Include a call to action on the back of the business card that people will want. This is where you can add your special offer. The offer should be an informational report that they can download from your website… which brings us to Key #3; but be sure to watch my short video trainings series that outlines how to create a powerful business card.
Networking Key #3: Landing Page With Offer
The business card is leading people to your website or landing page with a compelling offer on it. A special report or informational report that the individual can download. This gets the person on your mailing list and you now have the opportunity to continue to market to them. I have a template for the report on my site as well as the landing page. A landing page is a 3 page website. The page with the offer, the opt-in confirmation page and the thank you page. The only thing that a person can do is to opt-in or leave. Most websites are big branding sites that fail to have an offer on them or a way for people to be in touch other than a number and contact us form. Neither of these work effectively. When you add a compelling offer to the site, then you increase your leads and can work on converting leads to clients.
Networking Strategy Key #4
After the opt-in, you need an email marketing series that goes out to people automatically. This is called an auto-responder. There are many great programs for auto-responders – Aweber, Get Response, Zoho Campaigns etc. Email follow up is the first step in your follow-up strategy. But you need a follow up plan along with scripts for you and your staff.
Take the networking strategy and see if you are maximizing it for your business. Let me know the results that you have.
Great post Donna. Some very important tips here. A fresh perspective on getting leads and interacting with them. Thank you.
Thanks Kevin! Appreciate your feedback.
Thanks Boris!! Yes, many valuable resources are available on the resources tab. http://www.CompassRoseConsulting.com/resources. And yes, no optin to access them! Thanks for stopping by and visiting.
Thanks Boris. The elevator pitch template is great. I think it is the start of your marketing — getting the messaging right. Thanks for stopping by. Let me know if you download the template — what your new elevator pitch is!
Thanks Boris! Glad you had time to visit! The resource page has some incredible templates.
A great look at online and offline networking. I was a member of BNI for a number of years and I learned a lot about networking during that time. I’m finding now that the same principles apply online too.
Thanks for sharing the resources – they are really valuable tools. Is there a reason why you have chosen not to ask people to opt-in to receive them?
Thanks Keiran!
I see online networking as very similar to BNI or other offline networking groups. I also think that the offline groups can work collaboratively to really benefit their members.
Glad you like the resources. Great question about opt-in. Right now, I decided to offer as a gift with no opt-in. Will evaluate in a couple of months to determine if that was a good decision!!