Had a casual meeting with a business associate today and one of the topics of conversation that we spent some time on prompted me to write a blog post. We were talking about how demanding it can be to be a small business person and lead a normal life at the same time and how tempting it can be at times to just be a hermit and spend hours alone in your office with your computer. “But I’m working!” Is often the excuse, but if you spend all your time in your office how do you intend to grow your client base? Keeping yourself stuck at the office or a home office can keep you stuck in a rut – or more likely, stuck in a downhill slide!
One of the easiest forms of networking that a lot of people tend to overlook and not think about are done in our normal daily routine. Running to the grocery store for milk and eggs, or taking your child to dance or karate – even popping into Starbucks for your coffee, these can all be great places to meet potential clients! How many times have you either gone for your coffee and got stuck waiting in line, or taken your daughter to dance class and been sitting on the sidelines with the other parents for an hour? How hard would it be to strike up a casual conversation? Even commenting on the weather can easily lead into a nice reciprocal question of “So what do you do for work?”
So think about it the next time you’re tapping your foot while waiting in the grocery store line-up stuck behind the person with 100 coupons or 10 things that need to get price-checked, turn to the person behind or in front of you and joke about it and see where the conversation goes. You may end up needing to use some of your business cards you should always have stuffed in your wallet for emergencies! So pack your business cards and get your elevator speech ready and be “open for business” whatever errand you’re running!
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