ARK Squared Productions

At the end of July we did a post on Volunteering, but I wanted to expand on that more.  Over the last year I’ve had the pleasure of working very closely with a fantastic organization, and you guessed it, as a volunteer.  It’s been beneficial in so many ways!  Let me hit on a few […]

We had a great open discussion this morning at my weekly networking group about social media, and many other topics too. But one thing that came up was how impersonal Social Media can feel and how some people in the group did not like it because of that. The discussion really reminded me of how important it is to make sure that you connect with people beyond online.

There are so many different events out there, great causes, places to connect. So many different choices and we’re always wondering, what’s going to really make the most impact? It can often be near impossible to decide how to split our networking time most efficiently. Now, when you go to networking events, who do you remember the most? The people sitting at your table, the couple people you spoke to briefly while grabbing your cup of coffee? Perhaps. But I bet you’d really remember the people working at the event – the lady that greeted you at the door, maybe the gentleman at the registration table, and of course the MC of the event. Which is my point, a lot of the time our networking can be turbo-boosted by simply getting more involved.

One of the biggest problems of being self employed is that you wear all the hats – CEO, CFO, Office Manager, HR, etc, etc. So how do you balance all that and still manage to sell your product or service and do all the work? I’ve learned a few tips along the way that I try to implement myself as much as possible, let me share a few of my favourites with you.

We’re all used to the common questions when networking tying to start up a conversation. Last week I focused on a common question of “So What Do You Do?” and another common one I get all the time when networking is “So, What’s New With You?” super common but more often then not answered incorrectly which could end a perfectly good conversation before it even has a chance to start! Probably the most common answer that I hear is “Oh not much, how about you?” and I say FAIL! (Not that I’ve never done it myself of course!)

I’d have to say, next to asking your name or how you’re doing, one of the most popular questions you hear when networking is “So, what do you do?” Knee jerk response is generally to say what your job title is, what you ARE, so answers like “I’m an accountant” or “I’m a house cleaner” are the norm. It not only can end the start of a conversation, but it leaves the asker of the question to fill in the blanks and really decide what you do according to whatever experience or stereotype they may have already. Would you want that? I’d think not.

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 best times of year to get some easy networking done is Christmas – or any holiday people gather for that matter. Either you’re spending time with the ones that you love and care about or the flipside of the coin, you can end up going to tons of different parties that give you a great opportunity to network with people that you haven’t met before. Both are great situations for growing your business and thinking about networking!

One of the biggest mistakes that I see when networking is the Sales Guy that goes around the room trying to get everyone to buy his product right now, that’s not what it’s about. I’ve talked about Networking Do’s and Don’ts in the past, and one of the points that I’d like to expand on is one of the don’ts “Sell, Sell, Sell”.

Following up on our previous post about the Importance of Networking, let’s look at a few things to do and to definitely NOT do when networking…