Content provided by: Smart Money
FOR MOST PEOPLE, networking simply means stepping up the schmoozing when it’s time to find a job.
Small-business owners, however, must network constantly. Setting up and running a successful business requires a whole slew of advisers, service providers, sympathetic family members and other secondary characters. And then there’s the little matter of finding the actual customers for your wares. Getting the word out about your company is critical.
The best entrepreneurs are usually masterful networkers. They use their people skills to build good reputations in their communities and to continuously generate new customer leads. But even if you’re one of those rare entrepreneurs who’s intimidated by a room full of strangers, you can’t let social awkwardness stand in the way of your professional success. Networking is easy, and it happens every time you open your mouth, says Olivia Fox Cabane, a networking lecturer and the executive director of New York-based Spitfire Communications. “Networking is what you do from your first conversation in the morning to your last conversation at night,” she says.
Not sure how to make use of — or expand on — your network of friends and potential customers? Here are a few tips on getting started.
1. Throw a party.
Even if you rarely deal with the public, it’s always a good idea to get to know your neighbors. Whether they’re business owners in other industries or local residents who happen to live nearby, they’ll appreciate knowing who you are, where you come from and how you came to start the business you did, says Kathy Kobliski, author of “Advertising Without an Agency Made Easy.” If they don’t need your product or service right away, they might know someone who does. And in the meantime your neighbors can make recommendations about everything from where to lease a cheap copier to the best places to eat lunch.
The spread at your party needn’t be fancy — maybe light hors d’oeuvres and drinks, or, even better, something that’s distinctive about you or your business. From the south? Serve cornbread or barbecue. Trying to appeal to kids in the neighborhood? Hire a face-painter and organize street games.
Whether you’re throwing a down-home block party or an upscale cocktail party, the key is to save your sales pitch until the end — if you make one at all. Entrepreneurs are always anxious to sell their ideas or products to everyone they meet. A good networker keeps that impulse in check, says Cabane. Before you even mention your business, ask people open-ended, feel-good questions about themselves. (For a list of the best open-ended questions, Cabane recommends Bob Burg’s book, “Endless Referrals”). Figure out what their goals, accomplishments and projects are. If your product won’t help them, don’t talk about it at all. “You don’t want to be seen as a salesman — you want to be seen as a problem-solver,” she says.
2. Go to a trade show.
Say you own a dry-cleaning service or coin laundry facility and you’re looking for a good way to network. You could always check out the Clean Show, a trade event for launderers and dry cleaners that attracts more than 10,000 people each year. At a conference like this, you can increase your visibility and get useful tips from industry experts and other business owners, says Cabane.
But if you’re looking to attract a bigger client base or break into a new market, you’re better off going to a conference in your target industry rather than your own, says Cabane. For example, if you’re a CPA, instead of going to a conference for CPAs, you might want to attend a small-business conference. If you’re a caterer, you might consider an event where the heads of law firms or advertising agencies will be in attendance. Not only do you increase your chances of rounding up new clients, but you also get a chance to hear seminars and speeches on issues that are important to your customer base.
3. Author an article.
It’s not as intimidating as it sounds, and it’s a great excuse to call up the bigwigs in your industry for an interview. If you’ve found an effective cost-cutting strategy or you have a particular business insight that you think might help others, write it up and send it to a trade journal.
Perhaps you’re an ardent admirer of one industry figure who is ripe for a profile or an award. Pitch the story to a trade publication or small-business magazine. The subject of the story will be flattered you called, and you’ll be able to count the person as a contact later. 4. Join industry and trade groups.
Thought there were no other businesses in your niche? Not so fast. There are associations, conventions, collaborations and trade groups for just about every business activity, from handweaving to space tourism. Joining one of these groups not only helps you network, but it might also help improve the way you run your business.
For spa owners, there’s the Spa Association, which keeps tabs on research and trends affecting the spa industry. The National Restaurant Association has tremendous political clout. (The keynote speaker at this month’s Restaurant Association conference is Gen. Colin Powell, U.S. Army (Ret.).)
Sometimes signing up with a local or state association automatically grants you membership in the national one, which is the case when you join, for example, the New Mexico Restaurant Association. Local groups can offer other perks, too. Dan Flores, senior marketing manager at the Gaslamp Quarter Association in San Diego, says member businesses can rarely afford large-scale advertising on their own. But by pooling their resources and paying dues, they get a boost from collective campaigns — like the “Compadres” program, which encourages the public to shop in the Gaslamp Quarter before and after San Diego Padres’ games and offers gift certificates to Gaslamp businesses.
If there are no local associations in your area, don’t despair. You can look for support at larger entrepreneurship groups, such as the Young Entrepreneurs’ Organization, the World Entrepreneurs’ Organization, the Young Presidents’ Organization and the World Presidents’ Organization.
5. Sponsor a local charity or event.
It might seem tough to cough up money for event sponsorship when you’re struggling to make payroll or pay rent, but sponsoring the right local event can boost your sales figures in no time.
Obviously, you should pick an event involving people in your target group, rather than those in your own industry. If you run a staffing business, try to post a sign at a golf tournament where local executives will be playing. Know where all the lawyers and doctors in town eat lunch? Co-sponsor a raffle, a lunchtime musical event, or a street fair to get your business’s name in front of them.
In fact, your own doctor or dentist’s office might be a good place to network, says Cabane. Next time you’re in for a checkup, ask the doc if you can post information about your business in the waiting room.
6. Go online.
Some Web sites, like Ryze.com, are designed specifically for networking among small-business owners. Adrian Scott, who founded Ryze in 2001, says his site has been used mainly for exchanging advice and building relationships, but it has also been used for collaboration on tech projects and even for forming business partnerships. Scott says Ryze has more than 250,000 members around the world, some of whom use the site’s free service for limited access to other members. For a monthly fee, you gain more access to members and can set up your own network group, a collection of users that share an interest — like venture capital, public relations or even hiking.
Business owners are also using sites like Friendster, the uber-hip social-networking site, to build contacts. With an invitation-only system, however, the dance is more subtle. “It’s not a place where you jump into a community and start selling your wares,” says Friendster’s vice president of sales and business development, Charlie Barrett. “You would get to know new people through people you already trust.”
Another networking site aimed at entrepreneurs, the Go Big Network,, was launched early this year. Founder Wil Schroter says it offers entrepreneurs ways to round up start-up funding, find experts in their fields, and post classified ads.
7. Get creative.
Author Kathy Kobliski has some enterprising friends. One, a flower-shop owner in Syracuse, N.Y., routinely shows up at parties with an imaginative centerpiece in hand (at a baby shower, she crafted a “cake” out of baby diapers), and the gifts are always such a hit that she lands new clients on the spot. Another, the owner of a company that makes glass-cleaning products, never shows up anywhere without a bottle of cleaner in hand. While anyone holding a product runs the risk of seeming pushy, a product (especially a fun one, like food or jewelry) can be a good conversation starter.
Whatever networking strategies you come up with, says Cabane, you should always be on the lookout for new ones. Every public activity has networking potential, from a plane trip to an elevator ride to a stroll through the parking lot. For small-business owners in particular, the everyday interactions are a good chance to build rapport with people who may prove helpful down the road. “It can happen in line at the grocery store, at a spa, in jail, anywhere,” she says, “as long as you’re asking them first about their lives and mentioning your business later”.
