5 Networking Secrets to Help Grow Your Business
If you’re like me, the word “networking” makes you think of spending a mid-week evening out at a restaurant, awkwardly mingling around a room with a watered-down cocktail in your left hand, and meaningless surface level conversation (which is the literal worst, imo). Just thinking about it makes you anxious. Yeah, I hate that stuff. In fact, I avoid it at all costs. That’s why running an online business is such a better fit for me! I have the ability to grow an audience, tribe, and network of biz friends while also being myself in the comfort of my own yoga pants. Now, I feel like I have to clarify that this doesn’t mean I am a hermit and avoid face-to-face communication. Not the case at all! But, it means I don’t have to go to awkward Chamber of Commerce events wearing uncomfortable dress pants. Praise the Lord above.
Online networking is the kind of networking that I love. There aren’t any awkward entrances into a hostile room. There aren’t any gross cocktails. And I don’t have to walk around looking for someone to talk to. Triple win!
However, when it comes to online networking, there are definite strategies and ways to go about it. You want to be kind, smart, patient, and willing to reciprocate.
Don’t wait for them to come to you: sometimes we can get stuck in the “corner of the room” in the online world. When you think about networking, you cannot think about it as something that just happens to you. You have to seek it out. You have to be willing to take the first step. You have to be willing to introduce yourself, offer the handshake, and greet the other person first. When I was first starting my business, I focused a lot on my online networking game. I would send emails and messages to people almost every day. I wasn’t waiting around for them to reach out to me. Most people are waiting. That’s why stepping out and being the person to reach out is so important. It sets you apart.
BONUS CHALLENGE: send an email or Instagram DM every day for the next 7 days. See next point for how to do this.
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