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Join the club: How networking can boost your business
By Jenny
C. McCune • Bankrate.com
Whether your company is home-based or on Main Street,
you need to mingle with other business people. It's refreshing.
It's energizing. It can lead to new work.
"Working alone, you can get very comfortable
with being by yourself," says Susan
RoAne, San Francisco-based author of How
to Work a Room and a professional speaker. "But that
can lead to you missing out on marketing and losing your social
skills."
In addition to keeping you in top form, networking
can generate business and hook you up with people who can help you
with your firm.
"I can trace hundreds of thousands of dollars
of business from my association membership," says Paul Johnson,
principal of Panache and Systems, a sales and marketing consulting
firm based in Atlanta.
Get a good group fit
The easiest way to expand your outlook and company connections is
to join a local business association -- or start one yourself. For
example, if you are in the graphic arts and home-based and know
several other owners of similar businesses, arrange a monthly get
together over lunch.
What type of association you join depends on your
interests and your company, says Johnson. He uses three questions
to decide whether to join an organization:
- Is it an educational opportunity
for me? "You want to learn something from members
of the organization," Johnson says. In other words, joining
will give you a chance to broaden your horizons.
- Do the buyers of my product
or service belong to this organization? If your ultimate
goal is to meet new customers, you should join a club or association
where they belong.
- Does the organization
have something to do with my business? If you're the owner
of a software development firm, joining a local software or computer
technology association may make sense.
Tracy Schneider, principal of TLS
Marketing, a marketing consultancy in Seattle, says there are
numerous groups you can join. They include athletic clubs, alumni
clubs, minority or women's clubs, as well as the familiar general
business organizations (Chamber of Commerce) and community service
associations (Lions and Rotary clubs).
Before joining, do your research. How often does the
club meet? How many members does it have? What can you offer the
group? What can it do for you in return?
Maximizing memberships
Once you've picked an organization, make sure you have the time
to truly give back to it, says RoAne. If you "over join"
and become overextended, your networking may backfire, she warns.
Your participation can help both your business and
the group. To maximize a membership consider:
- Becoming an officer.
- Giving a speech or holding a seminar for members.
- Writing an article for the association's newsletter.
- Organizing an event for the club, such as an auction
to benefit charity.
Although the connection between putting on a charity
benefit and marketing your company may seem non-existent, by helping
others you'll be helping your company.
Look at Johnson and his firm, Panache and Systems.
He gave a speech to a local technology group in Atlanta. That paid
off a few months later when a person came across his speech on the
association's Web site. The admirer of Johnson's speech ended up
becoming a lucrative account for the company.
Long-term associations yield
best results
Johnson's experiences also show that when you're networking, it's
better if you're in it for the long haul, not for some quick marketing
fix.
"The biggest mistake that people make when joining
associations is to think that networking is a short-term process,"
Schneider says. "It's not, 30 seconds of 'Here's my business
card and this is what I can do for you.'"
Instead, it's about building trust and being visible,
says RoAne. That takes time and effort, not just handing out a business
card. RoAne's three rules of networking are:
- Networking is a lifestyle, not
a work style. Insincere and artificial attempts to gain business
will only fail, RoAne says. "It has to come naturally,"
she says. That means being on the lookout for opportunities for
yourself and others all the time -- not just on the second Tuesday
of the month when the Rotary Club meets.
- Networking is an enrichment
program, not an entitlement program. Join an organization because
you truly believe in it and are interested in working for it.
Joining a club simply to look for sales prospects will make you
look insincere and manipulative. "You're missing the whole
point," RoAne says. "The best point of networking is
putting people together, not just getting business for yourself."
- Networking is an art, not a
science. "It's the art of communicating and the art of connecting
and establishing a comfort level with people," RoAne says.
"It's not something that you can easily quantify."
When Johnson goes to a local business meeting, he
doesn't use it as an excuse to hand out his business cards. Instead,
he imagines himself as a host for the event and tries to put others
at ease and take a genuine interest in what people are doing.
"If I see someone with a puzzled look, I'll introduce
myself and see if they need some help or direction," he says.
He'll also spend time listening to attendees, finding out what they
do for a living, instead of just promoting himself and his company.
"I never hand out a business card unless it's
requested," Johnson says.
'Membership has its privileges'
Also look for other marketing paybacks beyond social functions.
Schneider likens it to the American Express slogan: "Membership
has its privileges."
Belonging to an organization may give you a free listing
in an association directory or a chance to advertise in the association's
monthly newsletter. Even giving a speech to the club or writing
an article for its newsletter can be a simple way to promote yourself
and your business.
When you invest the time and effort to get to know
the people in associations, what they want and what they need, the
result can be like a winning hand in poker. Your club membership
will pay off in spades.
Jenny C. McCune is a contributing
editor based in Montana.
-- Posted: Aug. 27, 2001
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