I’m a big fan of networking events. I think it’s good practice for anyone in business to get out and be seen. Meet people, introduce yourself, explain what you do. It’s nice to meet the other people who are working around you. And it’s useful.
But networking isn’t always useful. Networking can become a circuit of the same dudes in shiny suits – everyone selling, nobody buying.
The key to good networking is to attend events that your customers go to. Meeting other people in business is nice, and it’s always useful to have a solid network of connections – but nice networks and connections won’t pay the bills. You need to meet potential clients, not a bunch of people who want to sell you something.
So, who are your customers, and where do they hang out?
(Picture courtesy of llawliet via Flickr)
A slightly cruder technique (than finding out where your potential clients network) is to just find out about all the different networking groups and go to all of them.
Comment by Danny Hope — March 2, 2009 @ 10:57 am
Hi Danny – absolutely. The scatter-gun approach makes a lot of sense. It’s hard to know which networking events are useful until you try them. Even events that are ‘irrelevant’ may be interesting, or enjoyable.
Comment by Leif Kendall — March 2, 2009 @ 11:25 am
“Even events that are ‘irrelevant’ may be interesting, or enjoyable.”
Indeed. A couple of years ago I happened along to a Flash:Brighton meet-up, and walked away with a $2,000 Adobe software prize 🙂
Danny Hope’s last blog post..Give me your links
Comment by Danny Hope — March 2, 2009 @ 11:41 am