The 5 Biggest Networking No-Nos ??

Whether you love or loathe networking, its importance, as we're emerging from lockdown, is springing back.

Being a LinkedIn expert I'm a big fan of online networking, although not to the exclusion of offline get-togethers.

Professionally and personally, networking's a proven way to:

• Increase awareness
• Raise your profile
• Identify immediate opportunities
• Obtain a better awareness of the market and your position in it.

There’s no better time to discover how to enjoy networking and be great at it.?

So let's first look at what NOT to do.

Mistake 1: Thinking networking is about selling

So many people make this mistake, I think it’s one of the biggest.

It’s also why so many people understandably (and unnecessarily) hate networking.

If you're network thinking, “I must sell,” you’re more likely to fail than to succeed.

Effective networking is about making connections to see if there’s a mutually rewarding fit between what you offer and what others need.

It’s important to relationship-build and allow the right people to buy from you, rather than sell to them.

If you network with the view that the people you meet MIGHT become clients or referrers, it’s a more realistic, empowering and less-pressured objective.?

Mistake 2: Fail to plan, plan to fail

You wouldn’t set out on a journey without a destination and route, so why should networking be any different??

Whilst networking can often be a ‘free’ form of marketing, its cost is your time.

So do your research and be selective about what events you attend.

While it can be useful to attend events full of peers (and therefore competitors), if your

#1 objective is lead generation, go to events where you meet prospects or referrers.

It’s worth making friends with the event organiser too.

Call in advance, be friendly and ask if you could have a participant list emailed to you (subject to e.g. GDPR rules).

That way you can be doubly sure that the right people are attending.

My motto in life is, ‘If you don't ask, you never give someone the chance to say yes.'

Remember, a warm and friendly manner can often work miracles.?

Mistake 3: Forgetting the 2 essentials to take with you?

1. Fresh clothing, toiletries (and makeup if appropriate)

While attire for business networking is a lot more casual these days, we still judge by appearances.

Want people to think you're untidy and scruffy?

Then there’s no better way than to turn up in crumpled clothes stained with your mid-morning latte or makeup that looks like it was applied last century.

I take a spare set of clothes, re-apply my make up and attempt at least to tame my bouffant (although my hair can explode Marge-Simpson style at even a hint of moisture).

A tiny dab of fragrance won’t hurt and brushing your teeth gives you more confidence, especially if you had a goat’s cheese and red onion focaccia for lunch.

2. A smile

Okay, so you’ve had a full day, feel done in and you really wished you’d gone to bed earlier the night before.

At a networking event, no one else should ever know this.

Walking into an event quietly confident, smiling and looking like you WANT to be there means that a lot more people will want to talk to you.?

Want to know the final the 4th & 5th no-nos?

I'm certain that the 5th is the biggest by the way. It's in your free guide, or message me for your copy.

About me, Sarah Hughes, The "B2B Marketing Expert"

An award-winning marketer, business growth and LinkedIn lead generation expert, I founded?Boost Business Growth?to?give business owners and directors more focus, more sales, more profit.

This is achieved through strategy, training, implementation or mentoring that blends the power of sales psychology with the latest marketing and sales techniques.

Global brands through to solopreneurs choose to work with me, including SUEZ, ClearCycle, FounderCatalyst and LG Futures.

The uniting feature of those I work with is that they market to other businesses and want to do what works in their marketing.

While working across many sectors, I particularly love working with businesses that are on a mission to help our planet ??.

Got a B2B marketing, business growth or LinkedIn problem you'd like solved? Or perhaps an opportunity you're determined to maximise?

“Thanks to Sarah, we’ve enjoyed a 79% uplift in sales to ￡430,000 of our most recent product, The Financial Intelligence Toolkit, with figures still rising.” Jude Ranasinghe, Founder, LG Futures

Your next step is to?book a discovery call with me. I'll be honest about if I think I can help.

Share the l??ve

Hopefully, you've got lots of useful insight from this newsletter, so it would be great if you'd share it, comment and like ????.

#b2bmarketing #b2bleadgeneration #b2bonlinenetworking #offlinenetworking #networking #businessnetworking