Host a Fun Networking Dinner (A Local Marketing Strategy Case Study)

Introduction

For those of you who have been hearing me talk about local marketing strategies in my recent articles, there's been a few common themes that I've building upon:

1. Local, grassroots marketing efforts work!
2. Local marketing is generally a way easier lift, as compared to digital marketing.
3. There's a wide variety of powerful local marketing strategies that are often overlooked.

In the wake of the Covid shake-up and lockdowns, it seems these strategies totally fell off the map when everything moved online.

So I've been taking some time to bring our attention back to the lost art of local marketing strategies. ?

In the last couple of articles, I picked apart a really fun marketing strategy - marketing at festivals!

In case ya missed it, you can catch up here:

Fail So It’s Worth It [ARTICLE]

Marketing at Festivals [ARTICLE]

But guess what?

I think I found another marketing strategy that’s even more personally fulfilling than having a presence at festivals.

What could it be?

Host a Fun Networking Dinner!

In other words, if you have a local market (or live close enough to a market where you can offer your services), invite a few of your clients, colleagues and strategic partners to a dinner and hang out for an evening.

This is exactly what I did when I taught a business class last week at NUNM (National University of Naturopathic Medicine) for a group of first year Chinese Medicine students.

When I landed that teaching opportunity, my thought was this:

“If I’m going to drive 3 hours to give a class in a city that’s one of my best markets, I wanna make this worth it!”

I put out invites to roughly 50 people who were either in my contacts or in my LinkedIn network (here’s where building up your network on a platform like LinkedIn really pays off... more to come on this topic).

Honestly, I wasn’t sure if I would be able to fill a reservation for 14 people with such a small number of messages going out.

So I took some time to think of how I could cast a wider net.

For a few clients and colleagues who are a bit closer to my work, I asked them to share the invite with their networks, and then I sat back once the net was cast.

You might be surprised…lots of folks won’t even respond to an offer for a free dinner!

And there may be a lot of reasons for that, which don’t have anything to do with me or my business.

But enough folks did respond, and it was clear that even though the promo was a little light and last minute, at least we'd have a small crew.

??Fast forward to the day of the dinner ?

At the NUNM class that morning, we had a couple of students also take me up on the invite, and by the time the afternoon rolled around, we had a solid group of 14 people!

And my anxieties suddenly shifted from not filling out the space to having to possibly turn folks away, lol.

I wanted to make sure that this was a very casual and easy-going networking experience for everyone, so we went light on the businessy stuff. ?

I don’t think I used the word “elevator pitch” once that night.

The one interactive activity we did together actually had nothing to do with business, but rather had folks break the ice with a fun active listening exercise.

A Reflection on Elevator Pitches

My buddy and colleague, Taj O'Brien (a somatic bodyworker), summed it up well. ?As we talked through planning out the activities and vibe for the event the night before, he offered up a really interesting insight:

“Elevator pitches…I mean, who really wants to be pitched at?! ?And elevators! ?You’re trapped in an elevator with each other for 30-60 seconds, less than 4 feet away, with nowhere to escape, with someone pitching something at you? ?It's like, how much more uncomfortable can we make this?!”

I couldn’t have said it better.

Seems to me like the metaphor of the "elevator pitch" is a carryover from antiquated 80's marketing practices - I think we're ready for a new metaphor!

No wonder folks get uncomfortable when it comes to learning marketing!

Although being able to concisely sum up “who you serve and how you serve them” is an essential skill for small business owners, I think a lot of folks miss the mark when it comes to how we communicate this.

For more on this topic, see the section “Festival Marketing Strategy #3: BBQ Marketing” in my recent article:

Marketing at Festivals [ARTICLE]

Honestly, looking back at the event, I think we could’ve done a few more interactive activities to get folks mingling a bit more and setting folks up to learn about each other’s work.

But that goal was secondary to my primary objective:

Let folks connect with each other as human beings. ?

Make sure the vibe is right. ?

Make sure folks are comfortable and having a good time.

Some more traditional networkers might be critical of my approach as being too laissez-faire.

But I’d argue that businesses grow in the long-term through genuine human connections.

Folks work with businesses and refer to businesses when there’s someone they know, like and trust.

And all that wonderful "know, like and trust factor" at the human level is often an important precursor to the ability to trust in a professional context.

Here’s where I might be different from a lot of folks in the marketing and networking world.

I’m not going into an event like this with my targets set on goals and metrics that are going to tell me immediately after the event whether it was a success or not.

It’s not that I don't like tracking goals, metrics and KPI’s (key performance indicators). ?In fact, I think finding ways to effectively track success is mission-critical for small businesses.?

But rather, it’s that I don’t expect to see the outcomes of an event like this in such a short time frame.

I’m in this for the long game.

And the reality is that human relationships often take months or even years to fully blossom.

Here’s a case in point:

I'll share a story which turns out to be a bit of a windy road, and as you'll see, it loops back around to relate directly with what we're talking about here.

The Cascade Effect

This is a story of networking intelligently, without an explicit agenda, and discovering all sorts of latent opportunities.

A few years ago, in the midst of Covid lockdowns when lots of online networking groups were cropping up everywhere, there I was attending one of these online events.?

My “what do you do” lines were very much in development at the time, but I went in with my “active listening hat” on.

And looking back, I’m realizing having that “hat” on straight was more valuable than having the right lines coming out of my mouth with perfect timing and ease.

As we were sent into our zoom breakout rooms at that event, I met another financial consultant, and we got to hear a bit about each other’s work.

Now, I could have labeled this person as “competition” and felt a bit wary and repelled, or simply disregarded her as “irrelevant” to my desire to find clients and work opportunities.

But instead, I became really curious about her background and approach.

I felt I could probably gain some deeper insights about our market, or trade notes on tools and techniques to better serve our small business clients.

So I connected with her on LinkedIn after the event and invited her to jump on a short “digital teatime” call.

In the course of talking, it turned out she had landed a teaching gig with a business center in another state. ?Their accounting instructor bailed out at the last minute, and they were looking for another guest instructor!

Bam!! ??

Latent opportunity #1 discovered!

What’s great about teaching gigs, as you may know, is that you can basically get paid for your marketing, and folks will automatically see you as an authority on the subject you're teaching (if your content is reasonable).

I got paid a few hundred bucks to teach some material that I had already developed, so the lesson planning was fairly minimal.

And from that opportunity, I was able to secure a contract gig with a coaching agency that brought me one of my first coaching clients…Latent opportunity #2!

As I was checking out the coaching agency that I was now contracted with, I noticed there was this super down-to-earth marketing consultant in the same agency who was teaching workshops on “How to Market Authentically without Social Media”.

Her name is Nedra Rezinas .

At the time, she was the first marketer I'd come across who talked about improving one's relationship with social media to improve mental health.

I thought to myself, "what a cool point of view! ?I need to talk to this person!!!"

Nedra turned out to be one of my favorite (and most important) strategic partners for my business in recent years……Latent opportunity #3!

A short “digital teatime” call with Nedra quickly led to…

1. Me hosting her twice for live events (later to be published on my YouTube channel as evergreen webcast content)
2. Me hiring her as a contractor to add in a “90-day marketing strategy” deliverable to my coaching program to add even more value for my coaching clients
3. Nedra and I doing a work trade, wherein we experienced an even deeper and more personal impact of the unique value each of us brings with our work

Latent opportunities #4, 5 and 6 !!!

As for long term impacts, there have been several exchanges of introductions, teaching opportunities and paid work opportunities between us.

(Yes, a further cascade of latent opportunities?;-)

And guess what?

Remember that NUNM class that I taught that morning of the dinner event?

It was Nedra Rezinas who landed that teaching gig, and invited me in!

When she saw that the curriculum focused on learning money skills and navigating the emotional side of money, she immediately thought of me.

Latent opportunity #_ ...wait, what number are we on again?!

And guess how she landed that gig?

She met a NUNM professor at a local networking event several years prior.

That professor remembered Nedra when she realized she needed to recruit a guest faculty instructor to lighten her teaching load for the health business curriculum.

Ok, are you starting to see a pattern here???

When we lead with curiosity and an open mind, connect with a genuine heart, and cultivate clarity in our message articulating who we serve and how we add value to their lives, a cascade of good things begins to happen!!!

And it doesn’t necessarily happen all at once.

But there’s a ripple effect.

There are a multitude of downstream impacts when we’re making good moves and doing good things upstream.

What was so special to me about that night at a deliciously healthy Indian Restaurant, with a small group of sweet people who have beautiful visions with their work?

Well, clearly a lot of things made it special…

But it was made possible by a confluence of all these cascading actions that led up to it.

Undoubtedly, there are many other cascading actions that brought each attendee there, of which I remain unaware.

But the point is this:

When the conditions are set for authentic human connections to take place with the right people, good things will happen.

I honestly have no idea what the long-term, downstream impacts of that dinner will be.

But I have a really good feeling that things are heading in a good direction.

So stay posted!

Cuz I think I’m gonna do that again!

(It was too much fun not to) ???

If you’re in the Portland, OR area and you want to receive an invitation to our next dinner event, hit me up with a reply and I’ll add you to that list.

(If you attended the last one, no worries - you’re already on there.)

Gotta friend or colleague in Portland who would be interested? ?

Feel free to forward them this article and have them reach out to me - we’ll hook them up!

[Here's my email: info (at) lifestreambusiness (dot) com]

After all, who doesn’t want to have a healthy dinner with sweet people and have some fun?

So that’s my super fun local marketing strategy of the week:

Host a networking dinner that prioritizes cultivating genuine human connections.

Don’t just find hubs. ?Become a hub!

If you listen to Tad Hargrave, Bradley Morris and other marketers in the conscious business marketing world, you’ll hear them talking about what Tad calls “hubs”.

A hub is a place, person, business, organization or event that is connected to your ideal clients, much like how the hub of a wheel centrally connects all the outer spokes.

For example, therapists and therapy clinics make great hubs for Naturopathic Doctors and other integrative health practitioners. ?

Yoga studios, health food stores, wellness fairs and festivals can also be great hubs.

Tad talks a lot about this strategy, and it’s brilliant.

What I love about hosting a networking dinner is it allows you to BECOME A HUB.

Rather than just seeking out strategic partnerships, networking opportunities, and connecting to key players, why not bring them together in a way that allows them to see you as the central connector? ?

Organizing such an event automatically positions you in a place of authority and influence in your professional network.

Ok, granted, it costs a little bit of money to pay for dinners for 14 people. ?

That may not be totally necessary (i.e. some folks would be happy to pay), but it sure helps in getting a larger turnout if you're starting from scratch!

And that’s what a marketing budget is for ??

(BTW: if you need help developing a marketing budget that is positioned to produce a return on investment - aka ROI - take this QUIZ and book a complimentary call with me when you receive your results…talking high level strategy with folks is one of my favorite things to do)

Here’s the thing when it comes to evaluating your best spend with a marketing budget.

You need to be strategic with how you spend it.

For instance, if I find myself choosing between these options in my business, which do you think I’m going to choose?

1. Pay $1,500 for a vendor table at a Naturopathic Medicine conference, or…
2. Attend that conference with a general admission ticket (without a vendor table) and invite folks that I casually meet at that event to dinner that evening (thereby leaving enough of my marketing budget left over to cover 3 more dinners later in the year, or perhaps another supplementary marketing campaign).

Based on my experiences thus far, I'm definitely leaning toward option #2.

Hosting a series of free healthy meal events is essentially the same strategy I used with a local nutrition awareness group to win over support for our cause within the local medical community.

And it created several lateral win-win situations as community leaders began to identify each other as key players with common interests, and then connect with each other to further their own works.

So when are we hosting our next dinner?

We don’t have one planned yet, but I already have some ideas for fun activities that will also help folks sharpen some of their authentic business communication skills.

Again, reach out if you'd like to receive an invitation:?

[Here's that email: info (at) lifestreambusiness (dot) com]

Conclusion

Look at you! ?You made it all the way to the end - way to go!! ??

I gotta say, I don't see enough folks talking about local marketing strategies in today's age.

Most small business owners I talk to feel like social media, SEO and online advertising are their only options, without even giving a thought about their local networks.

Hopefully this read gave you some ideas and was worth it to hear me out…and if it was, I’d love to hear your thoughts and key takeaways.

It’s always a thrill to read people's responses.

And if I’m totally missing something on this subject - don’t hesitate! ?

Push back, tell me what’s up, and set me straight!!

Ok. take care for now ????

Hi, I'm Bill ??

I founded Life Stream Business Services to provide strategy, coaching, accounting and bookkeeping services for integrative health practitioners who want to organize their finances and proactively grow their business, without sacrificing their values (or going broke).

I practice, study, and write about business growth and personal growth, thereby helping many of my clients grow past what they thought was possible in their business.

My work with clients applies methods of strategic business development, Somatic Experiencing, Integral Coaching, financial advisory and customized business growth models specifically geared toward Integrative Health clinics and solo-practices.

? Vision-expansive

? Trauma-informed

? Emotionally-attuned

? Financially-literate

? Dharma-inclined

To take a first step toward growing your Integrative Health Practice without sacrificing your values, check out my free Integral Business Type Self-Assessment Quiz:

https://www.lifestreambusiness.com/assessment