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4 Tips When Attending Your First Industry Networking Event

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StrategyDriven Professional Development Article | 4 Tips When Attending Your First Industry Networking Event

The convenience, not to mention the affordability, of using video conferencing software to interact with your employees, discuss business matters with your colleagues, and even host board meetings is undeniable.

However, attending a professional networking event that has been specifically arranged for your industry in person adds a whole new positive element to the experience, as even the highest of screen definitions can never replace face-to-face interactions.

With this in mind, here are four key tips when attending your first industry networking event.

1. Research the Event Beforehand

Background research and prior preparation are the cornerstones of any successful business event, and no more so than with an industry networking evening.

For example, if you are getting ready to attend a trade event, whereby different companies will have stands showcasing their business and their services and products, investigating the list of trade stands will save you valuable time and mean you can maximize the usefulness of the event.

2. Plan to Host Your Own Networking Evening

You will soon see, even if you are initially dubious about the effectiveness of networking, just how useful it can be and how many professionals you can make contact with that may help both your company and your own career.

As you enjoy the evening and hopefully make some useful contacts, think about the benefits of hosting your own professional networking event in the future. Consider everything, from the right venue and the types of professionals you would need to invite to bulk-buying corporate gifts of chocolate from leading retailers such as Maple Gifts.

3. Ensure Conversations are Short Yet Meaningful

Being surrounded by like-minded people who are as tenacious and ambitious as you are in your chosen field can feel, especially the first time you experience this, more than a little overwhelming.

This is why it is important to keep conversations short as you move from group to group or table to table, talking and forming business connections with new people. However, make sure that you give each conversation your full concentration, you do not try and dominate the conversation (you always learn more by listening than speaking), and to basically speak to as many different people as possible in the time you have.

Advice for introducing yourself includes:

  • Always give your first and last name
  • Be personable and approachable
  • Represent yourself over the company you work for
  • Remain professional at all times (and do not drink too much!)

4. Focus on Leads, Not Sales

The fourth and final most important thing to remember when attending your first industry networking evening is to resist the urge to ’sell’ yourself and, moreover, totally avoid trying to pitch your services or products for a sale.

These events are designed to generate leads for doing business in the future, as well as raising brand awareness and also to check out your closest industry competitors. As far as lead generation goes, you must place this to the back of your mind, especially during initial discussions, and never, under any circumstances, engage in the hard sell.

Four Tips for Hosting Your Own Business Networking Event

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StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Four Tips for Hosting Your Own Business Networking Event

Networking is one of the most powerful tools any business manager or team leader can utilize in order to raise brand awareness and therefore, attending as many industry-specific networking events as possible is always an excellent plan when focusing on growth and expansion.

The next level to this and indeed, one that takes a high level of organization and planning is to host your own networking event and here are four tips on how to ensure your event is a success.

1. Be Crystal Clear on Your Purpose

As with any endeavor relating to the progression and expansion of your business, it’s firstly necessary to cement in your mind and into the minds of your employees attending, the core reason that you’re organizing the event in the first place.

Devising a networking event core proposal will help you to solidify your ideas, and such a proposal should be at the forefront of your mind when designing every aspect of the event. An example of this would be if you’re looking to arrange a networking event to raise awareness of your new line of products and essentially, to pitch these new products to potential B2B (business to business) clients.

2. Cover Your Costs

Although publicity surrounding your business (providing it’s the right kind of publicity, of course) is always going to benefit the company, there’s no point busting your budget and losing sight of the core focus.

Instead, set a budget which should include everything from the hiring of the venue to the guest speakers and any corporate gifts you intend on including. No matter what happens and however much you are tempted to stray from it, always stick to this budget and ensure that you cover your costs.

3. Don’t Forget the Merchandise

Another hugely important element of getting your company and employees ready to host a networking event and indeed, to maximize the reach of your business, is to invest in a key piece of merchandise for a “goody bag” for each attendee.

Enamel badges emblazoned with your company logo in bright and eye-catching colors are always a good idea, as are tote bags, fridge magnets, keyrings and other affordable and impactful items of merch. These will ensure that your business stays in the thoughts and minds of the guests.

Furthermore, any merchandise that isn’t used at the networking event itself can be gifted to customers ordering in bulk and clients further down the line.

4. Event Promotion

The fourth and final most important thing to remember when planning a business networking event is to start the promotion and guest invitations as soon as you’ve secured your appropriate venue.

You may want to consider utilizing online tools such as Eventbrite that will do everything from managing the signups for interested attendees to advertising the event for you. Alternatively, you could instead choose to create private groups on social media that are aimed at the specific groups of people that you feel will simultaneously benefit from the event and will also be useful business contacts in the future.

Networking Events With Pizzazz

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Your brand deserves to launch in style.

Your band deserves to have networking events in style.

Your brand deserves your car and attention.

And, let’s face it most networking events are dull as dirt, with the same format over and over again. Why? Well, the idea is people just meet and swap contracts. But you don’t have to do it that way.

You can break the mold.

Ditch the community halls, skip the business meeting centers. Head outdoors. Of course, you are not going to be looking at a spring or summer event. Which is great, because no matter when you read this – you can start planning.

StrategyDriven Marketing and Sales Article | Networking Events With Pizzazz

It’s All About You-ish

So, you really want your brand to be on everything. From the napkins to the banners. Displaying your brand should be a big focus here. But, remember that you are the host. The comfort and experience of the attendees should come first.

So make a list of the materials that you want. Pens, pencils, notebooks, banners, but how about… cupcakes? Reusable cups? Get creative.

Outdoorsy

A reason to use the outdoors is that freelancers, business owners, and in fact almost everyone works inside. All the time. Getting outdoors for an event is actually a lot of fun. The fresh air, it’s more relaxing, the food choices are much more wide open too. You can have a BBQ and food trucks. So long as the space you intend to use has the correct permissions. If it rains, then don’t worry because one of the first things that you will source is a gazebo that is waterproof – and the correct flooring. This works whether it is super sunny, or adverse weather conditions – meaning you won’t need to cancel unless it is snowing.

Logistics

Not everyone drives, so if you have booked a space that can be tricky to get to, and perhaps you are offering alcoholic drinks – you might want to think about arranging a coach. Look for where the highest concentration of people will be able to get to – make that the drop-off and pick up point.

Food & Drinks

Although it was briefly mentioned above, food and drinks can be tricky. As it is a networking event, people will be shaking hands a lot, so chicken wings might not be the best option as this inhibits personal contact. On the flip side, it is pretty funny when two people are having a conversation but covered in hot sauce. This is really going to depend on your audience. You should look to cater to vegans, vegetarian, meat eaters, and people with allergies – which isn’t a small task. While you are free to make the food yourself if you really want to, it’s better to hire the professionals. They will be able to cater to all of your needs.

Remember that not everyone will want a beer or wine. Networking events do typically offer a drink on arrival – included in the ticket price, but you can be smarter here. When people book a ticket, give them an option to choose a soft drink and have them all labeled up for when people arrive. And, invite a BYOB policy. So that people who have particular tastes can bring their own red wine. Typically people attending networking events are there to make contacts, so you won’t need to worry about someone bringing a case of more significant.

Contact Information

Swapping contact information is the end goal (kind of). You are going to be displaying your brand and so should have business cards in easy reach of every table or seated area. A good idea here is to set up specific tables. One for people looking for graphic designers. Another for architects. You get the idea. So people who fit the bill and leave their card or linger around so they can speak to people directly.

Takeaways

When you are selling tickets, you can have the option to be in the ‘goody bags.’ This is the bag that everyone will take away at the end. It will be filled with branded merchandise. Both yours and that of others. Produce a small magazine for attendees, and in the side have a range of advertisements from those who attended too. Of course, the motive here is networking first and money making the second. So make sure that the offer is out there at the point of ticket sales.

Networking should be an enjoyable experience, people are more likely to be open and chat about what they want – when they are relaxed. So curate the whole, and you are guaranteed success.