Networking Tips and How to’s
General January 28th, 2010
The year 2010 Elevator Speech Challenge
It’s been a twelve months from the time when Networking Event Finders launched in the business networking industry with the advertising of the Great Elevator Speech Challenge as our introduction. This year’s competition comes on right after of International Networking Week (Feb. 1 – 5), whixh will begin February 8th and go through the end of February. Visitors can vote for their most popular Elevator Speech and so the winner shall be announced on March 4th. We’re pleased to welcome back Maverick Creative Group that has returned as our Principal Sponsor.
Like with this past year, we will often be having in Top Trainers that will train you on the way to come up with a successful 30-second Elevator Pitch. We wish you to learn from the best! Now there isArvee Robinson on Feb 2nd at 9:00am PST and Veronika Noize on Thursday the 4th at 5:00pm PST. Registration for the phone calls and prize particulars to be provided soon.
Business Networking’s Biggest Lie
By Keith Woolgar
There’s absolutely no doubt that face-to-face networking is probably the best, if not probably the most efficient means to showcase your self, your charity or your business. It is a fact.
Generally, business networking is less expensive than normal advertising and marketing, and ties you personally to your small business, right in front of your consumers or potential customers. Bring your date book to an event, make a follow up meeting immediately! Hours of cold calling and target promoting; stand aside! Who would not rather connect with their consumers and potential consumers in an informal, familiar, non-confrontational setting like a networking event or by means of a networking group?
Go figure! So why else would there be countless business networking breakfast meetings, business networking happy hours, speed business networking events (you name it) and even more popping up continuously?
Long gone are the times of being limited to joining chambers of commerce and other service organizations, simply because now you can meet, greet and glad hand other networkers anytime, seven days a week if you desire to. Just imagine, BNI and LeTip are networking brand names comprised of thousands of business networkers on their own…it’s a social networking society, folks! Now, with the current “online venues” like Facebook, business networking has gone viral as housewives, Realtors, cake bakers and Fortune 500 companies interact via the popular “social media”, that was not even a common expression only three quick years ago. We as a society network, network, network!
The lie is that “networking” succeeds. The fact is , that going to networking events, enrolling in the groups, being on Facebook, etc. does not work whatsoever as a stand alone activity to closing sales or doing business. That is correct, it takes a lot more…
Maybe you have ever come back from the networking event with a pocketful of business cards with absolutely no resulting business? Like, zero? Yes, you have. Did you ever leave a networking group because “it didn’t work”? Of course you did.
Fact is, the churn rate (old users dropping out being replaced by new paid members) may be up to 50% annually in a given networking organization. Half dropping out, being replaced by new, enthusiastic newbies, who will in turn drop out aftera lame attempt at making networking work for them.
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