We are all familiar with what business networking is and how important it is for your career. It not only holds the keys for gaining new clients but includes connecting with lifelong friends and business allies. However, the great majority of professionals attend general networking events and find themselves concluding that their overall results weren't as productive as they may have wanted them to be.
The lack of the desired results was very likely in the planning process, (If there was even one at all). Like many other areas of business, networking deserves to be approached on a strategic level as well. Here are five steps to consider when planning your strategy.
1. Identify Your Power Connections and Clients
Certainly, it is a common goal to target potential clients and do all that is necessary to appeal to them and gain their business. However, when you are networking for business, your target clients may not always be in attendance. Therefore, it is wise to seek out those who have a similar client base and then create power relationships. Many times this can result in partnerships that drive each others business.
2. Locate These Partners/Clients Online and Off-Line
Once you have decided who your "Power Connections" could be, you need to focus on where they migrate. Depending on your industry, there are probably events based around your specialty. These events can be located on and off-line. This also includes online events like forums and discussion groups.
3. Organize Your Plan of Action
Now that you have discovered where your "Power Connections" are, it's time to plan your attack. You now have the opportunity to conceive your tactics of approach. Will you go online and communicate with them in the forums? Will you attend targeted workshops and build alliances from there? It's your call.
4. Execute Your Plan of Action
After some good brainstorming and the formation of ideas of how you will approach your new networking partners, you have to implement your plan firmly. Many times we can conceive plans which are realistic and feasible but fail to carry them out in real life. You must create a regular/daily routine and stick to it for a minimum of 90 days.
5. Follow-Up and Follow-Through
As you are executing your plan and sticking to your daily routine, you should be following up with your new connections and following through with any promises or even future meetings that were proposed. After all, how else will you bring your goals into fruition if there's no solid conclusion to all of the above activities?
