It's been an interesting week, revisiting mini-articles from my Ezine 'Competitive Advantage'.Today I heard about a networking group that has closed because attendance numbers were too low. I'm sure there will be others who struggle to survive. Some groups are all about referrals, some are supportive and others are more social in their approach. It isn't feasible to belong to them all so decide which are best for you and your business and give them your loyalty.
Attend them regularly and really get to know your fellow members. If networking is to continue to be as powerful a marketing technique as it has become in recent years, then each group will have to be nurtured by its members.
I belong to several groups on Facebook. Some of them bombard me with messages, some try to 'upsell' me to buy a paid service and others are as quiet as the grave. I know it's difficult to please everyone, but a regular update at reasonable intervals will keep members interested.
This is the last part of my look at whether 'traditional' networking techniques also work with the latest online or social networking media. I believe that, for the most part, they do. Whether face to face networking between small business owners will ever beat online - and result in more sales more quickly - I don't think so.
While it may be possible to meet many more people online and in a much shorter time period, the key to successful sales will always be to build relationships - and that takes time and effort.
I hope you've enjoyed this week's posts - and would really love to hear your comments.
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