Traditional vs Online Networking - Part V

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.

Business Referrals, Leads and Introductions

I seem to have become a bit over-protective of my list of business contacts! I’ve certainly always been wary of recommending products or services, unless I’ve experienced them personally and know them to be excellent. My reasoning is that if things go horribly wrong between two parties that I referred, it will be my reputation that is damaged and my judgement questioned.

A conversation this afternoon has got me wondering if I need to adjust my thinking on this subject. I was thumping on about not being able to make referrals without experiencing the service first hand, when a slightly hurt voice said “Well I introduced someone to you in good faith.” Oh dear, perhaps they had a point.

So, in addition to referrals (based on personal experience), leads (often based on no previous contact whatsoever), I’m going to add introductions into my mix of contacts. Introductions are without recommendation or personal experience; they are simply contacts I know who may find it mutually useful to connect.

Provided I make the basis of the introduction clear to all parties, there should be no problem. Unless, in the heat of the moment, a scapegoat is being hunted to blame ….

What do you think? Do leave a comment or share your experience of referrals, leads and introductions.

Networking Fatigue Alert!

Yesterday I went to the second breakfast meeting of a small networking group who are just trying to get established. (This is the same group where the venue had cooked all the eggs two weeks ago (see post from 13 July) and were unable to provide me with scrambled instead of fried, of which, more later!)

At the first meeting, there were 18 people present, this time - just 11. I do hope the group survives but I have some doubts. From my own experience of setting up and running a group (4 years ago), I know how difficult it is to build and maintain a viable number of members.

On Monday, I was invited to yet another networking group's first meeting to be held at the end of this month - hence the Networking Fatigue Alert! (see post from 6 July)

How can all these breakfast groups survive? There are only so many breakfasts a person can eat.

Today I heard about a well established (over 6 years) group who are sadly losing long established members and struggling to attract new ones.

Could it be that all the 'new' groups are creating a different breed of networker? I know that I'm in danger of becoming a 'Networking Tart"! (definition: a networker who visits every new group just to see what it's like and who's there.) I know that when I was a regular member of a group, my loyalty was to my fellow members. Now, because I can do all the networking I want, without the commitment of joining a group, there isn't any group loyalty and business referrals are more hit and miss.

Could it be that, with all these new groups starting up, the more established groups are suffering as members defect to find out what else is out there? Could these satellite groups actually be damaging the amount of referred business?

Sadly, what also struck me, as I listened to the proposed goals of this new group yesterday, is that their goals are almost the same as most of the other groups I've visited, although they may be worded differently. I had to keep my mouth well and truly buttoned!

Please forgive me if I start to rant at this point. The main purpose of networking is to build relationships. But, you cannot build relationships based on meeting someone just once or twice. You choose the people you want to get to know better (perhaps on the basis that you have similar interests, similar target markets - or you just like them!) and you spend time developing that relationship.

Visiting different groups once or twice is not enough to build relationships. Joining a group and attending regularly is. I'm not going to risk my reputation referring business to someone I hardly know. On the other hand, if I've been meeting them once a week over a period of time, I will feel much more comfortable introducing them to my other contacts.

Rant over.

Just to let you know that, despite ordering "just scrambled eggs and mushrooms" for my breakfast, on my plate were - scrambled eggs, mushrooms, tomato, the hated baked beans, hash brown and toast. I have to say that the eggs and mushrooms were delicious - but I'm still wondering what part of the word 'just' was so hard to understand!