Business Networking - 9 Tips For Success At The Networking Event

You have prepared and planned for your networking event with almost military precision. You have arrived in plenty of time; you are relaxed and mentally prepared. Now what do you do? Do you rush in and hand out business cards to anyone who will take them? No! Don't do that. Here instead are nine great tips that will help you maximize your networking enjoyment and potential success.

Tip One - Meet your pre-arranged contacts

After you have been greeted by the event host, and if you previously arranged to meet with a sponsor or business colleague, make sure that you seek them out as promised. Do not spend all your time talking to the people you know well. Save this for another day. After all, everyone is really there to meet new people.

Tip Two - Get introduced to others

Use the host or people you already know to introduce you to others that you may want to meet. This method gets rid of the sometimes awkward ice-breaking stage.

Tip Three - Be the introducer

This is a great way to feel confident. Introducing people demonstrates your confidence and social grace. Pay particular attention to people who seem lost, shy or simply isolated. They will love the chance to be introduced to someone so after talking a little with them yourself, find out who they want to meet and then make the introduction. You will feel really good about this simple act.

Tip Four - Refreshments and snacks

These can be a nightmare. If the event has a sit-down meal element that is fine and you can eat and talk as you would in any other dining situation. If the refreshments and snacks are intended to be eaten whilst mingling then I would suggest that you stick to soft drinks only. Even handling a cup and saucer with coffee or tea can be tricky when you are expected to shake hands or kiss cheeks. Don't even get me started about people spraying crumbs of food when they talk or getting food in their teeth - leave the snacks for later.

Tip Five - Be careful with your promises

This may sound counter-intuitive but don't just give your cards out to everyone you meet. Only swap contact details with people you feel it is worth keeping in contact with. It is unfair and a waste of everyone's time to give the impression you want to connect with people you really don't want to connect with. If you promise to call someone or follow-up with some more information, then you had better make sure you do it. Make a to-do list and stick to it. This will help you protect your hard-earned credibility.

Tip Six - Be a fantastic listener

This is a really key social, business and life skill. Learn to listen well and attentively. Listen to what is not said as much as what is said. People love to be listened to and will like you all the more as a result. You will learn much more. We generally all have two ears and one mouth so use them in that ratio.

Tip Seven - Be helpful whenever you can

People are naturally drawn to helpful people. Offer advice only if asked and only if you are qualified to do so. Offer to send articles of interest to people or provide helpful contacts. Givers get, as they say, and what goes around comes around.

Tip Eight - Be yourself

It is hard to be anyone else so why bother trying. Be honest and don't fall into the trap of making false claims to impress people. They will find out eventually. It is very easy in the heat of the moment to inflate our own importance. It is not necessary. People will like you all the better for just being you.

Tip Nine - Smile

In my opinion, the best tool in the networking toolbox. You'll feel on top of the world. Smiling is infectious and people will be drawn towards you. You will put people at their ease. Smiling indicates confidence and control. People want to see that in potential suppliers and referral partners.

That's it for now. I hope you enjoy all your upcoming networking events. You now have more knowledge than many others so relax and enjoy meeting your potential new customers or referral partners. Listen carefully and openly to what they have to tell you and, more importantly, what issues they want to solve.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisation develop more effective face to face communication skills. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out my website at http://www.eryrglas.com/

Check out this new and valuable FREE report "What Is Effective Face To Face Communication & Why You Should Care" at http://eepurl.com/pjaz9

Hope to see you there soon!

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Business Networking - 5 Tips For Successful Business Networking Event Preparation

You have chosen your ideal business networking group and you have picked a suitable event date. You have designed a fabulous networking "pitch" that is chock full of benefits for your potential new clients and referral partners. Is there anything else you can do to prepare for success ahead of time? There are definitely many activities and tactics that can help. Here are five great tips for pre-event preparation that will help you maximize your networking enjoyment and potential success.

Tip One - Get to know your event host.

Every event will have a host. Get to know this person well and make their life easier by completing things such as administration requests and your meeting payments ahead of time. They will then be well disposed to help you as a result. They will know who is who in the group and quite often will have many additional contacts in the area. These contacts are potentially very valuable once the host knows your business and trusts you enough to pass your name on.

Tip Two - Find out who is attending the event

Once you know your host you can quite easily find out, ahead of time, who will be attending the event. Why is this important? Well, if there are people there you do want to meet you can either arrange to be seated next to them or have the host introduce you during the proceedings. Conversely, if there are people you wish to avoid the host can also arrange that you are seated elsewhere.

Tip Three - Get your mind-set right

This is very important. Have a goal for what you want to achieve at the event. Now, visualize yourself being successful at the event and achieving your targets. Visualize yourself delivering your pitch perfectly and naturally to a receptive audience. Visualize meeting your intended potential client or referral partner and hitting it off right away. The choice of visualization is yours but visualize - it works. Be relaxed and look forward to the event.

Tip Four - Dress appropriately

The right attire really does affect your ability to make a good first impression. Notice that I said dress appropriately. If it is an informal networking group don't show up in a suit as you will be noticeable for all the wrong reasons. Likewise, for a formal event, don't show up in jeans. It might be superficial but first impressions have to be right. Clarify the dress code in advance, with your host, if you are in any doubt.

Tip Five - Plan your journey

This may sound obvious, but make sure you know where you are going. Leave in plenty of time and check for any traffic hold-ups that may case you problems. Getting to an event late is a fantastic way to destroy your carefully prepared mind-set and make a poor first impression with the host and the other attendees. Get there early and you can park up, have a nice cup of tea and be able to meet and greet all the guests you want to.

That's it for now, so enjoy your networking event and remember that there will be other people in the same position as you. You, however, now have more knowledge than they do so relax and start to meet your potential new customers or referral partners and listen carefully and openly to what they have to tell you and, more importantly, what issues they want to solve.

I'm Andy Pope and I am committed to helping individuals and organisation develop more effective face to face communication skills. I hope you enjoyed this article.

Check out my website at http://www.eryrglas.com/

Check out this new and valuable FREE report "What Is Effective Face To Face Communication & Why You Should Care" at http://eepurl.com/pjaz9

Hope to see you there soon!

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3 Valuable Tips for Organizing a Worthwhile Business Networking Event

Adding Music for an Upbeat and Professional Atmosphere

Typically, networking events can go well if they are simply run professionally and the guest's experience is seriously kept in mind. This is all possible with a stringent organization process. However, because your guest's experience is valuable you can add music to help create a pleasant atmosphere. Remember, this is an event that is designed to help professionals to network as well as give your business exposure. The music that you choose is only to be considered a good backdrop to help facilitate comfort and enjoyment. This is an optional choice but you should make sure that it is not played too loud as to cause people to yell or speak unpleasantly above their natural tones. You should choose instrumental music that is of a medium tempo and similar to that which is played for relaxation purposes. You can also choose more upbeat and motivating music just keep the desired mood generation in mind.

Making Negotiations with Venues

Depending on the location that you decide on to host your networking event, there is no doubt that there will be some form of negotiation at hand. Many places like; hotel conference rooms, catering halls, and other locations focused around events, will have set prices which are usually nonnegotiable. However, if you choose to hold your event at a restaurant, pub, or other public business looking for exposure, you can negotiate terms and pricing. For example; if you choose to host your event at a fancy restaurant or popular pub on a slow evening, the manager or owner may allow you to do so free of charge. This is because you are indirectly promoting their place of business to people who otherwise wouldn't be aware of them. Therefore, you can use this aspect of value when negotiating a price or extras during the event; like refreshments. You can let the venue know that you will promote their specials in return for free space rental and a reduced charge on refreshments.

Create an Event Website or Blog to Maximize Exposure

Even if your company has its own website and contains information about your event, creating a separate website or blog about the event isn't a bad idea. You can always exchange links from your company's website to your event website and vice versa. A separate website or blog aside from your main one may help to attract targeted visitors if optimized correctly. You may also put your event in a position to take on a life of its own by allowing visitors to comment about the event and their experiences. They can also contribute questions or compliments publicly. Depending on your web designer's know-how or your own expertise, you can add an option to sign up right on the site. Having a separate site will also build your overall online equity and show that your company receives positive feedback in other areas like networking events. It can also help with attendance because it keeps visitor's attention on the event and signing up opposed to providing distractions.

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