Choosing Offline Networking Venues

Offline networking is the traditional way of doing business. Some people assume that because the net is newer, that it is better. While you CAN network successfully online, and it does have its benefits, you’ll find that you can often gain more power, faster, offline. This is especially true for service businesses, and local businesses.

Offline networking has two principle benefits:

1. By bringing you into contact with your prospective customers. Trade shows, fairs, or B2B events are good places for this if they fit your target market.
2. By bringing you into association with your competitors and collaborators. This helps you develop greater expertise, gives you people to draw knowledge from, and helps you find people to work alongside. It is valuable, but only if you understand how to use it. Chamber membership, and other business groups are good places for this.

You’ll want to select a venue to meet your goals – don’t choose a business to business venue if you sell retail products for end consumers. It won’t be a good match.

In order to network effectively offline, you have to consider two basic factors:

1. Where is your target market hanging out – in other words, what kinds of events and meetings can you participate in where you’ll naturally meet your target market?
2. What kinds of networking are you comfortable with, and which ones allow you to market through your strengths?

You CAN learn to be comfortable with new types of marketing. But you’ll do best, especially to start with, if you build on your strengths first.

Offline networking can be done in some of the following ways:

1. Chamber membership – you have to BE THERE. Show up to events, get to know other people, pay to be at trade shows.
2. Business events, expos, and fairs. Choose those that bring in your target market, and that you can afford to attend.
3. Host events, throw a party, etc.
4. Volunteer to make presentations or training seminars, look for teaching opportunities, etc.
5. Beat the streets – if you do this, build relationships, do NOT go to sell!
6. Attend classes and citizen’s groups where you are likely to meet people.

One of the more important aspects of networking offline is just getting your name out there, and letting people know what you do. You have to tell them over and over, they don’t remember the first time. And you have to do it without pushing.

So look for places where you can hand out your business card, or events where you can send people home with something.

Offline networking still takes time and persistence, but has the potential to be much more powerful than online networking because it is more personal. Choose a venue that brings people to you, and you are well into the process.

If you want to build a network of friends, and if your target market haunts MySpace or FaceBook, they might work for you – but remember, these are primarily social, secondarily business, so they absolutely do not work for some kinds of businesses.

Ryze, Merchant Circle, or FastPitch might work for you if you like how they work, and if you can regularly check in and participate in forums or browse profiles for connections. They have a distinctly business focus, which works very well for B2B businesses.

One of the keys to choosing networking venues, is to choose things you enjoy doing. If you like it, you’ll do it more regularly. At the same time though, you MUST balance your day! You have to know when to read the posts, and when to skip them, and how to put business first when necessary.

Many venues offer chances for event participation. Choose the events by the same criteria – by whether your target market is likely to be there, and whether you can communicate effectively with them there.

Look for Trade Associations also – many have networking options available. Some of them do a better job of reaching CUSTOMERS, others do a better job of reaching associates. Each has its value, just make sure you are choosing it for the value that you want!

Don’t just join a bunch of groups – each takes time to set up a profile and make it work for you. You need to look them over and make sure they have a good chance of benefiting you, and chose those that will help you do so effectively. If they have a lot of fluff, and take a lot of your time, you’ll burn out. They need to be fairly efficient to use, and allow you good tools for doing what you need to do in a successful manner.

If you join a group, and it does not give you what you need, OR, you end up not using it, drop it. Otherwise it is dead weight. In order to make them work, you have to WORK them. Select carefully, between 2 and 10 venues, and then get to work.