This week on the S.O.B. (small owned business) marketing podcast, Vivian and I are explaining how networking can help your small business with visibility, opportunities, credibility, and more. We discuss what is considered networking, the benefits, and effective strategies for successful networking.
Relationships can be lifelines and resources, networking is how you grow and nurture your relationships.
Want to support this podcast? You can do so at buymeacoffee.com/sobmarketing OR by liking, subscribing, following, and leaving us a review!
Looking for a community of other S.O.B.s handling their marketing on their own? Join our S.O.B. Community! A membership includes:
- An extensive library of tutorials
- A community of like minded small owned businesses
- Free downloads and templates for you to jumpstart your marketing
- A weekly hour long Zoom call with marketing professionals to talk shop or answer any questions you may have when it comes to marketing your small business.
Join our 𝐒.𝐎.𝐁 (𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬) 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲: https://www.skool.com/sob
____________________
Chapters:
00:00 Introduction (Please Leave us a Review)
02:43 Networking is Under Utilized
04:43 Classifying Networking
08:58 Benefits of Networking
19:07 Effective Networking Strategies
29:06 TLDL; Why Networking IS Worth Your Time
____________________
𝐑𝐄𝐋𝐀𝐓𝐄𝐃 𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓:
Your Small Business's Essential Guide to Unique Value Proposition: https://youtu.be/x95aTv37HOQ
Podcast Sponsorship Inquiries: https://sobmarketing.com/contact
Support This Podcast: buymeacoffee.com/sobmarketing
𝐒.𝐎.𝐁 (𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐥𝐥 𝐎𝐰𝐧𝐞𝐝 𝐁𝐮𝐬𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬𝐬) 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐦𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐲: https://theseasonedmarketer.myflodesk.com/sob
S.O.B. Marketing Merch: https://theseasonedmarketer.com/swag-shop/
Episode Transcripts: https://sobmarketing.com/blog
Sign Up For Our Email Newsletter: https://theseasonedmarketer.myflodesk.com/nb0wpptjjt
____________________
If you like the show, telling a friend about it would be helpful! You can text, email, Tweet, or send this link to a friend: https://sobmarketing.com
This podcast is brought to you by THE SEASONED MARKETER. For more free marketing resources, follow us here:
**Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@TheSeasonedMarketer
**Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/theseasonedmarketer
**Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/theseasonedmarketer
COLLABORATION REQUESTS TO: vivian@TheSeasonedMarketer.com
Vivian: If you go into it dreading it, you're not going to get anything out of that networking. You're not. You have to feel like there is value in you taking the time out of your day to go out and do it.
*Intro*
Chelsea: Hey everyone and welcome to the S.O.B. Marketing podcast. Where we celebrate to S.O.B. you are, and if you haven't figured it out yet - we mean Small Owned Business, we don't mean S.O.B...
Vivian: Listen, we know that as a small business owner you are working hard on the daily to keep your business fully operational while trying to promote it. And while some days it may feel like the business is owning you, if we're being honest with each other I bet you would admit that you wouldn't give up the insanity for anything.
Chelsea: Our commitment here at the S.O.B. Marketing podcast is to give you the real talk, what works when it comes to advertising, marketing, and promoting your business. And then what doesn't really work.
Vivian: And Chelsea and I promise to always keep the conversation real.
*Beginning of Episode*
Vivian: Hear ye, hear ye. Today we will be discussing the most important questions surrounding networking.
Chelsea: I don't even know how to react. That was...were you trying to sound old?
Vivian: No, I was trying to sound regal.
Chelsea: You sounded like an old man. You didn't sound regal.
Vivian: All right. What topic are we talking about today.
Chelsea: Today we're talking about networking.
Vivian: Yes. Since my voice was so bad.
Chelsea: No, it was fine. It was fine. Actually, it was so good. I'm sorry. Networking, the most hated, I feel marketing opportunity there is. No one likes to network. But we're talking today about why you need to do it.
Vivian: We are, and let me just get it out of the way. The reasons you should stick around to listen to this discussion, because it's not just going to be us telling you that you have to do marketing, okay?
Chelsea: Networking. You do, we are going to tell you, you have to do marketing, unfortunately.
Vivian: Yes, all right, we're going to answer some questions, and those questions are going to be, what is considered networking? Why is it worth my time?
Chelsea: That's a big one.
Vivian: Yeah. Also, how should I go about networking?
Chelsea: Yeah, because I feel like that is a big problem that sometimes we have. We need to do networking. How do I do it? How do I how do I do it correctly? So we're going to give you some ideas.
Vivian: Awesome.
Chelsea: Before we get started, though, Vivian, I have the marketing hot take. This one's spicy.
Networking is one of the most powerful marketing tools and it is underutilized in my opinion.
Vivian: You are correct. I am 100% on board with that hot take. I think it's also, and I've said this before, it's not the bright shiny new thing. It gets overlooked a lot and it is pretty taxing and physically demanding for a lot of people. I say that because there are people who don't enjoy networking. They don't enjoy being out of their comfort zone. They don't enjoy meeting new people. They're like, I'd rather stay at home and watch Bob's Burgers. I.e. Chelsea.
Chelsea: No, I mean, it's true. Do I enjoy networking? I can do it and I will do it because it's important, but it's a lot harder for me to network than it is for Vivian.
Vivian: Yeah, now in my older age now, since I sound like an old man. It does take a lot more out of me now than it did when I was younger, I think in my twenties. But I think that's also just how, I don't know, how you show up.
Chelsea: How aging works?
Vivian: No, how you show up. I think some people are okay, and that's what we're going to talk about today, how to kind of navigate through networking in a way that is going to feel conducive to you and to your small business so that you get the benefits from networking because there are benefits to it. While also-
Chelsea: I am not networking just for the fun of it. I'm not having fun. There's a reason why I do it.
Vivian: That's right. All right. So where should we start.
Chelsea: I want us to start with what is considered networking, because it might surprise you. So the definition of networking is "the process of building and nurturing professional relationships that can provide support, information, and opportunities for career development".
Vivian: I like it.
Chelsea: Yes. I'd like to bring up, there is such a thing as social networking, which is specifically the act of building relationships and connections on social media platforms. So you don't have to go be in public to network. You can do it on social media. You can do it online. You can join a webinar. I say this, but I also want to preface this by saying there, yes, is more than one way to network. You still need to do in-person networking though.
Vivian: I'm so glad you brought up this distinction though, because I think this is a little bit of a shift from what we're used to considering networking. We really in the past have not included the social media aspect to it. That just kind of seems like it's its own thing. As you were saying, per the definition, which is basically the building and the nurturing of these relationships, that's the key to it. Whether you do that physically at an event or if you do that through a social media platform, both can be accomplished. They're different, and you probably want a mix of both, but you can utilize them.
Chelsea: Exactly. I definitely, again, you should probably still go to in-person networking events. You should still try to do that. A mix of both, like you said, is the key here.
I'm going to list some types of networking events. We got conferences. Networking happy hours or networking events in general. Vendor markets or events. I listed this because I feel like if you put in the effort, if you're doing a vendor market and you show up and you're friendly with people and you talk to the small businesses around you, you can make that a networking, quote unquote event.
Vivian: Yeah, there's been so many people that I know who sell at vendor markets and they always start to recognize and start to develop relationships with other vendors.
Chelsea: I have so many friends that are small business owners that I'm friends with because I've shown up to their markets so many times that at this point we know each other. They know Vivian. They know Tim. They know what's going on in my life. These are the same small business owners that in our SOB community, if I have a question and I know they can answer, I can reach out to them and ask for their experience.
Vivian: It definitely needed to be included and I'm glad that you added that in there.
Chelsea: I also have, kind of its own separate thing. Doesn't need to be a separate thing, but chamber events. I want to specifically call that out because you know, your local chamber is going to be specific for small businesses in the community. We are a small business centered podcast, so I wanted to bring it up on its own.
Vivian: They do offer business after hours and stuff like that. But even outside of it, if you're a member of the chamber and let's say they're sharing their ribbon cutting ceremonies, showing up to these ribbon cuttings are networking opportunities in themselves. So you're right. It's not just the business after hours, but it can be the other events that they coordinate, the other opportunities they have. Most of them have like a new member breakfast, right? Where they walk you through everything that you could take advantage of. So it's kind of like an orientation of sorts. That's an opportunity to network. I mean, all of these are great ways to meet new people. Most importantly though, which I think we'll talk about little later, is meeting the right type of people.
Chelsea: Well, we can go ahead and start to get into it now, because let's talk about why it's worth someone's time.
Networking. This is going to be maybe my TLDL, this sentence, but networking will help you with visibility or it can help you with visibility, opportunities, credibility, insight and knowledge, and maybe if you're looking for a mentor.
Vivian: It could cover so many different things.
Chelsea: Absolutely. So let's start with visibility. If you build strong connections, then those connections can go out and speak your gospel. It's kind of like finding brand evangelists. So if you build a strong enough relationship with someone, which is what networking is about, then they can go out. Even if they are not your target audience, they can find people who are your target audience and speak your gospel. I think Vivian, you have a really great example of this.
Vivian: Yeah, so interestingly enough, this is a what not to do example. I had gone out to a business networking event, there was a gentleman that I had met and he was an insurance agent. Of course, at the time I wasn't in need of insurance. I had a home, but I already had home insurance. I had a vehicle. It was already covered. I didn't have children and my medical insurance came from my employer. So I didn't have any room to add on any type of services that he offered in or products that he offered. At the time, after he went through his little short tick, you know, list...
Chelsea: This is what I have to offer.
Vivian: Yes, and I basically was like, yeah, I already have all that and I'm not looking to change right now. He literally abruptly stopped the conversation and just walked off. What Chelsea was saying, do you think that I'm ever going to recommend this man to anybody? No. Now had he approached it differently, even if he had never converted me into a customer, had he approached it differently and maybe kept the conversation ongoing for maybe two more minutes, let it fizz out on its own, right? But still stayed engaged to what I was talking, then I would potentially keep them in the list of people I would recommend if someone ever needed insurance. But that just didn't happen. So to Chelsea's point, I do think these opportunities are really great to spotlight yourself, show what you're about, and just kind of lead with that.
Chelsea: No, and not to like...be mean to this guy. But as an insurance agent, I feel like a lot of it is you and your personality. That could not have been good.
Vivian: Well, and think of it this way. I think I've started to approach life like this. If I come across somebody new that I don't know, how do I want them to leave feeling about me in our interaction? I think about this often, even outside of the networking world, outside of the business world. If I am in a bad, you know, just I have a problem and I'm going to talk to someone to try to come up with a resolution, that's why I don't chew people out. I try really hard not to, I don't think it should get to that level unless it's like super egregious. But that's the way I feel about networking. You have one of two decisions to make when you're out there representing your business. Do I want this person to walk away feeling like they had a good interaction with me, and they don't need to know a whole lot about me for that to happen? Or do I want them to leave feeling like, ugh? I don't want the, ugh. That's how I felt after I met that guy and we had that brief interaction. I was like, I wouldn't recommend that guy to my dog if he needed dog insurance.
And Zuesy is healthy. He doesn't need dog insurance.
Chelsea: He's fine. He's just napping. Okay, visibility.
Let's talk about opportunities, Vivian. Partnerships. Yes. Clients, of course. Investors, maybe. Your chances of participating in partnerships is going to go up depending on the people you know. How do you meet people? Networking.
Vivian: You guys remember that old adage, it's not what you know, it's who you know. I don't necessarily think, I think it's a combination of a lot of things. A little bit of luck, a little bit of knowledge, a little bit of who you know, a little bit of tapping into resources you have at your disposal.
Chelsea: I specifically made this its own category because I want to talk about the fact, you know, small business owners, it's so important to be a part of your community. To be a part of your community, you actually need to talk to your fellow community members. At the end of the day, that is what networking is. It's reaching out and communicating and nurturing these relationships.
Vivian: All right. Credibility.
Chelsea: This is so important, Vivian, for small business owners because that's what's going to set you apart from those...scammy websites where you're like, I actually buying a product? Is it never going to show up? You want credibility. When you network and you're building your visibility. You're also helping build your credibility. You're not a shady new business, but you're a reputable brand that people know about.
Vivian: Yeah, I do think that is a very big benefit to going out and networking. When we're talking about, remember you guys, this is a list of, is it worth my time? So far, Chelsea has said, absolutely. It gains you visibility. It opens the door to opportunities, because it's kind of like dating. You're not going to find a suitable person to date sitting at home. Okay, like you need to be going out and doing things to where you're exposed to people.
Chelsea: I think we shouldn't give dating, relationship advice.
Vivian: I mean, no, I'm married. Obviously, I don't have, I've been married 11 years. I don't have dating advice.
Chelsea: I've been in the same relationship for 11 years. I'm just thinking because, a lot of people are on Tinder and stuff like that.
Vivian: Yeah, but my point being is like you can't, even Tinder is an action.
That's what I'm saying. You can't just sit at home and say, I hope that someone really great walks in.
Chelsea: The universe brings me a man.
Vivian: He's breaking into your house. That's not the kind of man you want. I'm just saying you have to be out and open to that. The same thing with business opportunities. Networking puts you and sets you up for success to be exposed to some of these potential opportunities.
Then credibility. So you just mentioned credibility. What's the next one?
Chelsea: Okay, next we got insight and knowledge. I think this is a really big one for small business owners. When you meet new people, you guys can share in your knowledge. You can share in your insights, best practices, stuff like that. Things that they've learned over the years that they can now pass on to you. This is one of the reasons why we mentioned the SOB community so much. It is a group of people who all have different experiences, but we can all share those experiences and help each other with our marketing.
Vivian: Yes. Always think about how you can tap into someone else's experience. Right. I think that's the best part of the networking, and it could even be beneficial with people in your same industry. Think about that. If you're a realtor and you go to some of these realtor like networking opportunities, you're not going for the same reason of potentially finding a client. What I would do in that case is shift my gears to be more so thinking about what problems, what hurdles do I currently have? Maybe I could be asking some of the people I meet and if I like them, I feel comfortable with them, we just kind of connect or click. Then I could take it one step further and be like, hey, by the way, what do you do when your flooring guy doesn't show up? They say, I have someone that is reliable, that is consistent. Let me share his name with you.
So that's the way those networking opportunities are beneficial. It's not always just to make the sale, but it could be to potentially tap into, like Chelsea said, the knowledge that other people have.
Chelsea: Lastly, Vivian, I just want to say maybe you're looking for a mentor.
Vivian: I thought you were about to a man.
Chelsea: No, I'm not looking for a man.
Networking is a great way to find a mentor. Now, again, building the relationship. You can't just show up to someone and decide that they're your mentor now.
Vivian: I mean, that's kind of like, what if you were going around town saying that someone's your mentor and they're like, I've never met that person.
Chelsea: Don't do that.
Vivian: I don't know who that is.
Chelsea: Yeah, don't do that. You actually need to meet people.
*S.O.B. Community Ad*
Vivian: This episode of the S.O.B. Marketing podcast is brought to you by the S.O.B. Community. If you are a small business owner that is neglecting your marketing and you feel like you've wasted time and money on marketing help that didn't deliver. Or if you're just craving support from people who actually get what it's like to run and promote a small business, then our membership community is for you. Visit skool.com/sob to sign up today to get instant access and weekly support. That's S-K-O-O-L dot com slash sob.
*End of S.O.B. Community Ad*
Vivian: All right. So now that you've convinced us that networking is a good thing to do and it's worth our time.
Chelsea: I'm glad we all agree.
Vivian: Yes. How should we go about networking?
Chelsea: I want to open this by saying networking is only as effective as you make it. That is the key here. You actually have to value the other person and you're going to have to actually work on nurturing that relationship. Networking is not meeting someone one time and then walking away and expecting them to have a huge impact on your small business.
Vivian: Yeah, and I think it's the mindset you were talking about. It's like a mindset. If you go into it, dreading it, you're not going to get anything out of that, networking. You're not. You have to feel like there is value in you taking the time out of your day to go out and do it. Also don't treat it like it's just a, I'll pop in and do whatever. If you're going to commit the time to go somewhere to network or to hop on a webinar to network specifically, be sure that you're, you know. It's taking away from your time from doing something else. Be sure that you're actually showing up.
Chelsea: Exactly. It can be a waste of time if you show up and say this is going to be a waste of time.
Vivian, I also want to bring up this question that I want you guys to think about. Are you leveraging your current relationships? Are you taking your current relationships seriously? Don't neglect the connections that you already have for new shiny people.
Vivian: I like this. I always say new shiny things, but now you're translating it to people.
Chelsea: Yeah, new shiny people. Don't forget about who has already been there for you.
Vivian: Networking can also look like doing something one-on-one. Networking isn't just me showing up to this big thing that has 150 people there and now I have to move through the room, introduce myself and exchange contact information. It could be you literally going through doing what she's telling you, which is like...
Who haven't I had lunch with in a long time so that we could catch up and kind of share what's going on in our business and how we can maybe partner up or just kind of keep a pulse on what they're doing. I think that's important as well because those are the places, you hear a lot of people say, hey, you want to go grab coffee. Wonderful way to network and get that one-on-one time to build that trust and those relationships.
Chelsea: You also, if you're going to be going to these bigger networking events, set goals for yourself. Why are you there? I'm going to an event, what am I hoping to accomplish? Am I looking for a mentor? Or am I looking for potential partners? Do I simply want to raise brand awareness about my business?
Vivian: Yeah, I love that, but don't leave feeling defeated. If you're going out there specifically to find, let's say, a partner for a particular service, and you go and you don't find anyone. Don't poo poo on the fact that you went out there and no one was there. The thing is, you never know what connections you make that might open doors to other people.
So that's just what networking is. It's kind of figuring out, maybe if I meet this person, we later go out to coffee. I find out that they have a very reputable plumber, whatever. That's how you end up meeting other people. So don't feel defeated if the first time you go out and you set this goal, if that goal isn't achieved.
Chelsea: We want you to set goals because that's going to change your approach. That's going to change how you interact with people.
Vivian: It's going to force you to have conversations that are going to kind of weed out maybe, there are also people that sometimes you meet that can monopolize your time. That's the other thing is having clear goals, I think, sets up the expectation for what the conversation or the interaction is going to be very early on because then you can kind of like, ask very pointed questions.
Chelsea: I want to say this, it's not on my notes, but I think it's important to say: you don't owe everybody your time. If you go to a networking event and you meet people and you're like, we did not click, I did not enjoy them, or I just feel like we're not on the same page business-wise, you don't have to reach out to them again. It's fine. It's fine.
Vivian: If you want a way to introduce your business, to set it apart from competitors or from other people in the industry. Go ahead and listen to our last episode on unique value proposition because having a unique value proposition would be really handy when you're going out and meeting people.
Chelsea: Yes, absolutely. Have a UVP. Or maybe you want your one sentence business summary, maybe you have an elevator pitch, any of those things. And we have multiple episodes that you can listen to to help you because networking can be kind of a, what's the word, not necessarily repetitive, it's...fast.
It's fast-paced. People are all trying to find the right person to talk to, right? So you want to make sure that you're upfront about who you are as a brand.
Vivian: This is a great time to just remind you guys, they're all there doing the same thing. You guys all have the same common goals Maybe theirs is a little different. Maybe they're looking for a mentor. Maybe you're looking for a new client. The purpose is the same. So don't feel weird to be a little more pointed in, when you meet someone sharing your unique value proposition. Hey, this is what I do. This is what makes me different. This is what I do. This is who I do it for. This is what makes me different. You're supposed to share about your business. This isn't just a like, hey, I'm meeting someone. It's very pointed.
Chelsea: This isn't a date. It's a business date. It's very specifically business related.
Vivian: So talk about your business.
Chelsea: I want to say one more thing Vivian before we wrap up and I don't know if you're going to agree with me, but in my opinion networking is almost never about sales.
Vivian: No, I mean you're not going to get a sale from it. I mean, could you? Yes. But I think it's more so the focus is on the relationship. Sometimes the sale comes many interactions after.
Chelsea: Yeah. So networking is not about a quick sale. It's about building a connection.
Vivian: I would even take it one step further and just remind you, we tell you guys all the time that there are studies and there's information and data out there that shows that now it takes about seven to nine interactions before someone actually makes a purchase from you. Networking is just one of those interactions. Count it because it's a marketing tool. It's a marketing tactic you can use. It's not likely going to be that you're going to meet someone, you're going to pitch them your business, and then they're going to make a sale. Actually, I wouldn't pitch them anything. I would first figure out who they are, what they need, and if you have a service or a product that fits that, then maybe leave the pitching till later, right? After you get to know them a little better. It's just one of those multiple interactions that it takes to finally get that conversion in, that sale.
Chelsea: I lied. That wasn't my last thing. One last thing. Follow up. Follow up. Don't ghost people. You have to reach out to them again or that relationship is not going to be nurtured.
Vivian: Unless you're consistently but no, you're right. The thing is, we use the example of many people who are vendors at, let's say, like a farmer's market or something like that. If you have consistency in the other vendors that are there. But it would be nice if you are using that as a networking opportunity that after you meet these other vendors that maybe you shoot them an email and just say, or connect with them on a social media platform and say, hey, it was so great to meet you. Hope you had a fun day as much as I did. Here's my contact information if you ever want to team up and do something or just leave it at that. Here's my contact information. Then like Chelsea said, it opens the door to future correspondences, them reaching out or you reaching out to them.
Chelsea: Exactly. Yeah. Also wanted to comment on how Vivian said email and then she was like, wait a second.
Vivian: Well, I mean, I still email.
Chelsea: I mean, people still email, but it's so much easier to just shoot someone like a DM, you know?
Okay, Vivian, I think that was our conversation. Are we ready for the TLDL?
Vivian: Let's do it.
Chelsea: Okay. So Too Long Didn't Listen chapter. I have this chapter at the end of our episodes to give you a brief summary in case you're strapped for time. However, you need to go back and listen to this entire conversation later on. So what we talked about today, networking, what it is, different types of networking events, why it's worth my time, and then how you should go about networking.
I want to repeat this sentence, because I think it sums it up perfectly. Networking can help your business, your small business, with visibility, opportunities, credibility, insights and knowledge, and maybe if you're looking for a mentor. Networking is important. You need to do it. Vivian. Is there anything you'd like to sell our dear SOBs?
Vivian: Yeah, go ahead and leave us a review, please. If you're listening to this, is one of the best things that you can do to get this podcast in front of other small business owners and y'all. We need to stick together. So be sure that you subscribe. You leave us a review or you rate the podcast and we appreciate it.
Chelsea: Yeah, and go get yourself a trucker hat that says SOB on it and go be, you know, the best SOB you can be.