Aspirational people know for a fact that if they want to walk far in life, they will need the support of people from different walks of life. This is the reason that successful people lay a lot of emphasis on connecting with various industry experts.
There are different ways in which you can network with people and some tips that can help you achieve your networking goals faster in life. Let us learn some tricks of the trade through this article and nail the game of networking.
Be Clear About Your Networking Goals
Before you start investing your time and energy in networking, you need to be absolutely clear about what you want to accomplish with your networking. There are several reasons for networking with industry experts:
- Grab business/job opportunities
- Get more knowledge about the industry you are operating in
- Get career advice
Once you are absolutely clear about your objective, you will then be very clear on the kind of people (or a specific group of people) you want to network with. A pro tip: the kind of professionals you are looking forward to connecting with can also belong to some other industry; you need to have an open mindset about connecting with people belonging to different industries.
Make An Elevator Pitch
An elevator pitch is a 30-second self-introduction pitch where you convey your strengths & weaknesses to the important people you meet while business networking. While practicing this elevator pitch you need to remember a few points:
- Do not make it sound like an essay or a monotonous monologue
- Remember that your goal is to network with the person listening to you, so convey your goal of meeting the person
- The pitch needs to be impressive enough for the other person to remember you
- It should be very professional
At the end of the elevator pitch, you need to include a statement conveying your wish to connect further with the person you are talking to. You can do this by handing your visiting card or connecting via Instagram.
Reconnect With Existing Connections
You can be at any stage of your career, but if you want to grow rapidly, then you will need to bond with people who can help you grow fast and advance in your career. Now that we live amidst the social media world, remaining in touch with different sets of people has become very easy.
You can start by connecting with your old school & college friends, your relatives, and your common family friends. You can reach out to them directly if you do not prefer social media. You can find influential people, even amongst your friends and family, who can give you valuable advice and help you advance in your career.
Join Local & National Business Organization
Every industry has its business organization, and different companies work as per the norms set by these organizations. Apart from that, there are some business organizations (like FICCI) that operate on a national scale. You should join different local & national business organizations.
You can do this by joining the social accounts of various organizations and attending business meetings organized by such organizations. Usually, these organizations are headed by people who are quite known personalities in their industry space; getting to know them and connecting with them will help you in many ways.
A pro tip: find an organization where you can comfortably connect with people who have the same value as yours. You will need to find the right balance between the place you are currently at and the place you want to reach, otherwise, the entire process of networking with people will overwhelm you.
Attend Industry Events
Different business organizations organize various industry events like skills development sessions or educational events, where many prominent people are invited to speak on different subjects. You should not miss a chance to attend such events. This is the time when you get a chance to meet all your social media connections in person and generate new leads. In fact, such live events helps immensely in collecting business leads.
Initially, you might need to pay for a seat to attend all such events; but once you make the right contacts, you can also attend such events as a guest member. Look for business seminars, conferences, and conventions happening around your area and go and attend such conventions. Such events also help in brushing up your soft skills.
If you do not know where to start from, you can always start with alumni meetings; you will have some common grounds for initiating a conversation with a new set of people. Once you become comfortable here, you will be much more prepared to attend outside industry events.
Upgrade Yourself
Networking is also about leaving a good impression on the other person; you can leave a good impression with your subject-knowledge, your personality, your communication skills, etc.
You can always take online courses to upgrade your skills; there are many online platforms that offer industry specific learning course and general development courses. To get the most out of your online learning sessions, you can look for discounts on various course fees offers by different online educational platforms. You can explore coupon websites like CouponzGuru, which features promo codes and discount deals for a range of product categories, brands, marketplaces and service providers, including online educational platforms.
You can browse through an extensive list of discount coupons and deals that are tailored to be used on various online educational platforms. CouponzGuru can help you save money while simultaneously help you find the right online course for yourself & grab lucrative opportunities that comes with upgraded skillsets
Follow Up
Following up is one of the most crucial steps in building a strong and functional network. This means continuously remaining in touch with the people whom you meet in person.
You can do this by dropping heartfelt messages on important occasions, inviting your connection over lunch or dinner, and hosting virtual events. The goal here is to make several points of contact so that you stick to the minds of the people you meet.
If you cannot find a reason to meet your contacts, then you need to come up with a reason to connect with them (throw a casual party or invite them on a cruise trip with you, the choice is yours!).
To Conclude
It is believed that you need a strong team and a lot of support systems to achieve great things in life. This will happen only if you invest your time in making genuine contacts & developing friendships inside and outside of your industry. Hope this article will get you started in the right direction!
