Is Your Networking Too Social?

“I’ve stopped going to that networking group because it became too social.”

This was a comment I heard from someone when we were talking about the best local networking meetings to attend. What he was saying was that the particular group was no longer working for him – not bringing him the clients or suppliers that he had been looking for.

But is it the networking meeting, or the group, or the format that’s wrong? Or is it how you’re networking? Is it what you’re saying or doing at the meetings? Are you putting across the right message to the right people?

Many years ago I used to attend a fortnightly networking breakfast that was a 40 minute drive away. The venue was lovely, the breakfast was great, the people were friendly – and after six months of attending, I realised that I hadn’t found any ideal clients through the group. I looked at how I was networking when I turned up every two weeks for breakfast, I realised that I was really only going because it was a nice group of people and a great cooked breakfast! There’s nothing wrong with just going to a networking meeting because its ‘nice’ but obviously I was turning up and not putting in enough effort. I didn’t really change what I said each time in my ‘one minute’ and I didn’t attempt to meet up with the other members outside the group and get to know them better. So I stopped attending and looked for other groups to try out.

There is another networking organisation that I joined back in 2009. I had the opportunity to speak at many of the groups across the region and created a number of fun talks. “I always love listening to Chantal’s talks,” was a comment I heard many times. But how many of the speakers of those words actually turned into clients? Not very many! So, as with the other networking group, I left.

However, two years ago, I rejoined that organisation on a six month trial. This time around I changed the talks I was giving – firstly to make sure they focused on aspects of my business that I wanted to promote; and secondly so they gave real value to the audience of small business owners.

So ‘The 9 Minute Marketing Plan’ is a quick run through of the nine stages of marketing planning that people can use to create their own effective Marketing Plan, to help them grow their business. It helps promote my book, Magnetic Marketing, which goes into plenty of detail on all the stages. There’s a summary you can see here. Another talk is called SURVIVE TEN, which is mnemonic I use to talk about key business lessons I learnt in the first ten years of running my business. That talk helps me to promote my second book, One in Ten. You can find out what SURVIVE TEN stands for here. Both talks have helped me to gain numerous new clients – in fact the majority of our new business now comes from this network. From listening to me speak, people can see what we offer and what they can buy from us.

You need to measure your marketing and your networking on a regular basis. Look at the numbers to see if your networking is working or not. And then look at why it’s not working. Is it that the group isn’t right, or is it the way in which you’re approaching your networking? Take some time to look at what you’re saying and what you’re promoting, to help you get the best results from your networking.

Which networking groups are the most successful for you?