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Humans are social beings, therefore, social gatherings are an integral part of life and business. Connecting with a group of people with similar interests, in this case for business, is a way to find and share knowledge and technology. This will help in improving and expanding our company.
Group events, professional associations, and business seminars are a great way to expand your networking circle. Networking events fill the bill when attendees intentionally seek to make new connections. Professional association meetings provide a channel to connect with people in your industry through which to network your business or company. A business seminar is a diverse group where participants can make connections outside of the competition.
Now that we are in the digital age, expanding your network can also be done online. Personal meetings are very important. But in this busy world where traffic jams eat up your time, fuel costs add up, and many other tasks in your schedule, you need to find ways to expand your network without the hassle.
1. Social media and online platforms
The most obvious solution, of course. You may already be doing it. Joining Facebook communities or LinkedIn groups is the easiest way to meet new people. The downside is that some people have a different offline personality than what they project online. Therefore, one should pay more attention regarding the transactions on these platforms.
Choose a social media platform preferred by your target audience. Facebook is still very popular. However, TikTok is taking Gen Z by storm. Pinterest has a large audience of mature women, while LinkedIn caters mostly to B2B professionals.
You can also follow new social networking sites. Being ahead of your competitors in upcoming social channels will give you many advantages. This includes laying the groundwork for better and original marketing content.
Then, there are web forums that often have in-depth discussions as people go to forums specifically to talk about that topic. Additionally, some platforms have eligibility restrictions that limit the group to certain demographics. This way, your audience is pre-filtered allowing you to get feedback from people who use your product.
2. Contact sharing applications
Picture this, your business partner has a lot of accumulated contacts from the previous company before your partnership. You can help him go through the contacts by getting the contacts to promote your newly launched business.
Not necessarily through CRM. That can be a bit complicated and expensive. Get a contact sharing app that is easy to install and very easy to use. No technical knowledge of exchanging .csv files or moving virtual contact files one by one is required.
3. Get your yearbook
Aside from bringing back fond memories of your younger years, you might be surprised who you remember when you browse your university yearbook. The contact details may be out of date but there is a good chance that the names can be looked up online.
Some people change and some don’t. Reuniting with your old classmates can be better than meeting complete strangers. With the help of the internet, you might just be able to remember some gems that aren’t linked to your social media profiles.
You can borrow someone else’s yearbook. If your target audience is older than you, ask your parents, older siblings, or cousins for their yearbooks.
4. Explore the Internet
Take this scenario: You’ve developed a cleaning solution. They want to sell to hotels and restaurants. Searching for the keyword “restaurants in Manhattan and contact numbers” is easy. However, you may miss out on small eaters whose business is not comfortable.
Use Google Maps or any street view app for a virtual walk around the target area and note all the establishments there. If you have the luxury of time, this costs nothing compared to marketing events. As with the other methods listed above, you can simply be in your pajamas instead of your business attire at networking events.
Generating a call list from the Internet is the modern version of cold calling from the Yellow Pages. You may think that cold calling is outdated but it is not. However, the calls will not be frozen and not necessarily a call.
In this information age, you can learn a few things about the customer before you give them your sales pitch. Once you find their work on Google Maps or a simple search engine search, you can also find out more about them by looking at their public profile.
Plus, if you’re not comfortable with voice calls, email can work too. This works like a flyer but with a little more personalization of your choice.
5. Hire a freelancer
If your plate is full of other things, you can offer online freelancers to generate potential clients. There are many platforms to meet them like Upwork, Guru and Toptotal. These sites also gravitate towards specific freelance fields. Take the time to understand which one best suits your business.
You can also choose whether you want it done by amateurs or professionals. Database rates, delivery times and quality will vary accordingly.
A customer database is an important business tool. As with any tool, if you can’t make it yourself, you can buy it. In this case, the tool you need is a database of people or companies under your target demographic. This is like outsourcing your accounting department to outsourcing your marketing department. However, you only spend the customer list generation part and still do the rest of the marketing and sales.
take away
You may have built your network online, but nothing beats adding a personal touch to establishing business relationships. Initial meetings can be digital, although even the entire business transaction can be purely online if your product or service allows it.
However, making your customers feel like they’re not just cash cows will ensure brand loyalty and positive feedback. The way you develop your customer database or suppliers, whether in person or online, could be something. However, how you maintain these relationships will definitely have a greater impact on the business.
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