Was one of your goals for this year to attend more business networking events? That should be easy, right? Not necessarily! There are so many different types of networking events to choose from. How do solopreneurs, like your self, whose time is precious, make sure the networking events they go to are relevant and will help you achieve your goals?
There’s any number of reasons to go to a business networking event:
- To hear a speaker or topic which interests you
- To meet prospective clients
- To catch up with a number of business associates and friends in one place (it’s a lot easier than arranging a lot of lunch dates!)
- To support a charity – particularly if they are fund raising and it a charity you care about
- To support the organizers if they are friends, clients or starting a new business networking group
Most of these reasons are pretty self-explanatory. However how do you know if prospective clients are going to be at the business networking event you are going to? Here are a few ways to find out:
- Trial and error – go to a couple and see what sort of people attend (this can sometimes be costly in terms of time and money)
- Go where your target market goes – for example, you have a handyman business, you may want to target business networking meetings held at the Board of Realtors office, Realty offices and at senior communities (these should be some of your target markets)
- Call the organizer and find out what businesses and professions have attended their business networking events in the past
- Ask on Twitter or FaceBook if anyone has been to the networking event, what they thought, and what type of people were there – the people who reply will also be a good indication of attendees.
How do you choose what business networking events you go to? And what are your favorites?
