4 essential networking strategies for business owners

As much as 85% of jobs are filled through networking. And while that’s not surprising, few business owners consider that networking is not just a great recruiting tool but also a way to launch your business to new heights.

With the help of networking, you can forge new partnerships, enter new markets, and learn from some of the brightest minds in your field, which can significantly increase the chances of separating yourself from the competition and becoming a thought leader in your field.

But how can you improve your networking practices as a business owner? 

Well, to answer that question, let’s go over a few of the most important strategies you should consider. 

Seek out growth opportunities

As a business owner, it’s easy to become bogged down by the never-ending everyday challenges of running a business, which can make it difficult to think long-term or even consider how you could grow as an entrepreneur and a business person.

However, while you may feel that the immediate benefits of accomplishing day-to-day tasks are more critical, this approach is doomed to fail over the long term.

If you don’t allow yourself the time for education and keeping track of new trends, you will inevitably fall behind the competition and will have a hard time maintaining market share when new and more innovative businesses enter your market.

One of the best ways to combat this is to seek out a business growth consultant who can help you crystalize your biggest challenges and also educate you on the big-picture strategy stuff that you might not even be considering. 

When you hire a business consultant, they can also connect you with key people that can help you succeed in your business. 

Whether it’s experts in areas you want to work on, potential partners that could help you reach a broader audience, or even social figures that can help put your brand on the map, having an experienced business consultant on your side can make a huge difference to how your business operates.

Learn how to craft a persuasive email

Writing an email has become so ingrained in the business world that most of us don’t even think about it. However, those that get the most of what email has to offer treat it as an art form that, when done right, offers incredible opportunities and allows you to break through to almost anyone in the world if you can craft the right message.

With email, distances or even social status doesn’t matter. As long as you can obtain an email address and get the person to read it, you can get your ideas, proposals, or suggestions considered and sometimes even accepted.

But how to write a professional business email that will get opened and read? 

Well, the bad news is that there isn’t a universal answer to that question. You can’t just take an email template and add a few quick customizations if you want your emails to really have an impact.

The good news, however, is that you don’t need to be a literary genius either. Sure, there are entire courses dedicated to writing a good business email, a compelling cold email, or even entire email sequences that get people to do what you want them to.

However, all you need to do before writing any email is sit down and think about 1) who you want to reach and 2) what you want them to do.

Once you know the answer to these two questions, the problem you need to solve becomes much simpler. You need to take the current environment the recipient is in and get your email to stand out enough to get opened. And then, you need to think about how to take them from where they are right now to a realization that what you have to offer is worth their time.

Obviously, there are other considerations, such as the proper greeting and format, as business language does need to follow certain rules to be effective.

But at the same time, you need to think about how the daily inbox of the person you’re trying to reach looks and how to make your email the one they will be most compelled to open. And sometimes, that means breaking a few of the rules if that means the email gets the job done. 

Make the most of LinkedIn

Most business owners know that LinkedIn is an excellent platform for making new connections and networking with partners and (for B2B businesses) clients. 

However, few actually treat it as the immensely powerful business tool that it is, often failing to capitalize on the networking opportunities that are available and treating it as a glorified social media site they can scroll through during work hours.

So, how can you make sure that LinkedIn actually becomes useful and serves a purpose in achieving your networking and overall business goals? 

Well, the first step is using the tools that give you an advantage and save time when on the platform. For starters, you should consider a LinkedIn automation tool that can help streamline the processes that usually eat up a lot of the time you have available.

Using this type of tool, you automate tasks such as growing your network, building out messaging chains, and even exporting contacts to a CSV file where you can add them to your funnel.

Networking on LinkedIn takes time, so using tools that can automate at least some of the more repetitive tasks is essential if you don’t want to spend hours every day on the platform, which is not something most business owners can spare.

Focus on giving

The big secret of successful networking can be summed up by the main idea behind Dale Carnegie’s famous book, How to Win Friends and Influence People. Carnegie taught that to make lasting connections, you must actually care about helping others, listening to their needs, and focusing on solving problems that others are facing. 

For any of the networking strategies to be successful, that’s something you’ll have to make a central part of your efforts. 

Whenever you reach out to someone or start a conversation, try to learn as much as possible about who they are, what they represent, and what their current situation is. Then, think about how what you have to offer can benefit them the most, and always start from a position of helping others and not trying to get something yourself.

Over time, you will notice that this approach not only develops you many powerful connections but also builds you a reputation as someone caring, helpful, and trustworthy.

As a business owner, you want people to actually like working with you, as that will be a more powerful sales and growth tool than any persuasive argument you could make yourself.

Final words

Networking is an irreplaceable part of running a business. And with technology constantly changing, the way networking is done today is significantly different than what it was a few decades ago.

With that being said, even though email and platforms like LinkedIn should be part of your networking efforts, the most crucial part of success will always be a focus on being helpful and solving people’s problems. 

 

25/03/2021