How to Tuesday: Networking tips for business events

Networking is the NUMBER ONE "zero budget marketing" tool.

I have been "teaching" people how to network for many, many years. It was a weird concept for me initially - I was a good networker, but breaking down what I did was difficult. Can something that comes naturally to some be taught to others? The answer is...of course! But it just means some of us will have to try a little harder to master it than others.

It also felt a little "dirty", the whole "networking" thing, until I distilled it down to what I REALLY think good networking is about:

Look for a chance to GIVE before you RECEIVE ... thereby earning the right to ask a favour (at some point in the future).

Giving before receiving isn't as hard as it sounds - it can be small things - from talking to the shy person at an event, to giving a compliment, sharing information you come across, passing on a lead, or even suggesting a great book/article/blog.

So once you approach networking with this mindset, it feels a lot more natural. If you go in desperately 'wanting', you'll put people off - desperation and need is as large a put-off as a blatant sales pitch.

Once you get to a networking event though, what should you actually do? And almost as importantly, what shouldn't you do?

DOs

• Get there a little early-and stay right to the end. Introduce yourself to the host if you can. And if you have the opportunity, explain why you're there. They can often point you in the right direction.

• Go with a plan. How many people are you going to try to speak to? One or several? Are you just going to try and meet the presenter perhaps? Or the event organiser? Are you going to see how others network? Would you like to connect with potential collaborators? (Note: In a half hour time allocation for networking, you would only expect to speak PROPERLY to 2-3 people.)

• Listen for commonality in conversations, and give some information about yourself when you speak. Networking, like any social interaction, is about finding some common ground to help drive the conversation or connection. Networking events are not the time to be quiet or hold back! Similarly, they are not the time to only talk about yourself. Ask a LOT of questions and you'll find networking a lot easier, and more revealing.

• Have business cards - and a pen handy. The pen is to write on the cards you receive, to remind yourself of how you met them or any relevant follow up. The business cards are to hand out IF you want to communicate with the person again. Don't hand them out unless you're prepared to be contacted.

DON'Ts

• Don't hide in a corner, or surf Facebook, or text. Stand somewhere central, be open, catch people's eyes. At business events people are there to speak, there to connect. Make it easy for them to connect with you.

• Don't only speak about work. Unless you're a super -engaged, super-excited entrepreneur, most people's key passion isn't their work. They much prefer to speak about their weekends, hobbies, travel, families, what they really want to do for work, etc. If you're looking for faster connections, don't open with "what do you do?". Instead ask what they're hoping to get out of the event or what they did/plan to do on the weekend. You can get to the work part eventually, but it's not the ideal conversation starter.

• Don't come unprepared to describe what you do if someone asks, or it does come up. You should have ready a means to explain your business/job in 2-3 sentences, without a bunch of jargon. Most people, on the spot, are AWFUL at explaining what they do. They give you very little - for example, a title only - or  waffle on and yet still leaves you wondering what they do / what's special about what they do and how you can possibly say anything interesting about it.

• Don't forget to follow up. If you've taken a card, or have a name, send a quick follow up email, or a LinkedIn connection request. The whole point of networking is that it's a LONG TERM proposition. 

Now...go forth and network!

PS. For the keen eyes, I know it's not Tuesday. But I wanted to get this published for a friend that's off to her first networking event tonight!

Zero budget sign writing - no budget is no excuse

I always maintain that creativity can overcome the challenges of a low - or zero - marketing budget.

This little sign (that I recently spotted at a market) is such a perfect example of this.

It's compelling, it makes you smile, it makes you stop and notice it - and importantly: it makes you really want to buy that cake.

A hugely powerful marketing tool - that would have cost around 5 cents.

Whilst someone was pretty handy with their black marker, what is really clever about this sign is the copy-writing. "Shipped down from heaven early this morning" is a visual, new and emotive means of saying "baked fresh".

So what inspiration can you take from this? What copy can you re-write in a more meaningful, clever, funny, intriguing, engaging, smile-educing way?

Niche businesses are easier to market

For anyone who's been in business, you know the temptation of wanting to do anything to bring in the dollars. Yet there is real value in being "niche" - carving out a segment that's just yours.

I saw a great example of this recently, with publisher "A Book Apart". Their business produces "Brief books for people who make websites". It's very specific - but also very easy to market. It is PR friendly, it's easy to find the target market, it ha got built in repeat business (if someone finds one book useful, they'll buy more) and it's easy to talk about and spread the word.

This last point is so critical. I've never been involved in marketing anything where word of mouth wasn't critical. In fact, for most businesses, it's the number one source of new business. So if your business is hard to describe, hard to pin down, it's hard for others to spread the word about.

Niche is scary. But less that it used to be, thanks to the Internet. So if you're pondering starting a business, and you've got a cool enough idea, there's a lot to be said for finding your niche and sticking to it.

How to cut your marketing costs in 2013

Not all businesses have an allocated marketing budget. Some people just spend when 'something' comes up (ie. distressed ad space), some have no money to spend at all, while the budget of others are allocated an amount of percentage of sales.

If you do have some money to spend, odds are the amount is never quite enough. You may even find that the financial peeps are allocating you less this year in response to slow sales last year.

So what "zero budget" thinking can you apply to your budget this year, to make sure you get the absolute most from it?

1. Work out what you're spending the most "time" on - and if it's working, see if you can automate it.

The key to 'zero budget' is usually spending time over cash. So with time your most valuable resource, it's something to be protected.

When I first starting working with carsharing business Flexicar, all new member 'inductions" were done face-to-face. Whilst it was necessary to teach people how the service worked, it wasn't sustainable to keep doing this. So instead we made a fun and useful video that "automatically" did the same job, and was actually more convenient for members. It instantly saved MANY hours, and that time could be spent in other ways to help grow the business.

2.  Work out what you're spending the most "time" on - and if it's not working, stop doing it. Make the tough call.

We all have our pet projects, or things we feel we "should" be doing. But if you are really not sure you're getting a result, then it's time to allocate that valuable time elsewhere.

For more thoughts, you can check out what I said in this recent Sydney Morning Herald / Age article.

You can always spend more money...

Let's face it - in marketing, more money is always wanted, no matter the size of your budget.

The 'Shop a docket' founder was recently quoted in this interview when he was asked this question:

"If someone gave you $100,000 and said, “Invest this in your business by the end of the week – or lose it” what would you do?

His response was:  
"I’m sure I could use it, particularly as we have a bottomless marketing budget."

It struck me that the immediate response to the $100k question was (mentally) allocating it to his marketing budget...rather than his marketing team.

Funnily enough, $100k doesn't go that far in marketing - unless you spend it on PEOPLE or course.

$100k could THEN get you two great part time, marketing-related people that have some specialist skills - they could action everything from social media to list generation to great articles to lead generation events to fostering partnerships. I'm sure you have a LOT of things you'd like to get done, if only you had the resources.

So whilst it's pretty rare that a lump of $$ drops in your lap, if spare funds do come your way, don't just spend it in the obvious way. Really think about the BEST possible investment of your funds, which will be, more often than not, people over advertising. 

Don't ask if you're not going to action

Market research is a funny beast. We feel like we SHOULD be doing it - keeping in touch with our customers, checking how we're performing, working out what we should change, learning what's important to prospects. Yet the research is a waste of time if you don't do anything with it.In fact, it can even be damaging to your business if you ask but don't action.

Many times I've worked with clients who've done research - either one off, or ongoing - with little changing subsequently. I was browsing the web today looking for wall paper when I came across this site as an example. I saw they had a little poll about whether visitors to the site would like to buy wallpaper online or not. So I clicked yes, as I would like to buy it online. You'll see from the screenshot, so would about 80% of other people.

Yet this poll has been active three years and you still CAN'T buy wallpaper online at this site. Which is made just a little more frustrating because YOU KNOW that THEY KNOW that is what people want...which doesn't provide for a great first impression.

So the moral of this story - if you're not going to do anything about it, don't ask the question. Spend the time and resources elsewhere.

First: Make sure it works before you launch

What we saw

What we should have seen

You can put in all the love and effort and creative beauty into an online magazine, organise the best possible publicity on Australia's most-read design blog - but it all comes to naught if you don't check that it's working first.

This is a situation I came across recently when a new mag was launched via The Design Files.


I'm an avid reader of The Design Files (along with 20,000 other people) and it is very supportive of the Australian creative community, regularly featuring new projects and businesses. Due to the targeted nature of the readership, being featured on the Blog would be a huge (and free) marketing opportunity for a venture, tapping right into a perfect target market.

So this temporary fail of a new magazine launch (not being "live" when the blog story went live) was also a great reminder that your marketing work doesn't stop at the creative side. The best way not to WASTE money or an opportunity (as all zero budget marketers must know) is check all the details - and get it right the first time.

I felt bad for them, I really did. It was up later in the day - but not a 7am which is when The Design Files sends their email EVERY weekday. Always.

In this case,  I can't help wondering how many more people they would have reached if they'd just made sure their mag was live/published a few hours earlier? I'm sure they will always wonder the same thing.

So here's a checklist for any new launch / campaign/ initiative - these are all things that will trip you up (I've speaking from painful experience) so it's worth checking them every time.

CHECK THESE BEFORE YOU LAUNCH

- Emails and web addresses - type them in, even if you think you know them, and make sure they're live or go where you expect them to. Oh, and make sure they're actually ON there.

- Call any phone numbers - again, just in case. One misplaced digit is all it takes.

- Test - if it's anything technical, try and break it. If it's online, click on links and go to every page. It's boring but essential.

- Get it sub-edited - If you can afford a professional, invest in one - they are so worth it. (One that I use for a particular client ALWAYS finds something, even when I'm sure it's perfect!) If you dont have the budget, then ask a friend or colleague removed from the project that's good at grammar and spelling. Just have SOMEONE "sanity check" it. If there's no-one, re-read EVERYTHING carefully. Don't rely on spell check.

-  Call to action - even if it's not an advertisement, you always want people to DO something. That's the whole point of marketing. So is it clear what you want them to do, and how they should do it? For example: In the case of an online magazine, you want someone to READ but, more important initially, you want them to SUBSCRIBE.

- Is everyone informed? - Do all the people that this project impact on know that it's happening? For example, if you're running a promotion, do the people who answer the phones know all about it?

- Are all your marketing asset in sync? - If you're running a new offer, is it on your website, your Facebook page, your email signature.

- Have a  promotional calendar with everything on it - so you make sure you don't forget what is happening when. Check it regularly, to ensure a roll out is occurring in the right order, like a site being live before the PR program kicks off.

Do you have anything else on your "launch checklist"?