Posted by Kim Baird
Business Networking is a really valuable way to expand your knowledge, learn from the success of others, attain new clients and tell others about your business.
I highly recommend business networking as a way to gain new clients and to build a sustainable business. Here are the top 9 benefits for business owners of getting involved in networking:
1. Generation of referrals/Increased business
This is probably the most obvious benefit and the reason most business owners decide to participate in networking activities and join networking groups.
The great news is that the referrals that you get through networking are normally high quality and most of the times are even pre-qualified for you. You can then follow up on these referrals/leads and turn them into clients. So you are getting much higher quality leads from networking than other forms of marketing.
The increase in business from networking is the major advantage, but there are many others as well.
2. Opportunities
With a motivated group of business owners comes an abundance of opportunities! There are always lots of opportunities that come from networking and in fact this is where the benefits of business networking are huge!
Opportunities like joint ventures, client leads, partnerships, speaking and writing opportunities, business or asset sales… the list goes on, and the opportunities within networking are really endless.
Just make sure you are jumping on board with the right opportunities and don’t go jumping into every opportunity that comes your way. The opportunities that you get involved in should align with your business goals/vision, otherwise you might find that you are spinning your wheels chasing after opportunity after opportunity and getting nowhere.
3. Connections
“It’s not WHAT you know, but WHO you know”. This is so true in business. If you want a really successful business, then you need to have a great source of