I am on traveling to attend a huge conference in Atlanta this week. About 6 months ago, the keynote at a similar conference was Magic Johnson. This time around it is Marcus Lemonis of the business-centric tv show The Profit. There will be over 1K attendees present, so as you can imagine there are more than a few people that I need to network with that either are my ideal client or can connect me to my ideal client. I have a game plan of 4 strategies for how I will network that you can implement when attending your next event.
- I connect in person with as many people as I can that I have previously only known virtually. Social media comments, online groups, Zoom rooms, virtual trainings, etc… have been locations where I’ve made a lot of new connections. When I attend live events, I always look to meet in-person any of them that I know will be in attendance. It brings another level of connection between us.
- Most business conferences can keep you pretty busy all day long with valuable sessions. Instead of being pulled away or missing sessions to connect, I schedule breakfast, lunch, and dinner meetings with key people that are an ideal client for my service, have a large audience of ideal clients for my course, or are otherwise a great candidate for a strategic partnership.
- Have you ever heard the saying, “deals are made on the golf course”? Well at most conferences, deals are made at the bar after conference hours. It is a great way to mingle with and be introduced to new fruitful connections in a laid back environment. It’s slower paced and gives you a chance to really let your personality shine through in a social setting. Remember, people do business with who they like, know, and trust. This is an opportunity to create a lot of like and know that leads to trust.
- My secret weapon at conferences is branded apparel. I happen to have the best logo in the world… my name. I wear t-shirts, backpacks, and jackets with my logo displayed prominently in large font. What a name tag!! This allows people to easily identify and initiate connections with me. I love it when people see me, think it’s me, and that thought is confirmed by seeing my logo and they come over to connect.
Events are a great way to meet a ton of ideal clients while you learn how to take your business to the next level. What to learn more on how to situate you and your business through networking? Let’s talk. ShaCannon.info/talk