Networking is the act of establishing connections with other people to share knowledge, expertise, and opportunities. By networking with others you are opening up a whole new world of possibilities for yourself. But how can use networking to improve your content marketing strategy? Let’s find out together.
Hey there, and welcome to the Marketing 101 for Small Business Owners channel, I am your marketing expert, Philippa Channer, and I love helping entrepreneurs and small business owners create, implement, and measure their marketing plans & content strategies. I started this channel to help business owners like yourself take control of your marketing and get more effective results. This month I am conducting a small series on the value and importance of networking and how it affects your marketing strategy. Today we are looking at using networking to improve your content strategy.
Networking is an important part of your career. If done correctly, it can be very rewarding and lead to many opportunities for you in the future.
The first step in networking is to find a group of people who share your interests or profession. This will make it easier for you to establish connections with them and start conversations about your shared interests or work experience.
Ways to Network
Many business owners and professionals chose their local chamber of commerce to start. These are great ways to start your networking activities, meet like-minded professionals and make the connections you need to grow your business. Chambers also over other opportunities in addition to networking like resources and educational possibilities.
In addition to chambers, there are several networking organizations you can be a part of that offer opportunities to meet others. Some are virtual only, while others include some aspect of in-person connection opportunities.
Once you have found your networks, it is important that you continue to stay connected with them by attending events they host. You should also be inviting the people you connect with to go out for coffee or 1an1 meetings once in a while. These little gestures will keep them thinking about you and may lead to new, but more importantly, the conversations you have will them will provide valuable insight into how people view your profession and industry. The questions they ask during these connections are vital.
The Importance of Networking for Content Development
When it comes to figuring out the content you should be sharing with your audience, the best place to start is with the questions your target audience asks the most. To know what these questions are you need to start having the right conversations.
Networking is the best way to get your name out there. It’s how you build relationships and make connections with people who can help you in your career. Without networking, it’s almost impossible to get a job or grow a business – even if you’re the best at what you do.
Networking for content development is important because it helps you to find new sources of information, collaborate with other people on projects, and share ideas. Networking helps content developers, which all of us as business owners are, to find new opportunities that they may not have found otherwise.
Use the conversations you are having as you network to understand the questions and concerns people have about your industry and about your services. These are the sort of questions that your content strategy should be addressing. Demonstrate to your audience that you are knowledgeable in these areas, answer these questions, and give them a call to action to follow up with so they can easily work with you.
The Reality of Networking As a Marketing Tool
The truth is, networking is one of your most powerful marketing tools. It gives you direct access to those that make up your target market. Even the people meet that do not become your direct clients or customers, can be a great asset to you. Just because someone does bye into what you have to offer when you first connect with them doesn’t mean they can’t be a great alley and source of powerful referrals.
When it is clear that the network connection will not be a client, gracefully accept that and turn the conversation to how you can help them and what concerns they do have regarding your expertise. Offer the guidance that you can and then use that moment as inspiration. It is likely there are others that are also seeking similar guidance, and you want to be known as the person to go to for information like that. And then when they are ready to pay for the services you offer, you will be the one they consider.
If you feel your networking experience has been what you hoped and expected and you would like some guidance on making more of your networking strategy, let’s chat. I want to offer you a free 1-hour consultation session. We can dig into what you have been doing and figure out what changes to make to help make your networking experience become a great marketing strategy for your brand.
Next week we wrap up this series by taking a look into how we can use the social platform Linkedin to really help our networking marketing strategy. So please be sure to subscribe to our channel if you haven’t already so you can be notified when that session is available for you.
