9 Tips for Making Business Connections and Networking Effectively
It seems like everything in business is about the numbers. Get more traffic, build a larger audience, generate more followers. After all, the more people, the more revenue, right? Not necessarily. In some cases, like with networking and making business connections, this is only partially true.
When it comes to networking, focusing on volume alone will not yield success. Five thousand LinkedIn connections is a nice round number, but are these connections helping you generate more B2B leads, build your business, or expand your market?
We know that making solid business connections can be challenging, particularly if you don’t have an “in.” You want to boost your numbers and network with as many people as possible. But what if 75% of your connections are superficial—do they have any real value to you?
The answer is quality over quantity—always. This is true for everything you do for your business, even the marketing tactics you deploy. What good is it if you have high site traffic, but no one buys from you? The quality of the traffic is critical. It’s no different when it comes to networking.
And making quality connections can catapult you from unknown to industry leader quicker than you would think.
9 Ways to Make Quality Connections and Network Effectively
In the section below, we will provide nine tips for making business connections and networking effectively. We’ll focus on quality connections, the ones that will enhance your professional life and cause you to flourish. These tips apply to anyone who feels they aren’t connected enough and want to expand their network widely.
Quality connections might be a little harder to find and require some work to nurture, but in turn, you won’t be wasting time running after higher numbers that don’t produce.
What will you be doing instead? You’ll be making valuable connections that will contribute to your business goals for years to come.
Let’s dive in!
1) Give First. Ask Later.
Focusing on giving first while making business connections can be hard to remember, especially when growing your business.
Understandably, you’re looking for advice, connections, and counsel to achieve your business goals. That doesn’t make you a selfish person. It’s always on your mind because you’re making connections that will contribute to that goal.
The problem is that when a new connection feels like the relationship is one-sided, they won’t pursue a deeper (quality) relationship.
When meeting someone who could become a valuable connection, before you ask for a favor, figure out how to help that person. Even if the contact is highly successful, they still have needs, desires, and concerns—you can always provide value to someone else’s life regardless of their success.
When approaching the connection, avoid selling or coercing and get to know them first. Be genuine and look for ways to enrich their lives and business. In doing so, you’ll stand out among the thousands of people who don’t understand that giving first with the right attitude always yields the highest returns.
2) Be Generous (for Real).
True generosity gives without expecting anything in return. We know this sounds counterintuitive to this topic since your goal with making business connections is to receive value in the relationship.
But it’s best not to approach networking with reciprocity in mind. As much as you try to hide it, your true motives will show. And if we’re honest with ourselves, true generosity gives without expecting. The most generous people always get what they need because their connections are always willing to return the favor.
3) Do the Unexpected. Be Personable.
Give people a good enough reason to listen to you and pursue a networking relationship—do something unexpected.
An unexpected action isn’t just sending a video of your adventures learning how to master trapeze—although that might be a good icebreaker.
If you haven’t climbed Mount Everest or visited 150 countries, that’s okay. The unexpected can also mean going against the status quo, which you can accomplish by just being yourself. Be genuine, authentic, and honest. Many people aren’t, so you will stand out.
Did your dog just eat up your mother-in-law’s couch, and you’re ashamed that you were secretly happy? Bonus points if you did your research and discovered that your desired connection was a dog lover, which is why you shared your dog-loving story. You found a point of connection.
Most prospective connections are expecting an elevator pitch, and here you are, sharing dog stories. That’s genuine, honest, and above all, unexpected.
4) Get Involved in Organizations.
Making business connections requires simply being in the right place at the right time. If you aren’t where your desired connections hang out, you might miss valuable networking opportunities.
Join some professional organizations that cater to people with your interests, whether personal or professional. Sharing personal interests can fuel connections that lead to establishing professional relationships. Speak for free at local networking meetups and share your expertise. The more you put yourself out there, the quicker you will build a network of lasting connections.
5) Get Noticed by Potential Connections.
In the theme of getting yourself out there, we also recommend publishing some content to share your passions and interests with potential connections.
One piece of content can land in the laps of hundreds of people and open you up to a large pool of potential connections. The key is to provide a lot of value in your content and be authentic. Show your personality, and don’t be afraid to get personal. People gravitate to authenticity because it makes them also feel safe to be human.
Need some tips? Start with learning what quality content is NOT. Check out our article on seven mistakes that lead to boring content.
Where can you publish content? Start a blog, guest post on industry publications, or create content for your social media platform. LinkedIn Articles displayed in your profile’s Activity section will show up in your LinkedIn feed for your connections to view.
6) Know What You Want Before You Ask.
We talked about helping your connections and being a giver first instead of a taker. But when it’s time to receive, will you know what to ask for? Your professional connections will want to help you, especially if you’re generous to them.
Is there a person with a specific role you want to connect with? What is your ultimate goal for making business connections with certain people? Get clear about what you want, and don’t be afraid to ask for it, particularly if you’ve invested value into the relationship.
Here is an example:
“I’d love to work with XYZ Enterprises as we would be a great partnership fit. Do you know any decision-makers over there I could connect with?”
7) Engage with Past Connections.
Where did your college buddy Sally end up? Are you in touch with anyone from your university days?
Even though we lose touch with our college friends and acquaintances, they could become valuable connections later on, especially if they received similar degrees and entered analogous industries.
Reach out to your college contacts—most are likely on LinkedIn or other social media sites. These relationships are worth pursuing because you can establish them quickly as you already have a point of connection.
Similarly, reach out to past colleagues or contacts from previous jobs. These contacts might have a level of influence in their industries you can benefit from, and vice versa.
8) Don’t Disregard “Small” Connections.
Every connection can be valuable even if they aren’t the CEO of a Fortune 500 company.
It’s a natural tendency to go after influencers and leaders in your industry. There’s nothing wrong with this strategy, but those leaders also know dozens of other people with whom they’re closely acquainted.
Maybe the CEO is tied up and super busy, but they’re connected with many other people. Perhaps those connections also have connections you’re already connected with but don’t realize it. (Say that three times fast.)
The point is not to underestimate small beginnings. The theory of six degrees of separation tells us that only six or fewer connections separate all of us. Whether or not this is true, focus on shared interests in the beginning and connecting with people you can learn from and provide value. You never know where a relationship can lead.
9) Stay in Contact and Nurture Valued Relationships.
Think about your current connections—those who mean something to you. How can you continue those relationships and make them more valuable? Your existing relationships can lead to future opportunities, so it’s important to nurture them.
Get on the phone and connect at least once or twice a year or more, depending on your relationship. Send holiday greetings and keep them on your radar.
Not every connection will warrant ongoing contact, however. For some, a yearly catch-up via email will be enough to keep the connection going. You’ll know which connections are more valuable to you and which relationships you want to keep going. Keep up with the ones that provide value.
Making Business Connections and Networking Effectively: What You Need to Know
In this article, we discussed nine tips for making business connections. We talked about the importance of quality over quantity and focused on developing lasting relationships that benefit both parties.
Here is a summary of the nine networking tips:
- Give first and ask later.
- Be generous (for real).
- Do the unexpected and be personable.
- Get involved in organizations.
- Get noticed by potential connections.
- Know what you want before you ask.
- Engage with past connections.
- Don’t disregard “small” connections.
- Stay in contact and nurture valued relationships.
Remember that quality trumps quantity! Invest time into nurturing quality relationships, and the networking opportunities will happen automatically. What you give will come back to you.
At Viral Solutions we are committed to seeing YOU succeed. It is our goal to grow your business with proven digital marketing strategies that will help your business for the long haul.
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