The Wall Street Journal-20080114-Building Awareness- Starting Up- Four Tips on Effective Networking- Online edition
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Building Awareness: Starting Up: Four Tips on Effective Networking; Online edition
From smSmallBusiness.com
WHEN KEVIN GREANEY sat in the back of a crowded education-industry conference in October, he never imagined that he would hear the benefits of his own product being espoused by a fellow audience member.
At the conference, which was attended by school superintendents and special education department heads, says Greaney, a woman out of nowhere raised her hand. "It was like a totally unsolicited sales pitch" for the New York-based Children's Progress Inc., a company he co-founded in 1999, he says. That audience member began what would continue on as a 15- to 20-minute discussion between panelists and other audience members about his company's product, which is an early childhood online assessment service.
"That was a kind of 'ah-ha' moment," he says. It was also the moment he realized the power of his connections. He hadn't spent a dime on marketing his product and before him was a room filled with people in his target market discussing Children's Progress.
How did he do it?
Like many entrepreneurs, Greaney tapped an age-old marketing technique: networking. After landing the Yonkers, N.Y., school system in 2003, Greaney and his partner, experimental psychologist, Eugene Galanter, snagged a referral to join an organization called the Urban Special Education Leadership Collaborative in Newton, Mass. Through this organization, which is a network of education leaders working with students with disabilities, Greaney says, the company broke into school systems in New York City, Philadelphia, Miami, Chicago and New Orleans. Today, Children's Progress is in use by more than 70,000 students in 30 states.
For entrepreneurs -- especially those new to a specific industry -- utilizing your clients' contacts and cultivating new ones via networking can lead not only to future sales but also to the value obtained by learning more about a specific industry. After all, knowing who the go-to people are at various companies is never as good as an introduction from a colleague they regularly lunch with.
Here are some strategies to help you successfully get your name out there:
Go Online
The Internet offers an increasing number of avenues for businesses interested in networking. In addition to being able to now use well- known social-networking sites such as LinkedIn, Facebook and MySpace for entrepreneurial purposes, boutique sites offer entrepreneurs additional ways to get connected. (For more on that, click here.)
At Ryze.com and FounderContact.com, for example, business owners can send messages, join networks and view other member home pages. While basic membership at both sites are free, there's a charge for more advanced features.
Membership at aSmallWorld.net is also free, however, you must be invited to join. Special emphasis is placed on a user's status -- that is, his or her education level, job title and existing connections. To fit this site's bill, you'll need to fill out an application and be approved for membership. Additionally, networking site Diamond Lounge, places a similar premium on status as applications are also required, as is a $50 monthly fee, according to the site.
Diversify Your Networks
Rather than wander around industry gatherings with hundreds of others in your same field, Barry Miller, a manager of alumni career programs and services at Pace University in New York who consults with small businesses, suggests joining an organization focused on a cause that you care about. "Establishing connections is easier when you have a common interest," says Miller.
Miller is a faculty advisor for Women in Corporate America (WICA), an organization that offers networking opportunities for female students by connecting them with women in corporate America who want to share their work experiences. So his decision to attend a recent Dress for Success, a nonprofit dedicated to women's issues, gathering was a no-brainer. At the event, Miller says, he ended up meeting a woman who may participate as an interview subject in an upcoming book he's writing about successful women executives.
Robin Hensley, an executive coach in Atlanta who often counsels sole proprietors, says "if you could go to only one meeting a year, make sure it is in the industry you are trying to target." She recently urged one of her clients, a lawyer also in Atlanta, to figure out his ideal client. He quickly fired back his answer: pharmacists. As a result, Hensley's client attended a four-day pharmaceutical industry conference in Georgia, which he walked away from with a number of new prospects and referrals.
While at an event, don't blurt out a recitation of your business's services. Be sure to listen, says Hensley. "Find out who your ideal client is and study them. Ask them what they read," she says. "If they're pharmacists, you want to be reading pharmaceutical trade publications." For other networking tips, click.
Narrow Your Search
To be even more effective, consider limiting the number of conversations you have, says Simon Sinek, founder of SinekPartners, a business and political consultancy firm in New York. "I used to go to an event with a stack of business cards and come home with 50 or 60 others," says Sinek. However, he says, following up with that many people is labor intensive and usually not worth the effort. By going to an event and talking to fewer people, Sinek says, business owners can potentially make lasting impressions and lessen their follow-up load. "I can easily have a conversation with 10 people and then follow up with those 10 people," he says.
Bill Piercy, an Atlanta-based business litigation attorney, has taken the quality vs. quantity route by starting his own networking group. After joining the "Atlanta Gator Club" -- that is, a University of Florida alumni organization -- he and another Gator alum started a subgroup called "Gators for Business." This business-networking arm regularly sponsors breakfasts at which members can chat, promote their businesses and learn about other members' businesses.
Show Up
While it's important to keep these strategies in mind when attempting to network more effectively, most business owners find it hard to make time for networking in the first place. "Most of us focus on the urgent at the expense of the important," says Sinek.
However, says Jeanne S. Hulbert, a sociology professor at Louisiana State University and small-business consultant, "relationships are a form of social capital." She adds that "you need to remember that those relationships are important even when you can't see what the payoff will be right away."
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("Starting Up," a weekly column written by Diana Ransom for smSmallBiz.com, follows entrepreneurs through the early stages of launching a business. Write to her at [email protected].)
