Growing your business networks requires the implementation of various marketing strategies. Perhaps you have been thinking about increasing your business revenue. Maybe you would like to explore various means of achieving your revenue goal. This article will help you brainstorm different strategies that can be of value to helping you expand your business networks.
“Your network is your net worth.”
—Porter Gale
The Importance of Business Networking.
To begin with, business networking is a vital skill required by business owners for them to grow their brand. Networking, whether casually or professionally, has its benefits for your business and revenue.
Networking markets your business. When people know more about your business and the type of products you sell, the more your business becomes exposed. When you network with other business professionals you meet potential clients who are likely to have interest in your services.
The more customers you get through networking referrals, the more your business grows. Your revenue will increase over time because of the increased sales.
“Networking is not about just connecting people. It’s about connecting people with people, people with ideas, and people with opportunities.”
—Michele Jennae
Business networking also gives you fresh and new perspectives on your business. Meeting like-minded individuals makes you see things from a different point of view. This enables you to gain new ideas that are beneficial for the growth and sustainability of your business.
For you to expand your business networks some strategies need to be put in place. Here are some of the things you need to do:
1. Why you Should expand your business by Attending business forums.
Business forums are the perfect platforms for networking events. Here, you meet a variety of business owners with whom you can build a mutually beneficial business relationship.
There are many benefits of expanding your business by attending business forums as you are likely to meet potential investors and prospective customers as well. For instance, your local chamber of commerce is a good place to start if you want to be part of these business events.
Business forums provide avenues for you to gather important information from other entrepreneurs whom you get the chance to interact with. This can positively leverage your business profile, improve your company image and grow your confidence.
2. Benefits of growing your Business reach using Digital Media Agencies.
Digital media agencies have skilled marketers whose main purpose is to market your business and increase your exposure. Some of the benefits of using digital media agencies can result in improved brand loyalty and recognition.
Improving your digital presence brings about brand recognition through digital media agency networks. Essentially this can result in boosting your business ranks and potentially fulfill the purpose of why the digital agency is important in expanding your business networks.
Digital media agencies can improve the reach of your business outreach through advertising, social media marketing, broadcasting, and blogging. Media agencies have an advantage in reaching a wider audience. This is essential for achieving your expansion goals as you can better focus on a specific niche aimed at growing your business.
3. Creating mutually Beneficial Business Partnerships can expand your business networks.
It is important to consider entering a mutually beneficial relationship with another business that offers different products or services from yours.
While placing your focus on expanding your business through partnerships, you may choose to merge with an agency, a writer, a creative, or a blogger who can serve as a great partner to promote your goods or services on social media platforms.
If you enjoy going out to the public, you may want to collaborate with a mall by renting a space where you can display your products for your customers to physically see and buy.
“You can make more friends in two months by becoming interested in other people than you can in two years by trying to get other people interested in you.”
—Dale Carnegie
As a writer, you can choose to connect with other writers and exchange avenues for guest posting on each other’s websites. Ultimately the essence of mutually beneficial business partnerships results in a win-win situation that could boost and expand your business networks at the same time.
4. Joining exclusive Member Clubs can broadly Expand your Business Networks.
Exclusive member clubs like your local golf or tennis club and even book clubs are full of influential individuals who are either top business owners, industry experts, or high-ranking professionals.
It is in these exclusive clubs that you might meet a legal officer to help with your legal needs, a media personality for your marketing needs, or even prospective clients.
Take a book club for example, Harvard business review mentions that business people should consider joining because this can give them opportunities to improve their leadership and development skills.
Did you know that joining a book club can also improve your communication and emotional intelligence? Well now that you know this, it would be worthwhile to consider joining book clubs. Likewise, they can serve as avenues with unlimited ideas for expanding your business network.
In case you didn’t know this, “The currency of real networking is not greed but generosity.”—Keith Ferrazzi. So build your network and your net worthy will increase; as Porter Gale says.
These book club Facebook groups regularly indulge in discussion topics amongst the members. The group discussions can help those who participate to contribute their ideas and exchange information that can be very vital to growing and expanding your business.
5. Use online Network Platforms can Provide Ways to Expand your Business.
An online presence is almost mandatory for every business owner. Sites like LinkedIn are best for networking, as they connect employees to potential employers and business-people to potential clients.
All you need is to create a strong business profile with a detailed explanation of what your business can offer the public. Use good etiquette and be professional when describing your business on LinkedIn.
Have you ever wondered why people on LinkedIn post an article or a review? Well, posting an article to an open audience can result in more reach and readership. Moreover it can create an avenue for other like minded professionals to respond and even network and connect with you directly.
You can join different online platforms and groups as well, to expand your business networks. Consistency is also important. Be active online to maximize your networking platform.
Consider reading my article on, “why you need to use YouTube to market your business“. YouTube is an online platform, and this article brings out the benefits that YouTube can have on expanding and marketing your overall business.
The article offers you an insight into the increased visibility that using YouTube has, in improving your product brand.
6. Create good Customer Relations can Increase your Business Contacts.
Have you ever wondered why approaching your customers with respect can help to establish trust and relationships with them? If you treat your clients well and give them quality service, they will come back.
Customer relations involve managing previous, current, and potential customers. Generally speaking, to understand what your customers value, expect, require and think about your business and products can greatly improve and expand your business.
Do you now realize why your popular grocery store, like Walmart, keeps circulating different marketing strategies? When regularly giving clients promotional coupons, and discounts on online products and involving them in your web surveys you will tend to draw customers repeatedly back to your business.
Create a platform where they can give their reviews on your business, like a website. Listen to their reviews and make changes where necessary. Once the customer feels heard and catered to, they develop trust in your business and hence tend to refer other customers to you.
Customer satisfaction should be your key focus. After offering your services, try staying in touch with them as well.
7. Using Referral clients to Expand your Business Real fast.
A satisfied customer will always refer another customer to your business. A person in your network can also refer other people to your business by word of mouth. Creating rewards and discounts in your business is the quickest way to get referral clients to your business.
You can directly create avenues for your business to gain referrals and prospective customers by use of social media. For example, when you have a website or an online presence, your previous customers will give reviews, therefore attracting other customers.
“The best prospect is the client who has already dealt with you. The second best is the one referred to by a client who has dealt with you previously. The third best is the one referred to you by another trusted professional or friend.”
—Marilyn Jennings
Avenues that can draw referrals for your business can include:
- Close friends
- Business partners and collaborates
- New clients
- Networks, business groups, forums, and clubs
- Social media platforms
- Your presence in the community
Referral clients are already trusting clients because they already have testimonials from other clients. In my article, “The importance of marketing your Business”, I have discussed on ways that you can establish trust and relationships with clients.
To sum this up, it is important to expand your business networks, regardless of the size of your business. Business networking is one of the fastest ways to expose your business to your prospective clientele, hence growing your business and achieving your goals.