Networking: Part of the equation for successful new businesses

You never know when a chance encounter will result in a new client, new customer, new connection, new contract. Sometimes the payoff comes months later, when that person you met needs your product and remembers you. We get those calls at the Association: “I went to the Business Connection back in December and met a guy who owns a welding company. I think his name started with a J. Can you tell me who that might be?” Yes we can.

But networking takes initiative. You have to get out there and mingle with a purpose. The idea intimidates many people. I have two pieces of advice:

I can attest from personal experience that networking gets easier with practice. Keep at it. With repetition, that awkward feeling goes away. Just relax and be yourself.

Get help. Diane Roundy of Schenck Business Solutions taught an Association of Commerce University class last year, “How to Work a Room.” She’s coming back on June 16, 2009, to teach it again because it was so well received. One nugget from her class: When attending a networking event, position yourself between the entrance and the buffet/bar. Genius!

Make networking a part of your business plan. Get networking events and opportunities on your schedule. Put yourself out there to start people talking about you and your business.

The Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce hosts networking events all year long. Business Connections are evening events the third Tuesday of the month. Coffee Connections are held in the morning the first Wednesday of the month. Young Professionals of Fond du Lac has networking built into every event they host. These gatherings are very popular, and they’re designed to help businesses make connections – everyone there is there for the same reason. And that’s why they work.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

At the time this article was published, Terri Fleming was vice president of the Fond du Lac Area Association of Commerce. She is now Community Information Coordinator at the Fond du Lac Public Library. Terri was previously the director of the Downtown Fond du Lac Partnership, which is the administrative arm of the downtown Business Improvement District. Fleming joined the partnership in September 2002, after moving to Wisconsin from Colorado Springs, Colorado. In Colorado Springs, Terri worked for 20 years as a newspaper journalist, leaving The Gazette in Colorado Springs in 2001 as editor in chief. Volunteer activities include Boys and Girls Club of Fond du Lac, Soroptimist International of Fond du Lac and Fond du Lac Reads. Terri’s husband, Steve, is Communications Director at Mercury Marine.