Back when I first started my business, or really it was when I was a sales representative for a chemical company, I spent much of my time attending business networking events, such as Rainmakers. Even though I still use part of my business development time going to these events, I have expanded my networking to include many more arenas than what we would typically think of as business networking.
Awhile back, I volunteered to work at my daughter’s school for a Family Fun Day event. I was in charge of the popcorn, which meant I spent about four hours just popping popcorn and putting them into bags for the event later on that day. During my shift, a lady joined me in my popcorn adventure and we started chatting. To make a long story short, I had just found a writer – someone who had won awards for her writing – and she was looking for some freelance work! Bingo!! I had been putting my feelers out there to bring another writer on board as my business was growing, and who would have thought I would find such a gem while popping popcorn at my daughter’s school.
The point is business networking really can take place anywhere – and even though I absolutely love the official business networking opportunities, don’t forget the little league games, community events, fundraisers, and school family fun days to find a new prospect, a strategic partner, or in my case, an absolutely gem of a writer to help me offer more writing opportunities to my clients and grow my business! Yes!
This is a guest post by Serina Kelly with Relevate, a relationship marketing company. Check out some of her other blogs or like Relevate on Facebook.
