Can you actually enjoy online business networking? The ONLE Networking Show ep26.
Kelly and James discuss whether you can actually enjoy online business networking or it is simply a transactional practise. Find out why they never get tired of talking to people! Plus we hear the insightful comments from our members about their thoughts on your online persona and niching your marketing based on Tracey and Nick Shrimpton's ONLE Talks topic - your marketing voice.
Listen/subscribe on Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/can-you-actually-enjoy-online-business-networking-the/id1500905335?i=1000635085019
Listen/subscribe on Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/episode/532Yjeh5bWZuLhOptTvf4K?si=668fa691d3904fe8
Our sponsor
The ONLE Networking Show is proud to be sponsored by The Mayflower Theatre in Southampton. The Mayflower is a live entertainment venue which attracts more than half a million visitors every year, contributing more than £70 million to the local economy each year. The Theatre is deeply involved with the local business community, you can find out about corporate events, room hire and business membership using the following links:
Corporate events and room hire- https://www.mayflower.org.uk/functions/
Business membership- https://www.mayflower.org.uk/support-us/business-membership/
Show notes
Can you actually enjoy online business networking?
In this episode Kelly and James discuss whether they ever get sick of talking to people all day. Everyone has off days, where you don’t feel like meeting new people or even attending your networking meeting all together. But it’s on those days in particular that networking can be the most rewarding. There is no such thing as a wasted conversation and talking to someone else can not only take your mind off the challenges you are facing but also can be a great source of support when you need it most.
Online networking has created a much more accessible and level playing field for introverted business owners, where nobody can feel left out or overlooked during a meeting. So though it is possible for introverts to enjoy networking just as much as their extroverted counterparts, it is important to remember that a key part of having fun at networking is that you enjoy talking to other people.
Networking is not a place for pitching your business to others and then switching off, it’s about building long term relationships with people. If you are someone who really doesn’t like speaking to other people and learning about who they are and what they do, then not only will you not enjoy networking but you will not see the results you are looking for.
Based on Nick and Tracey Shrimpton’s ONLE Talks about your marketing voice, conversation within our monthly meeting revealed that many people feel comfortable letting their personalities out while networking, but not online. But why is that? Both are professional forums where you are communicating with potential clients.
Is it valuable to incorporate more of your personality into your social media messaging? Absolutely. If you have an online persona and messaging that’s working, don’t change it. But as many people will admit, it doesn’t work, it’s bland. So why are you afraid to change something not working? Our member Ashley Griffiths summed it up perfectly with the comment: “Let your personality out, it stops you from looking like everyone else in the newsfeed”.
The star pupil for getting this immediately was Alex Wilkins, who even did a calculation in the meeting itself. The point was that when most small businesses can only serve 10-20 clients at a time, why are we trying to attract ‘everyone’ and fear alienating potential clients? His calculation was this: there are 36 million people in the UK, so if my marketing message alienates 99.9% of the population, I still have a potential client pool of 3,600 customers.
Conclusion: The takeaways from networking grow as you refocus away from sales towards relationships.