Networking is a necessary evil for you and your business

Since beginning our business in 2014, we have helped countless individuals and businesses with quality service around integrations. The business started out slow, but much effort was put into networking. With constant networking came a better understanding to others of what it is that we do as Cloud Integrators. News of our services and abilities spread, and many contacts have stayed in touch to this day.   

Networking can be described as interacting with others to exchange information and develop contacts for your business or personal life. With traditional networking, you engage in conversation one-on-one with others to see what mutual benefits you have.

Most people cringe at the idea, but it is important to network if you really want to move ahead in today's competitive business world. There are plenty of benefits to engaging in networking activities such as finding suppliers for your own business. Over the years through networking, we have found and utilised the skills of web designers, insurance brokers, and photographers just to name a few. As a bonus sometimes networking will result in two-way business.  

In this digital age, social media marketing is where much of the attention is based, but word of mouth is still very relevant. Being fantastic at servicing your customers is a great start to getting your business on people’s minds. Spending time networking in the right circles will also bring you recommendations and referrals.

Making connections with others in business can be extremely rewarding. Even if those you engage with are not in the same industry you often find through them new solutions, ideas and thoughts. You can, in essence, learn new ways to do business. Networking you will improve your communication skills and build your confidence. As with everything, practice makes perfect.

There are various ways to network, many like ourselves try to do much of our interactions the traditional way, face-to-face. This can be through meetups, conferences, or being a member of the local business chamber. Other ways that can be just as effective include engaging with others through online forums and social media sites such as LinkedIn, Google+, and Facebook.

The main thing to remember when you hop on the networking bandwagon is that you will be there for the same reasons as others. Don’t worry about whether you belong there or if what you do will matter to anyone else. Be confident in who you are and what you do. You will have to get comfortable not only talking to complete strangers, but talking about yourself to complete strangers. Look out for our next write-up that will feature networking tips. But we will leave you with this to remember when networking. Go into it asking yourself ‘How can I help?’, not ‘What can I get out of this?’.