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Network and networking: how to make the best of both in a small business

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Network and networking: how to make the best of both in a small business

The world of business can be a tough one to navigate. Not only do you have to have a strong enough business plan to survive against your competition, but you need to be co-operative enough to network with potential clients and other business people in your industry. When you’re a small business, you may feel nervous about reaching out to bigger companies. But this is all part of networking. Here is how you can do it too and how it can help your business.

What is Networking?  

Networking is a business move where you can reach out to other companies or marketing officials in order to form a lasting business relationship. You can then work together to create campaigns, co-operations and potential investments. The best way to do this is through social media and email marketing campaigns.

Who do you reach out to?

When it comes to networking, it’s important to pick companies that won’t just ignore you (like some of the larger brands.) As a small business, you need to pick out the appropriate brands that will respond to your messages and may be willing to do business with you. Try and pick local businesses that you can correspond with over Twitter, Instagram and Facebook. That way you can decide on how you would like to collaborate. Some people can even use cloud-based call systems, such as Business Phone Systems by Gamma, to keep on the same network so that calls can remain free and of good quality. This means you can keep your call-in business meetings cheap and effective.

Write a pitch

When thinking about reaching out to a different company to network, you need to do a little more than straight up ask them to collaborate. That’s why its important to create a pitch that you can send out to different companies. If you do it effectively, you can show others why you want to collaborate, what you want out of it and how it can help both your brands. Make sure your pitch is relaxed, non-pressurising, and ultimately memorable. The more memorable it is, the more likely that you will hear back from the company.

Online Presence

One important thing you need to think about before you reach out to a different company is your own online presence. Most companies focus on their own image before they reach out to others. So, make sure to take a look at your own social media pages and your own email marketing campaigns. If you show that you are active online, and that you do care about what your followers and clients think, it is more likely that you will get a collaboration with a different business.

Listen to your collaborators

It’s important to always listen to what your collaborators are saying to you throughout your time together. They can offer you good advice and insight into business actions and future deals. Networking with these sorts of clients will help you become a better business partner and will hopefully get your brand’s name out there on the market. Make sure to also ask them open-ended questions so that you can get more insight into your next business move.

I am the founder of Startup Today. I am the main writer and have put in many hours of work into creating this blog. If you want to find out more about me then lets get in contact.

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