The Buzz
3 Keys to Getting More From Your Next Networking Event

Businesspeople sometimes lose track of the fact that networking is the means  to an end when it comes to business-building activities. They attend three, four, even five events in a week in a desperate grasp for new business. The predictable result is that they stay so busy meeting new people that they never have time to follow up and cultivate those relationships. And how can they expect to get that new business from someone they've only just met?
 
Meeting new people is an integral part of networking, but it's important to remember why we're doing it in the first place: to develop a trusting relationship that will eventually lead to a mutually beneficial and continuing exchange of referrals.
 
When meeting someone for the first time, focus on the potential relationship you might form. As hard as it may be, at this stage don't set out to sell your services or promote your company. You're there to get to know a new person.  This certainly doesn't mean you'll never get to sell anything while networking; however, it means you'll need to employ a different approach. Networking is about developing relationships through which future business can be closed. Once you understand that and put it into practice, you'll notice a few things happening to your business.
 
Follow these three key points and see how much more profitable networking can become:
 
   1. Limit the number of contacts per event. The most important thing is the quality of the contacts, which means the type of contact, the relevance to your business and interests, how good a connection you're making, and the individual involved. At a typical event, five to ten might be all you can handle. This may  seem like too few contacts, but it's really more than enough when you're talking to the right people. If you attend two events per week, that's 10 events a month, or 30 to 50 new contacts every 30 days. Continue to do that over the next couple of months-while following up with the people that you've met-and you'll soon have more than enough high-quality contacts to keep you busy.
 
   2. Spend five to ten minutes talking and listening to each person. Just because you're not handing out your business card to 1,001 people doesn't mean you should spend 20 minutes talking to just one individual. Invest a few minutes in getting to know each person. Make sure to ask for her business card. Then follow up with her after the event; this is where the heavy lifting takes place. Remember, all we're doing now is setting the stage for future business.
 
   3. Write notes on the backs of peoples' cards. Notes help you remember what the other person said at an event, it also slows you down a bit so you avoid running around trying to meet the next person. On the front of the card you can write the date and name of the event where you met the person; on the back, a few quick notes about the conversation. When you contact the person later, this will give you something to refer to.
 
Using this simple, Givers Gain approach, you'll see an up-tick in the amount of new business and referrals you get while networking.

 
The thing about color is that, for the most part, it is opinion based. For example, if I asked you if you liked the design of HP.com, Most people would say yes. BUT if you asked people if they liked the COLOR of HP.com, most people would say no. But does the color keep HP from selling a lot of products online or informing it's users about products? The answer is no!
 
Color is a grossly subjective animal as are trends in web design. Regardless of whether you like the visual aspect on a personal level... what good design boils down to is 3 things:
 
1. Does the design help communicate what the site owner wants you to know?
 
2. Does the design help the visitor find what they are looking for?
 
3. Does the site help the owner and the visitor get what they want out of the site (e.g. leads and information respectively)?
 
Color in general should be dictated by context and target market, rather than by the flavor of the month or personal preferences (negative or positive). It should also compliment your branding colors. If your company's primary colors are blue and green, you should probably start with blue and green as your base colors for your site.
 
Another thing your site should have is content. Never let your designer or programmer talk you into a website full of bullet lines and pictures. It lessens your Search Engine Optimization  (SEO) by limiting the information search engines can grab on to. It also reduces the amount of times you can tastefully use important key words we all need for strong SEO. Of coarse, too much content can drive people away pretty easy, so find a good balance.

Lastly, make sure your website has your visitors clicking. The more they click, the more apt they are to act on suggestions to buy or take action. You can also track what information resonates with your audience by tracking where they go in your site. Always ask for an analytic feature to be included with your site design. If you are missing it now, you can still add it to the HTML code in your current site for a minimal cost.

 
Construction is under way at the new location. We have vacated the offices on Tudor and are anxiously awaiting approval to start moving in.

As of August 23rd, you should be able to visit our new office space at 716 West 4th Ave. It might still be under construction, but we plan to have at least the front area presentable enough to have clients be able to drop off new projects.

For now, we are still offering free pick-up and delivery on all projects. Just today, we picked up and delivered an order for a CD-ROM to be copied once. Cost more in gas than we charged for the copy, but we were happy to help the client.

Thank you to all of our active clients who have been continuing to count on us for their production needs as we make this transition. You are why we are doing it. The new offices will be more efficient and better suited to servicing your marketing production.

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