Find your inner network

Networking is vital for any new business. Why?? In short, it’s how you spread the word of what you do. During a 1:1 with a fellow VA who has an established and thriving business, she advised me that she grew her business at the start by “networking the ass off of Bristol.” I loved her phrasing and it stayed in my mind as a reminder that networking is a necessary evil. In this blog I hope to give you some tips to make it easier.

It is well documented how in business today that people buy from people. To do this they need to get to know, like, and trust you first. Especially in a services-based business like providing VA support. where people are handing over precious bits of their business, its often daunting for them. To build relationships to the trust level takes between 7-14 touch points with a person. Any type of contact is a touch point from liking a social media post, an email to by far the most powerful a face to face interaction. Therefore, finding a regular networking opportunity is so useful to building those relationships. However, it does take repeat attendance to progress to trust level of relationship so don’t expect instant results on your first visit.

I must admit having never had to network before the whole concept did terrify me at the beginning. Talking to a group or even just striking up conversation with strangers was so far outside my comfort zone. I know this is something a lot of people struggle with.

I discovered Ladies who Latte as mentioned in my first blog, so that was a great entry and low-pressure starting point. I still attend two Ladies who Latte groups today and have seen many of my clients come through these groups as well as continued moral support.

My first experience of moral formal networking did not do a lot to dispel the daunting feeling. It was with a local group that had a welcoming atmosphere, but I walked in and felt under dressed for the situation. This did nothing for my confidence, so my first tip is wear clothes that give you confidence! I now own my “kick ass boots” for such occasions that make me feel the part. The second blip was being asked to stand up as part of the speakers examples. His talk was great but hopes of being a wallflower until I got the hang of it had vanished. But hey I told myself it could only get easier from now and it did, I returned the next month and felt prepared. This is tip two, it does get easier.

There are many networking organisations around today giving you plenty of choice where when and how to make great connections and build a network to share referrals with. These groups often run on a weekly or monthly basis and require a high level of commitment to get the most out of your membership and in some groups meet your required referral targets. I did visit one of these organisations but found its particular format rather intense and the financial outlay plus the commitment level was just not viable for my circumstances.

By far one of my favourite ways to network I discovered when I became a member of the Facebook group The Bristol Small Business Network. Jo who runs it set up an online speed networking system called the Network Ninjas. We join in a zoom conference call and then get split into small groups to talk for a few minutes each then shuffle groups and go again, all from the comfort of home. It works well for me, no travel time, no childcare required, you can even wear your slippers!

Everyone feels at ease I think because we are all at home in our comfort zone. With all the technology involved there is always a glitch somewhere that makes us giggle or somebody’s pets trying to join in.

Whatever your business or comfort zone I think there is a networking style to suit most people nowadays. My other important tip is whatever networking you choose make sure you have a way for people to connect with you afterwards so that your hard-earned connections can turn into clients.

So go on get those brave pants on and get chatting.