New Year, New Connections.
We’ve all said it, “New Year, New Me”. We set ourselves, meaningful, realistic and achievable goals to reach in the next 12 months. Whether they be personal or professional identifying a goal is a key motivator. In business, it’s the perfect time to step back and take a look at some of your practices and set targets for the future.
For us at LUXE, and I am sure, the majority of companies, growth is at the forefront of our minds for 2024, and networking will be key to this success and propel our business forward.
A study in 2020 discovered that only a quarter of professionals actually network, with 41% of them saying they would like to network more but are restricted by time (Marketing Expertus, 2020).
What do we mean by networking? Through networking, you can create and maintain meaningful connections with others in your field. These could be future clients, coworkers, or peers that you hope to collaborate with. Whatever your level of experience, networking can teach you a lot. If you’re just starting out in your job, you may learn so much from more seasoned members of your network. Gaining a grasp of networking’s potential and strength in the UK business scene can help you improve your networking abilities, widen your professional community, improve on personal skills and eventually achieve greater success in your business activities.
So with this in mind, in this blog post we’ll examine networking, and how it can be an essential part to business and personal growth meaning it is a very important tool to make time for in your daily routine. It isn’t and shouldn’t be about collecting business cards or getting click happy on LinkedIn, it needs to be more that that. A meaningful relationship can be mutually beneficial in the long run.
So, where do you begin? Start by setting goals. Understanding your objectives will help you stay focused, whether you are a seasoned professional or just starting out, you understand that effective networking can open doors to new opportunities, you just need to identify which of these opportunities are going to help you.
Utilise tools that you have easy access to. Social media! In this digital age your online content is going to be the first impression you make. Plan and schedule your posts. Make them interesting and relevant. Make them unique and valuable. You are aiming to reach and engage with fellow professionals with industry knowledge. Your content should vary and include, your services, reviews, industry news and patterns, opportunities, behind the scenes, success stories and posts to get conversations started. Have some fun with it! Connect with relevant people, join groups and share industry news in order to establish yourself within your online community.
Don’t underestimate the power of in person meetings. Face to face interactions, whether that be at an exhibition, site visit or even a shared work space, are still as powerful as ever. A face can be more memorable than an online post.
A lot of this advice is widely known and easily doable/accessible but one of the most overlooked skills when it comes to building genuine connections, is active listening. For these relationships to be positive they need to be a two way street and it is key to pay attention to what others are doing, asking, reading, and sharing, in order to show genuine interest and understand the needs of others. This promotes engagement and is essential when building long lasting connections.
It pays to be yourself as well. Authenticity is a great attribute. It is essential that you are not focused solely on personal gain, be willing to offer help and support to those in your network. Be generous with you time.
Persistence pays off. The art of being patient and persistent is important. Connections are not going to happen over- night, it is an ongoing process that you have to nurture.
With all these benefits, why is it that a lot of people still do not free up time in their schedule to network?
It could be put down to the fact that reaching out to or walking into a room full of strangers can be extremely dauting and anxiety inducing. It is useful to have clear ideas in your head of what you have to offer and what you can talk about, after all, the art of small talk is not in every one’s repertoire.
Or simply, some people might find networking and meetings too orchestrated and disingenuous.
To conclude, building and nurturing professional relationships is indicative to the success of a new business, and individual, or a team in today’s competitive world. Professionals can set themselves up and take advantage of a multitude of opportunities in the ever-changing corporate landscape by utilising networking as a strategic tool and to their advantage. You just have to ensure that you feel comfortable in the approach that you chose, in order to get the very best from it.
