The first time I discovered in-person networking was back in January of 2014 when I joined a direct sales business that was an up and coming makeup company that claimed at that time their beauty products were 100% natural. I remember my upline, who’s team was growing very, very rapidly at that time and who was quite overwhelmed was also trying to give me and the rest of her downlines advice on how to grow our businesses, too. I once asked her how she got her start, and she said “by putting that crazy mascara in everybody’s hands.” In the beginning, I did take that advice from my upline because at that time it seemed that the whole social media buzz that year was all about this crazy mascara that came with two mascara tubes, one tube had the fuzzy fibers and the other tube contained the special formula that looked like regular mascara and would “lock-in” the look of having long fluffy lashes all day long! And her advice somewhat worked for me for a while but I still felt that something was missing.
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You see, after I would sell the mascara, most of my clients didn’t really care about the rest of the amazing products this company had to offer. And so for me, even though my upline’s advice was good, I felt that what was missing was that long-term relationship with my customers. If I was going to grow my beauty business that meant that I was going to work at building long-lasting relationships with my clients, which meant that even though this crazy mascara was a nationwide hit I had to think beyond this crazy mascara!
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At that time when this beauty business started to grow nationally like wildfire, I had taken some online courses on social media marketing and continued to watch my upline, who had a marketing degree, grow her business by posting every day, sometimes several times a day on Facebook, about the products and selfies of her wearing the products, I began to do that as well. For someone who hated taking selfies, all of a sudden I was an expert at taking selfies! Then I soon discovered that combining both online marketing and in-person networking, I was on the roll of selling not just the mascara but the other products as well and establishing long-term relationships that I obviously couldn’t online.
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I’m not saying that it’s not possible to grow your business and establish a long-term relationship with clients but what worked for me was joining a in-person networking group. Why? Because when you join a local networking chapter, you get to know each member and what they do. And they in turn get to know who you are, what you do, and see first hand the passion you truly have for what you do. It is so much more than just collecting business cards or how many one on one meetings you can get within a week. It’s the start of long-term relationships with each member, even if they do not need your services, they might come across a friend who does. Not only will they refer them to you but because they know you, they feel confident in referring their friends to you.
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As most of us know, social media marketing changes ALL the time! As far as posting two to three times daily on Facebook, what might’ve worked back in 2014, most likely will not work for 2018! If you are an entrepreneur trying to start you own business, the best advice I can give you is to do a Google Search or check out your local newspaper for any workshops on general or specific social media. You can also search on YouTube for tutorials.
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My advice to you is to do both online marketing and in-person networking. Brand awareness doesn’t just mean it is reserved for online marketing, it is also essential to market your business through word of mouth. Make it a goal today to check out your local networking chapters so that you can start branding your business by word of mouth and start building long-lasting relationships.
~ Gina E. Maxwell