Great tweet today by @iggypintado highlighting an article by Roger Lawrence about face to face networking and ‘The Importance of the Water Cooler‘ . As a full time single mum and business owner, I have 6 hours of ‘child free time’ a week and it’s a real struggle to find any networking events that fit into that little window of opportunity.
While pending childcare arrangements will free up my work week so I can attend more networking events, in the meantime, I find myself craving the enjoyment of meeting new people and mingling with other professionals.
Although, I’m the first to admit it can be daunting to walk into a room full of people you don’t know. But with an ‘elevator pitch’ it will only take you a few minutes to warm up, introduce yourself and join some conversations.
So, what’s an ‘elevator pitch’? It’s literally a 30 second blurb about what you do. For example, mine is “I’m a copywriter. I write website content, newsletters, brochures and things like that’. Simple as that, short & sweet. It’s not something I have to practice, and it’s not something I stumble over trying to get the words out while remembering a perfected speech in my head!
Just grab a coffee, introduce yourself to someone at the coffee machine and use your elevator pitch when someone asks you what you do. Conversation will simply flow from there. (More on networking later).
Have you considered the benefits of social media as networking? Sure it’s not the same as being face to face but it is possible to build open, trusted and real relationships with people in the virtual world as well.
For people who are more isolated such as mumpreneurs with young babies or people with limited mobility, social media offers the same benefits as face to face networking, but with the added perk of being able to do at home in your own time while wearing your slippers & having a coffee.
So what are you waiting for, dive in to networking & have some fun. You might just find yourself forming some great friendships or even picking up a new client or two.
Till next time,
