Don’t call me I’ll call you – essential networking etiquette
Copywriters are prising themselves away from their keyboards to venture forth into the networking arena, but do they come prepared?
There is more to networking than simply showing up with a handful of business cards. Like a first date, first impressions really do count.
Here according to the laws of JCom are some do’s and don’ts of network dating…
Don’t …
• play hard to get – if you say you’re going to call a contact you’ve made, then call!
• stand anyone up – it’s all in the follow-up!
• be desperate! – although it’s good to be keen don’t bombard your new contact with phone calls and emails…just wait a day or two before you get in touch.
• be a networking tart! Be selective about the events you attend and think carefully about which ones will be most beneficial and relevant to your business.
• dive in head first, think carefully about the types of events you want to attend and how often you want to go. You don’t want people thinking that you have too much time on your hands!
• throw your business cards around randomly, they’ll probably end up buried under a pile of papers never to be seen again, or even in the bin.
Do …
• smile (a lot) even if you don’t feel like it! There’s nothing worse than a grumpy face especially first thing in the morning!
• play the field – if you go to events put together by different organisations you will meet a range of people, rather than seeing the same faces each time.
• pay attention and listen carefully to what people have to say.
• research the type of event beforehand, there’s no point in turning up to a builders convention and then complaining that no-one was interested in you
• take time to listen to the person who might on the surface not appear to be relevant to your line of work, they might be the most important person in an organisation or know someone who desperately needs your services
• follow up and thank the organisers, they are often the unsung heroes who pull events together and they know a lot of people.
Effective networking can bring excellent results as long as you understand the “networking etiquette”. And what about the morning after the first date? Follow-up of course …but just take a couple of days to think it over!
How lovely to meet you!
Copywriters are prising themselves away from their keyboards to venture forth into the networking arena, but do they come prepared?
There is more to networking than simply showing up with a handful of business cards. Like a first date, first impressions really do count.
Here according to the laws of JCom are some do’s and don’ts for copywriter network dating…
Don’t …
- play hard to get – if you say you’re going to call a contact you’ve made, then call!
- stand anyone up – it’s all in the follow-up!
- be desperate! – although it’s good to be keen don’t bombard your new contact with phone calls and emails…just wait a day or two before you get in touch.
- be a networking tart! Be selective about the events you attend and think carefully about which ones will be most beneficial and relevant to your business.
- dive in head first, think carefully about the types of events you want to attend and how often you want to go. You don’t want people thinking that you have too much time on your hands!
- throw your business cards around randomly, they’ll probably end up buried under a pile of papers never to be seen again, or even in the bin.
Do …
- smile (a lot) even if you don’t feel like it! There’s nothing worse than a grumpy face especially first thing in the morning!
- play the field – if you go to events put together by different organisations you will meet a range of people, rather than seeing the same faces each time.
- pay attention and listen carefully to what people have to say.
- research the type of event beforehand, there’s no point in turning up to a builders convention and then complaining that no-one was interested in you.
- take time to listen to the person who might on the surface not appear to be relevant to your line of work, they might be the most important person in an organisation or know someone who desperately needs your services.
- follow up and thank the organisers, they are often the unsung heroes who pull events together and they know a lot of people.
Effective networking can bring excellent results as long as you understand the “networking etiquette”. And what about the morning after the first date? Follow-up of course …but just take a couple of days to think it over!
