You know the saying, “It’s not what you know, it’s who you know?” It turns out that there’s some truth to it. Networking is one of the most important things you can do for your business. But the benefits of business networking don’t just mean going to business networking events and meeting people. You need to have a purpose for networking and know-how to make connections that matter. Here are some tips for networking with a purpose from ONFYX and getting the most out of those interactions. So read on and start making those valuable connections!

How to network with a purpose for business networking groups?

When you attend an event, and you meet new people, what are your intentions? Are you connecting with others for new leads? New referral partnerships? What is your networking purpose? What are the benefits of business networking for you?

7 Steps To Set Purposeful Goals Business Networking Groups And Benefits Of Business Networking For You

1. Consider Your Own Personal Goals.

Take a step back and consider your personal and professional goals before you even begin to make goals.

• Think about the reasons you even desire to meet new people.
• Make a list of your current professional aspirations, existing talents, and areas of interest.
• How does networking fit into your personal life goals?

You will know where to focus your efforts if you are aware of your overarching objectives and how networking can assist you in achieving them.

2. Establish Your Priorities for Networking

Shift your attention after you have a clear knowledge of your objectives and how networking might assist you in achieving them.

Think about the following:

• I want what my network wants, right?
• Do I need new employment, education, investors, etc.?
• What should I concentrate on to go where I want to go?
• What kind of connections—casual, work-related, mentorship—do I want?
• How much time and effort can I devote to networking?
• What do I hope to accomplish both now and in the future?

You can use these and other questions to help you define what you actually want from networking. You can write each goal on a piece of paper and focus on the ones that are your topmost priority

3. Review Your Current Network

There’s a strong probability that you already have connections in your network if you’re like most individuals. We all know people, whether it is through a sheet, constant book, email list, or LinkedIn.

• Review your current list of connections before continuing to network with new contacts.
• Focus on those contacts if you discover that some of them are more useful than others.
• To better understand your present network, consider things like where your connections are from, the industries they operate in, and their job descriptions.
• Once you have a better understanding of your network, you can begin by mass disconnecting connections that don’t serve your objectives.

As a result, your network will contain just those who are useful to you, and it will be easier to spot any connections that are missing. You’ll be utilizing your networking abilities to close these gaps and tie them to your objectives.

4. Identify Target Connections

If you’re going to put in the effort required to make meaningful connections, it’s important to know exactly what those connections are supposed to get you in the long run. One of the most important things to do when you’re setting goals for yourself is to plan your network first. This means that you have to figure out who you want to reach out to and what kind of relationships you want to build. Depending on your goals imagine 3-5 personas you want in your network.

• Which industry are they from? Are they creators? What are their job titles? Personalities?
• Write them down and always keep them in mind.
• If you get a connection request, always refer to these personas and you will know if you should accept the request or not.
• It’s very beneficial to create a list of people you want to connect with, especially if they are experts in their field.

5. Set Specific Measurable Goals

Having a set goal is great, but without a concrete measurement, you won’t know if you are on the path to achieving it. Each one of your networking goals needs to be a SMART goal that you can later track.

Here’s an example:

• Specific – I will connect with 10 industry leaders in my niche by the end of the month.
• Measurable – I can measure how many people I connect with daily and determine how many of them are industry leaders. (For example, to connect with people daily you can join online business networking groups)
• Achievable – I can use many tools and techniques to reach industry leaders.
• Relevant – Expanding my network with industry leaders will help me get further in my career.
• Time-Bound – I have one month to achieve this goal.
• Having specific, measurable goals will help you see where you’re lacking and what needs to be changed to achieve the goal.

After defining your SMART goals, you will need to break them down into smaller more achievable steps.

6. Strategize Your Approach For Benefits of Business Networking

Now that you have goals to work towards it’s time to break them up and create a strategy on how you will achieve them. Focus on creating annual, quarterly, monthly, and weekly benchmarks that lead to the overall goal. After this, you can proceed to create daily habits/weekly habits that will help you achieve them. You also need to ask yourself how you will achieve your goals. (Tip: Join online business networking in India) If you want in-person relationships, focus on attending networking events. If you want more LinkedIn professionals in your network, focus on connecting with people on LinkedIn.

Here are some strategies to help you achieve your goal:

• Offer value and help without asking for anything in return.
• Ask your network and colleagues for help and introductions.
• Engage your online connections daily.
• Take the conversation offline and meet people in real life.
• Learn one new networking trick each day/week and use it.
• Become a part of niche communities that will help your goals.
• Leverage your network’s data in establishing new relationships.

No set strategy will take you to your goal, and it’s on you to try different things and see what works. To do so, you will need to track each step and optimize.

7. Act and Track 

Now that everything is set, you have all the right tools, and know what you need to do, it’s time to act.

• Start small, task by task, and turn those little tasks into habits.
• Every day or week, sit down and reflect on how the day/week went and which tasks you accomplished.
• When you do this, focus on what can be done better, and you will start seeing better and better results.

There’s no magic formula to this part, and it can take time until you accomplish your networking goal. You just have to keep going and focus on what’s important to you.

You may be thinking that networking sounds like a lot of work and your time is better spent elsewhere, but if you take the time to network with purpose and utilize these tips for making connections that matter then it could have a huge impact on your business. Contact us today if you need help or expertise with networking and all of your marketing needs! Keep on Networking! 

For more information on business networking groups in Bangalore, visit ONFYX.