Darcy Lefebvre, Marketing & Communications Consultant, RP Copywriting

Most business owners understand the importance of business networking – many are even members of our local chamber of commerce and other small business networking groups.

There’s no doubt going to business mixers and other networking functions can be a great way to make new connections with other business people and potential referral partners. But after you meet them – what happens then?

It’s all about the follow up!

At the end of a business mixer or networking event we often end up with a pocket full of business cards. Schedule a time at the end of each week for you or your office assistant to send each of them a follow-up email. That little gesture can go a long way.

Quick Tip: Add notes to each business card immediately after the exchange, highlighting your conversation and response notes.

Bonus tip: If you ask someone in-person if you can add them to your mailing list and they agree, this is considered a legal opt-in and is compliant with the new Canadian Anti Spam Legislation (CASL). Be sure to keep his or her business card, make a note of the verbal opt-in and then file it away for your records.

Email Follow-Up

Save some time by preparing a template email that you can use for all of your follow-ups. The note can be brief and should introduce the recipient to ways they can follow you and introduce any incentives you may have to offer for doing so. (More about this below)

Social Media Follow-Up

Some people that are not as keen to follow you via email will often be more open to connecting with you on certain social networking platforms. LinkedIn and Twitter are great places to build new followers.

This has worked very well for me, and I’ve received great feedback from my clients that have followed the same system. We now have the opportunity to turn one small personal interaction into a lifetime follower.

 

What happens next . . .

Of course, the next step is to give them something worth following and keeping them interested.

For ideas about how to do this effectively, and how we can help you do it with almost no effort on your part, check out our Online Marketing Programs or contact me directly at darcy@rpcopywriting.com for a free, one-on-one consultation.