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Hello, and welcome back to another episode of the Bilna Sandeep Show. I am so excited to be back here, it’s been quite a while. We have been taking a break in our podcast, it was actually an intentional break that I decided to take, but because I was having some issues, I was looking for a bit more clarity on my own business model, my own idea for having this podcast, what kind of topics to focus on… Because you might have listened to my last episode, which was about the launch of my, or it wasn’t a launch, it was like the rebranding of my marketing agency, which is called Growwie. So a lot of things went into that, and there were quite a lot of things happening. But today, it’s not about all of that today. Again, it’s going to be a completely different topic, which is basically related to how can you grow your business.
Using the power of networking for me, I am one person who would always vouch for networking because everything that I’ve been able to do or achieve in my business is because of the power of the network that I have been able to build over the years. So today, we are going to discuss the five networking mistakes that most business owners make and that are not letting you grow your business.
So let’s dive in!
Okay, so here we are going to discuss five of the major mistakes that I see a lot of small business owners make when it comes to networking. A lot of people have come to me and told me that I don’t think networking works for my business. My business is a so-and-so model, XY and Z or ABCD, you know, whatever the kind of business you are in, and I’ve heard some business owners say that for my kind of business, networking is not going to work. Okay, well, that is mostly, I believe, because they haven’t really either understood how they could actually use the power of the network to grow a business or probably, they haven’t really explored that they have just heard somebody say that and they are just repeating what they heard from that.
So this episode is completely based on my experience of networking in Dubai, as well as some of the closest business owners that I know that I have personally worked together with, either my friends or my clients. So with them, I know how their businesses have been growing, and they are always vouching for the power of their networks. So I’m going to look at five major mistakes that I see a lot of those, especially in the beginning stages of their business make.
I mean, they make these mistakes thinking that is how they need to do networking. Unfortunately, none of us was taught to do networking in the right way. Neither in school or college nor anywhere, whatever kind of degree of Taken, maybe you are, you might have been specialising in marketing or business administration or whatever. But none of those curriculums has got something that actually tells you how to do your networking. So networking has a lot of benefits, not just in terms of your business. Now if you’re somebody looking to grow your career as well, your network is still very important. For me, during the stages before I started my business, when I was looking to grow my career at that time, also network was something that I really tapped into.
Mistake 1 – Random Networking Events in Dubai
Like what they say: “Network is your net worth, right?” and that is completely true in my case. And I’ve seen that with almost every business. So now let’s look at the very first mistake that I see a lot of people making, which is going to random Dubai networking events. Okay. They might see a poster some were saying, okay, there’s a networking event in Dubai going on. Okay, let me just go and check it out. There’s nothing wrong with that.
But every event has its own agenda, and everyone can make use of it. The only thing is that when you go to a networking event without enough preparation and without understanding what are you going to do? That is when you have this problem of, you know, choosing, that is what I would say. The choices are wrong. Networking even it’s not even choosing the wrong networking event. It’s more of your not being prepared enough for that networking event in Dubai.
So whatever networking event in Dubai you’re going to sign up for, I would always suggest taking a look at what it is. Do a small research on who is the organiser of the event and the kind of people who are going to come for that event. Now you know, all these things will give you an idea to prepare yourself for this event because, in the following steps, I’m going to tell you a few more mistakes that people make. We will cover what sort of preparations are to be done as well. So this is one of the most common mistakes is randomly going to some XYZ networking events. I see a lot of business owners make thinking that it’s going to help them grow their business, which it is not.
Mistake 2 – Not Following Up
Now, the next thing is what happens at a networking event, you’re going to meet a few people, right? Maybe you’re going to meet a lot of people out of that. Probably, you are going to go home with five to ten business cards or even more.
But what happens? Most of the time after that, it all stops, there’s no follow-up. You have probably taken 10 to 15 business cards. You came home. Probably dumped it on your desk, or you might have just put it on your table or under your drawer, somewhere, or it remains in your bag for maybe until the next networking event probably, right? So, that is a second mistake a lot of us make, not following up, okay? So the second thing that you need to do after a networking event is to come back home and take 10-15 minutes to segregate what cards you got, or sometimes if it’s a digital card, you might save it on your phone. Whatever you have done, take a second to shortlist the kind of people you really feel like you want to connect to, you feel some vibe, and you think that they could become a good addition to your network.
I’m not talking about the people you think could be prospective clients. Those are not the people you need to add to your network. I’m talking more about the people with who you really felt connected even if it means that they belong to a completely different sector or completely different industry. I’m telling you just the kind of people you feel connected to Take a moment to connect with them again.
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Filter and Connect
Segregate those cards to send them out a message. And the next thing is like you send them a message saying. “Hey! It was nice to connect with you today at today’s so-and-so networking event, I am really interested to learn much more about your business and see the ways in which we can work together or refer businesses to each other. You know, that’s how you start a conversation with them and then probably, take them out for a coffee or, you know, so that you can actually go and meet these people on a one-on-one meeting. Because that is when you actually get to know a business much better, that is when you also get an opportunity to tell more about yourself and your business to the other person.
This scenario is actually what contributes to the growth of your business by collecting hundreds of business cards from these networking events rather than just putting them under your drawer or putting in a list of contacts will never grow your network, but when you take that time to go and meet these people, one-on-one, that is, when you are actually growing your network and do not expect these people to become your clients. Now, that is something I am going to discuss with you later in this episode in the next points. But so, this is the next thing that you need to do. So the second mistake which as I was discussing, is that people do not follow up after the networking events in Dubai.
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Mistake 3 – Not Networking in a Community
So the first one is going to a random businesswomen’s networking event in Dubai. The second one is not following up after the networking events, and the third one is not networking in a community. Now when I say community, what does that mean? Networking or growing? Your business is all about building relationships. Relationship, right? So how do you build that relationship?
You cannot build trust with somebody who you have met only once in your life, right? For example, now, you met someone at a networking event, and you even went for a one-on-one meeting with them after that, but it’s just been one meeting. They might have told you quite a lot about their clients, their business, what they do, and what services they do. But still, how are you going to trust that person?
Listen, if that relationship has not been built, the same is the case with them. How are you going recommend that person to somebody in your network, or how is he going to represent you, I mean how is he or she going to refer you to their Network? Because the moment you are referring somebody’s services to somebody in your network, you are also putting your own credibility on the table, right? And what if they don’t perform well then? What will happen is that so and so has referred this person to me, and this person was crap. What is going to happen in that case? My name is also going to go, right? So I am never going to refer somebody to someone unless and until I’m sure that this person is delivering a good quality of service otherwise, that puts my credibility also on the table that is why building a relationship is also important. You know, only when you know a person well enough will that person be able to refer you to their Network.
So this is the third point. Not networking in a community. So what do I mean by Community? You might all have heard about my Homepreneurs Club, right? It is a community of women entrepreneurs, small women entrepreneurs and small business owners who are women, that is what Homepreneurs Club is about. We have made meetups online and offline every month, and what is happening is that the members see each other again and again, Right, when you see each other again and again, what is happening unknowingly is that you are building a relationship with them. Now I’m not only talking about Homepreneurs Club, there are various other networking organisations also, in the UAE that I have seen. So choose the one that works the best for you. I am part of different networking organisations like that, you might all have heard of BNI. I am part of BNI which has a very structured networking format, and I meet my chapter members every week again and again, and that is helping me build a relationship with them. The same is the case with any networking group, you become part of it when there is a community around it, and when they have meetups happening frequently, and you get to see the same set of people again and again, that is when you actually start building that momentum and relationship with them. That, combined with the previous point, in which I said going and meeting one-on-one with these people actually adds to your network.
Now, this is quite a lot of work. That is true. Okay. Now don’t focus on trying to meet too many people. I would personally say instead of trying to meet 50 new people over a period of probably three months, I would rather meet five per cent, five people, ten times or you …you understand the math. Repeatedly meeting the same people a few more times is going to give you more of an advantage because the trust and relationship are building there. And every new person you add to your network contributes to the growth of your network because that person is connected to another hundred people, right? And those are your prospective clients. There would be at least a few of them who will be your most active clients. So when somebody in their network has a requirement, you will be referred because that person trusts you, right? So that is the power of networking.
Networking doesn’t happen over day over a day or a night, it doesn’t happen that way. It takes time to build, you need to put in the effort to build that network. So they’re something that you are doing this year, and you might start getting the fruits of it next year, you know? But the consistency, doing it and trusting that process and enjoying that process and going through that process is more important because then you will see the flow of leads, the flow of references, everything flowing into your business, but this all takes time, it takes some time for people to build that trust your network, to grow your network, to build that trust in you all these things take time, but at the end of the day, it’s all about doing it consistently again, and again, so that you are building a strong network of trusted people. Now, let’s go to the fourth mistake we are making. So we talked about three of them. The first one was going to a random networking event, the second was not following up after the networking event, the third was not networking in any of the communities.
Mistake 4 – Not Having a Specific Ask
I’m on the fourth mistake, which is not having a specific ask. Now, what is the specific ask this Specific ask is that you need to have clarity about your own business. When you are meeting these people one on one, do not use it just to talk about yourself personally. Of course, you need some icebreakers, and you need to talk about your family and who you are as a person. This is also important in building trust, you might speak about something that you’re interested in, probably some gossip, some celebrities, all these things. Of course, you can speak to create that level of comfort between two people, but also make sure you speak about your business.
And when you speak about your business, tell them clearly who your ideal clients are, and what sort of people you want them to refer you to. You know, you can be very clear…. If you know so and so, this kind of person. For my marketing agency, I would say if somebody who was looking for marketing services, we focus mainly on Performance Marketing and paid ads. So I tell them, for Performance Marketing Services, who has a budget of investing this much amount. I tell them exactly the clear amount that our packages start at. And so somebody, if you’re sure if they have a budget to start at this range, I’m looking for businesses having a minimum of this much revenue per month, you know. So I have that Clarity on the kind of clients I need in my marketing agency, so I tell that clearly to the people that I meet so that they know exactly the kind of businesses that they need to refer to my marketing agency. So that is what I do when I have my specific ask to the people.
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Mistake 5 – Expecting to Meet Clients
Now the last thing is the last mistake, which I see a lot of people making is expecting to find your client at the networking event or entrepreneur event. I wanted to get this clear. You are not going to a networking event with the possibility of meeting your prospective client. You are not looking around to meet your client. Clients will come to you through the reference that your network is going to bring. So when you are judging or assessing, what kind of networking event to go to? Do not think like, okay, this networking event, I don’t think my clients are going to come there. This is the reason a lot of people make a mistake. They think networking events don’t work for me because I didn’t find a client there. That is. Not how you are supposed to grow your network.
You are not going to a networking event to find your client, but you’re going there to grow your network. And this network is not your prospective clients, but they are mostly complementary businesses to yours. What does complementary business mean? Complementary businesses are simply the kind of businesses that offer a very different service from yours, but they have a similar target audience as yours. If you are able to find that sort of complementary business in that network, that is enough for you. That is the kind of network you need to grow because you are exchanging your network with theirs, and they are exchanging their network with yours. That is precisely what you need when it comes to networking events.
So, let me conclude again, saying all Five Points once again. One first mistake many of us make is going to random networking events. The second one is not following up after that. Third is not networking in a community for those. The fourth is not having a specific ask. And the fifth one is expecting to find your client at the networking event.
FREE Networking Event in Dubai
Now if you are interested in attending one of our networking events for businesswomen in Dubai, we are going to have a free coffee networking meeting every first Wednesday of the month after the Ramadan of course. If you would like to be notified of this event, I am putting a signup form for the free coffee, if you want, you can sign up, so that you will be getting notifications. Plus, also I’m going to put the link to our free WhatsApp group so you can join our free WhatsApp group and be part of our networking events in Dubai, and yes, that’s all for this episode. See you all in the next episode. Until then, Happy Networking.!
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