5 Easy Ways to Network and Stay Ahead of Your Competition

As wedding professionals we already know that networking is a must if you want to grow your business, but the truth is, many of us are just not doing it!  We make a point of meeting other wedding vendors at every given opportunity. But our experience tells us that although they all  seem eager to network and stay in touch - this only happens because we make the effort and follow-up.

Networking is a very easy and inexpensive way to increase your circle of connections. The larger this circle of connections, the more opportunity you have to be referred to a bride and potential customer. Seems pretty straight forward right? You'd think we'd all be running to each others doors or frantically logging onto to our computers to make these golden connections. Sadly this is not the case. Only a select and dedicated percentage of us actually make the effort and those that do will probably not do so on a frequent basis.

So no more excuses. Implement these 5 ways below and start building your golden circle of connections...

• Face to Face Networking - Nothing beats meeting someone face to face.  Once someone meets you in person they'll tend to remember you more that it you'd just introduced yourself over the phone. Give yourself plenty of opportunities for these face to face meetings by attending at least one networking event each week.  Be sure to have your "30 second intro" ready and have a pocket full of business cards.  Make a point to connect with as many people as possible and be sure to collect their business cards. I always suggest attending networking functions alone as you won't have your colleague to chat with and will be forced to go out into the pool of new connections.  Networking groups are pretty easy to find and a simple Google search will probably list more than you could ever attend. Meetup.com is a great place to find a local networking group and a great way to start out. In fact if you're in Los Angeles we have our own Meetup Group.
• Email Networking - Now that you have a large stack of business cards and new contacts you'll want to keep in touch. Start by sending them an email the very next day to say how nice it was to meet them. Remind them what you do and say that you hope to keep in touch. 
• Telephone Networking - Now that you've made some new "friends" you should chat occasionally on the phone just as you would with a personal friend. Give them a call to tell them about a wedding networking event you may be attending or invite them to your businesses open house. 
• Online Networking - Join all the current social networking sites (Twitter, facebook, linkedIn...) Go through your stack of business cards and do a search for their profile so that you can connect.  Most social networks have a function which allows you to search for people in your specific industry. If so, perform a search for wedding professionals and make even more new connections.  They key to online networking is to be active and relevant. Post comments, answer questions and just be yourself. 
• Mail Networking - Don't forget about the snail mail!  You're new connections will love to receive holiday and birthday cards from you (hand written of course!).  Here's an extra tip - if you forgotten to collect birthdays you can usually find them posted on your contacts facebook account!

Now that we're all committed to network - let's get started. Please post a comment below and add your business details along with links to your facebook, twitter and linkedin accounts. Let's connect to each other online and let the networking begin.

I'll go first...

Julie Zarchi
Email: julie@aevideography.com
Website: American Event Productions
Blog: Your Wedding Rocks
Marketing Blog: Wedding Marketing Network
Twitter: @aevideography
Facebook Page: American Event Productions
Facebook Marketing Group: Wedding and Event Vendors
Linkedin Profile: Julie on LinkedIn
Local Los Angeles MeetUp Group Los Angeles Wedding Marketing Network

Now it's your turn...