How to Network for Your Business in a Post-Covid Environment
Covid-19 has tossed a massive wrench into everyone's plans! Whether you've spent it as a business owner or employee, you've had to adjust your entire life to accommodate ever-changing social rules, government requirements, and countless other things.
Now we’re all starting to revert back to how things were. That’s a good thing in most ways, but it also leaves businesses in a bit of a rut; especially if you’re a solopreneur. Networking has changed, expectations have changed, and practically everything else that deals with intercommunication has changed.
This can spell disaster for startups, but here at AtomPay, your ability to succeed is our priority. Check out these tips for business networking in a post-Covid environment.
1. Understand the Playing Field
First and foremost, you need to develop a firm understanding of why networking is important, what you can do to facilitate it in meaningful ways, and what people expect in a modern B2B environment. The economy is struggling, companies are still trying to keep their employees safe despite relaxed guidelines, and there simply isn’t the same level of communication variety that was available on the B2B front just a few years ago.
Take things slow when you start using any platform to communicate. Evaluate where your potential partnerships stand on a variety of issues and whether or not that might conflict with your approach. This will keep everything nice and copasetic when your networking does lead to relationships.
2: Choose the Right Platforms
Choosing the right platform to match the needs of your business is key. Just like with normal networking, different people and companies tend to flock to different types of platforms.
LinkedIn will be a great option regardless of what type of business you’re running. You’ll find professionals from nearly every industry, in nearly every position, trying to network with potentially fruitful partners.
However, you shouldn’t make a LinkedIn account and call it a day. Facebook is releasing a new platform called Facebook Community, designed entirely around networking and building relationships. You can bet that plenty of businesses will show up shortly after its release to start finding potential partnerships, and you’ll want to be an early adopter before the environment settles in and things get harder.
3: Nurture Leads
Getting a word in with someone new is easy. However, it’s not easy to build momentum off those interactions. You can strike up a nice conversation with a CEO about cybersecurity, but if you don’t actively try to turn it into a relationship, you’ll probably never speak to them again.
Once you’ve struck up a conversation with someone who seems promising, extend an invite to start a relationship. Send them a friend request, follow them and interact with their posts, add to the conversation when they’re looking for information, and generally engage with them. It takes time to see results from your networking efforts, but if you nurture the budding relationships you spark they can turn into the partnerships you’re looking for.