7 Ways to Avoid Making a Bad First Impression at Your Next Networking Event

Whether you love them or hate them, networking events are a crucial component of being an entrepreneur. Mingling with other experts in your industry not only helps you generate leads, but it could lead to potential partnerships, give you new business ideas, and maybe even boost your reputation.

Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that they're not all about you. Yes, networking events are a way to promote yourself and your brand, but if that's all you're doing, chances are you're making a bad impression.

Seven entrepreneurs share how professionals are making a bad impression at networking events and how they can change their ways.

1. You talk too much.
So often at networking events, people want to talk about themselves and what they do, but they forget to listen. Listening is the most important part!

Think of networking as speed dating for your professional life: You're essentially looking for professional matches and creating relationships. When you listen as much as you speak, you'll create more meaningful connections.

- Laurie Davis, eFlirt

2. You chase leads, not friends.
Networking is all about getting people to like you and getting them to be interested in what you're doing. The best way to do this is to practice active listening and aim to make friends, not leads.

- Lisa Curtis, Kuli Kuli

3. You advertise your business.
Rather than making new friends and connections, many business owners focus on advertising their business. They talk about their own company without hearing what other people have to say.

This leaves a bad impression because potential connections will think you're selfish and in turn try to avoid you.

- Ajmal Saleem, Private Tutoring Houston

4. You're self-absorbed.
Two things that make a horrible impression are making the conversation all about you and name dropping. To avoid this, focus the conversation around the other person and see how you can provide value to them.

- Arry Yu, GiftStarter.com

5. You don't ask how you can help others.
Go to a networking event with questions prepared for the people you plan to meet. Ask how you can help them, and they will often want to return the favor.

People love talking about what they do. Make a memorable impression by truly listening.

- Nick Francis, The Franchise Group

6. You bounce around.
I see a lot of people "bouncing around" and just dropping business cards to every person at the event. It's like their goal is to see how many business cards they can hand out.

I've learned that a better strategy is to have a few great conversations with select people rather than trying to have vague conversations with as many people as you can.

- Bryan Driscoll, Think Big SEO Marketing

7. You're looking to take rather than to give.
A major part of networking revolves around giving specific value to a connection, whether it's you or someone you know who can give it to them. Many times, I come across people who are looking to see how they can benefit from a relationship without considering the other person's needs.


The primary focus shouldn't be centered around how they can help you but instead how you can help them.

Source: http://www.inc.com/
Image Credit: Getty Images




ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business networking association dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs develop, expand and grow. We offer affordable opportunities to help create a positive impact and advancement in your business interests and personal quality of life to take you to the next level.
Stay Connected with WNFP!

Top 10 Networking Party Icebreakers

So many organizations set up cocktail parties in hopes that their members will connect and get to know one another. Unfortunately these gatherings usually end up with the same people hanging in cliques. Or worse, the events are held in loud bars where it's hard to hear people and connect.

Socializing at a cocktail party should be fun, and the networking should be valuable. It can be so long as the organizers set a good environment and help people make connections. Here are some creative ways to "break the ice."

1. Rapid Fire Introductions.

Some people get anxious in crowds, not knowing how to start a conversation with strangers. The host can alleviate this issue by having the group pair up and engage in quick rapid-fire introductions for a brief 30 seconds. They should be instructed to reveal one interesting fact about themselves to the other person and then move on to someone else. After the exercise people may gravitate toward the most memorable people they met, looking to learn more.

2. No names on the name tag.

Names tell little about a person. Put something interesting about the person on the tag instead. They could put either their favorite travel destination or the farthest travel destination they have ever encountered. Maybe they could put their favorite movie or TV character on the sticker as well to get the conversation moving in a different direction.

3. Give them a buddy.

Why not pair people off from the start? Use the name tag to your advantage here, either color-coding or numbering it so that people have to find someone else that belongs to their pair. If you know your guests well enough, then you can try and arrange people that could potentially help one another.

4. Ask people to add a distinctive/creative addition to their wardrobe.

How you look certainly impacts a first impression. As an organizer you can stimulate creativity and individuality by requiring people to wear something different (think an ugly Christmas sweater party). It can be anything from cool shoes, a weird hat or unique jewelry. Put it on the invitation that they must prepare to tell a story about the item. This will get everyone thinking hard about their wardrobe and also have them looking forward to seeing what others are wearing.

5. Empty out their pockets.

Nearly everyone carries something in their pocket. So get everyone opening out their pockets and showing people around them what they have. That is a quick and easy conversation starter that should create a fun and unique experience.

6. Have professional facilitators.

Why depend on the attendees to connect and mingle? Bring in some shills that can get the introductions and conversation going. Hire a few actors to liven up the group and keep the momentum flowing.

7. Create a scavenger hunt.

Ask each person on the RSVP to identify a few simple facts about themselves. Then give people a checklist and ask them to go seek out a person that matches the item on the list. Everyone in attendance will be in on the activity and even latecomers can get in on the act. Offer prizes to those who find the most people on the list.

8. Create small group interaction.

Instead of letting people stand alone or hanging out with the same old group, put people in groups with fun and intellectual activity. This helps people socialize in comfortable ways and build working relationships.

9. Have a Storytelling Contest

Have people prepare a 2-minute story on an interesting topic like My Scariest Moment or My Funniest Experience. Give a prize for the best story. You can even break into groups and have a final with the best story from each group.

10. Get them dancing.


You don't always need to break the ice through verbal communication. Dancing is a daunting experience for many people, but once they get in the groove, they loosen up pretty good. Bring in a Swing or Salsa teacher and make it a lesson so people aren't self conscious about their abilities.

Source: http://www.inc.com/
Image Credit: Getty Images




ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is a business networking association dedicated to helping small businesses and entrepreneurs develop, expand and grow. We offer affordable opportunities to help create a positive impact and advancement in your business interests and personal quality of life to take you to the next level.
Stay Connected with WNFP!

3 Ways Successful Professionals Build Their Brand on LinkedIn

Discover three simple tips to build out your personal brand on LinkedIn - and generate more business for yourself as a result.

I can still remember my well-meaning grandmother wagging her finger at me and issuing a stern warning: "Self-praise stinks!"

Good thing for Grandma Nemo (may she rest in peace), she wasn't trying to use LinkedIn for business back then.

All joking aside, there can be a fine line between shameless self-promotion and building a powerful, client-attracting personal brand on LinkedIn that helps you generate sales leads, clients and revenue.

And, whether you want to think about it or not, you do have a Personal Brand actively working for (or against) you over on LinkedIn right now.

Here's the good news: If you follow the tips I share in this post, you can quickly emerge with the same type of powerful personal brand that successful professionals are utilizing to create business opportunities and generate real results over on LinkedIn.

Tip 1: Your LinkedIn Summary is Your Biggest Opportunity!

I've talked before about how important it is to make your LinkedIn Summary what I call "client-facing," and in fact you can use this fill-in-the-blank template to ensure your LinkedIn summary section comes across that way.

It's critical, because one of the keys to crafting a killer LinkedIn profile is making it clear who you are, what type of product or service you provide and how it will benefit your ideal client or customer as a result.

We need to make sure the brand of you shines through in this section, and that it does so in a way that potential customers can immediately see how connecting with someone like you can bring value and benefit to them.

Tip 2: Personal vs. Professional - Find the Right Balance!

At the end of the day, no matter how buttoned-up or "professional" your industry is, you still do business with human beings. And, at the end of the day, people want to do business with someone they Know, Trust and Like.

One of the great selling secrets I've learned is that people need a simple way to remember you. Not your product, not your service, but you - the person trying to sell the actual product or service.

Selling, at its core, is relational.

This is where personal sharing comes in. When you share the appropriate amount of personal information and "your story" on LinkedIn, it builds an immediate bond with potential customers and helps them to remember you.

When you do this well, a mental hook and foundation for non-work, non-sales conversation is lodged into their brain, so that the next time you interact, a prospect will remember you're that guy who wants to buy the New York Jets, or loves fly fishing in Colorado or something similar. (And, oh the by the way, you also have product or service XYZ that they might be interested in utilizing.)

Think about how, in the process of a business meeting or encounter at a trade show, you chat up a prospect about his or her life away from work, looking for common interests, passions or themes to bond around. The same principle is at work here.

Tip 3: Be Clear, Consistent and Active!

Above all else, you must have a clear and consistent "personal brand" that you're sharing and reinforcing on LinkedIn.

That means sharing status updates, creating content and offering insights on the network that are consistent with your personal and professional brand - whatever it might be.

Again, don't be afraid to mix in your personality with your business-related content. Have some fun - be human! Share anecdotes or personal stories to illustrate a point or reinforce a concept related to your product or service.

Most important, be active. If you're not sharing and posting content on LinkedIn, you might as well be invisible.

Best of all, if you take advantage of some of the amazing automation tools and software that you can now integrate into your LinkedIn marketing efforts, it won't take you much time at all to accomplish it.

Image Credit: Getty Images
Source:www.inc.com

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is an organization consisting of professionals and entrepreneurs which focuses on the success of our Members. We help our Members establish lasting relationships and generate new business opportunities towards the growth of their business.
Stay Connected with WNFP!

Are You Doing This? If So, You Are Sabotaging Your Own Networking Success

Networking isn't easy, but you can make it even harder if you're doing any of these three things.

Making the most of social occasions, conferences, and meet-ups can help us advance our professional goals, and while it may seem that some personalities have an advantage when it comes to rocking the networking scene, that is simply not the case. Each of us have our own unique set of advantages and detriments, and learning how to remain authentic while avoiding major pitfalls can turn any of us into consummate networkers.

But when we give into insecurity or over-confidence, we make decisions that can turn off others, hurt our reputation and leave us dealing with damage control instead of growing our network.

Here are three ways many of us sabotage our own success in the social scene (names and details have been changed to prevent additional humiliation):

Bulldoze Conversations

I met George at a meet-up for investors and entrepreneurs. He was brilliant, had a great idea for his new startup, and exuded passion for what he was doing. I watched George as he approached a group of people already deep in conversation.

When he found a break in the conversation, he immediately launched into his company pitch. As he continued in painful detail about the value of his product and his fundraising goals, I watched the group disperse one at a time until George was standing alone. The look of confusion on his face made it clear that he had no idea where things went wrong or why no one showed interest in his company pitch.

While it is vital that we keep our goals in mind when we have opportunities to meet new people who might be able to help us move forward our own goals, we also need to remember that networking is, first and foremost, about relationships.

The natural ebb and flow of conversation is derailed  when we bulldoze over everyone else's attempts to contribute, and we sabotage our own efforts to build interest and support. Instead, we leave others with a negative perception of us - and our company or product. 

Several of us were enjoying a lively discussion about a new product that many of us were using. When Kimberly stated a preference for a competing product, including an inaccurate statement about that product, Beverly interrupted to correct the inaccuracy. She went on to lecture our group on the genesis and evolution of the industry. The energy and interest among the group depleted as she continued to lecture, and when she finished, an awkward silence hung over the group.

It is good to remember that knowledge is a valuable asset, but when we use it as a hammer in a social setting to correct inaccuracies, we do not leave others impressed with our intellect. We simply make others want to leave. No matter how much we know about a topic, we need to remember that a social setting is not a classroom.

Tell Inappropriate Jokes

Jimmy was the life of the party, and others often encouraged his impulsive, outrageous behavior. When he landed his first professional position in a large firm, his outgoing personality and edgy humor garnered big laughs at the water cooler.

During the company's annual cookout, he was introduced to several managers. After a few moments of small talk, Jimmy launched into one of his favorite edgy jokes and was surprised that instead of laughter, several of the managers were visibly angry.

In that single impulsive decision, Jimmy derailed his own goals. Instead of growing his network to include individuals in leadership who could help him advance in the company, he gained a reputation as being insensitive, inappropriate, and not fit for advancement.

Get Drunk

Alcohol is a given at most social events, and a drink in our hand can become an effective prop for many of us who may not feel quite comfortable when first entering a room full of strangers. And a discussion about a shared interest in the nuances of the growing brew industry or a passion for wines can be an excellent way to bond with others. But when alcohol becomes a crutch that allows us to lose our inhibitions, we run a serious risk of living with regret the next morning.

Gary had worked for Jill for several years and gained a reputation as a valuable contributor to her team. She respected the insights he shared during committee meetings and had earned several promotions. When she invited him to a private cocktail party with several community leaders and industry influencers, he was excited to gain entrance into this new, powerful community.

When Gary arrived, he was nervous. He took advantage of the open bar and downed several drinks as he worked the room. With each drink, his confidence increased - and his awareness in his own behavior decreased. Despite his insistence that he was fine, Jill insisted that she call for a ride to take him home.
While Gary was able to apologize to Jill and repair his professional relationship with his boss, he failed to capitalize on an opportunity she had provided for him to expand his network and opportunities.

While it is vital that we assimilate into the culture of an event, if we use alcohol as a means to overcome our insecurities, we may find we have even more insecurities to address when we sober up. 

Image Credit: Getty Images
Source: www.inc.com  

ABOUT WNFP
Westchester Networking for Professionals (WNFP) is an organization consisting of professionals and entrepreneurs which focuses on the success of our Members. We help our Members establish lasting relationships and generate new business opportunities towards the growth of their business.
Stay Connected with WNFP!