Networking Events Near Me: How Digital Networking Is Changing The Game

Networking Events Near Me: How Digital Networking Is Changing The Game

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Networking Events Near Me: How Digital Networking Is Changing The Game

In this day and age, the idea of in-person networking is quickly fading away into nonexistence. With 90% of the workforce in America moving to remote work, meeting and networking in person is becoming a thing of the past.

In fact, most entrepreneurs have readily shed this concept and started attending online networking events using such interfaces as Zoom, Google Meet, and Microsoft Teams. These platforms allow the ability to bring together professionals from all over the world to network and source referrals in real-time, no travel required.

Troublesome Trends In Online Business Networking

But with so many distractions surrounding an entrepreneur’s life, it’s becoming increasingly difficult to keep attendees focused on the meetings that they decide to attend. Most attendees shut off their camera and only turn it on to announce what it is that they’re promoting! Once they’re done, they’ll turn off their camera or leave the meeting entirely. Talk about bad networking!

Another trend we’ve seen among entrepreneurs is that they try to join as many online networking events as possible, thinking that if they cast their net wide enough, they’ll be able to reel in more success in sourcing referrals. These serial networkers end up achieving the opposite in the end. They’re always the new face in the room and since networking is synonymous with relationship-building, success with this method is rare.

How To Find Success With Online Networking

Even with these troublesome trends, it’s still possible to find amazing success when networking online. If you’re new to the game and not sure where to start, we’re here to help.

When starting out with this method of networking, it’s always best to visit as many groups as possible to figure out where you feel most at home. Once you find that group, join it and become a part of the group’s success. This group should make you feel excited to attend regular meetings but also should have group priorities that are in line with your values and goals.

Additionally, if you offer services locally, it would be best to look for a local networking group, even if it meets online. If you offer services internally, you’ll want to join a networking group that allows the members to reach people in the markets that they serve.

Oftentimes, the process of finding the right group to join is a lengthy one, but it pays to take the time to find it. After all, good things do take time!

How MNO Can Help You Network Online

If you’re still feeling a bit stuck in the world of online networking, we’re here to help. Our MNO app combines the benefits of being in a local group with the reach of an international market. For example, an insurance agent can join the Nashville-based MNO chapter so that he can serve clients in the Nashville area. But if they’re also licensed in other states, the members will be able to share their feature links in groups and platforms that are in the other states that they are licensed in.

In regards to finding a group that you’ll actually look forward to attending every week, MNO combines members from many different industries, including real estate, financial services and music. Musicians can join to promote their music and are also a great source of referrals, just as business professionals can be a great source of exposure for musicians’ music.

Lastly, MNO employs an entire department that is dedicated to inviting new visitors to all of the chapter’s weekly meetings. This ensures that exciting new energy is brought to the meetings without the members being burdened with inviting new visitors every week.

Are you ready to get started with MNO and ace the online networking game? Visit a Chapter below!

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Referral Networking | How To Nurture A Relationship With Your Top Connection

Referral Networking | How To Nurture A Relationship With Your Top Connection

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How To Nurture A Relationship With Your Top Connection

In the world of business referral networking, there’s nothing quite like a successful connection. The right connections can help you grow your reach through offering referrals to their network for your services, effectively helping you to net new potential clients.

In creating and maintaining connections, it’s all about the relationship. To truly find success, it’s important to take the time and dedicate the energy to nurture and grow these relationships to a state of mutual professional trust and understanding. But if you’re new to the networking game, how do you get started in growing a top connection?

If you’re feeling stuck, we’re here to help. Here are some of our top tips for nurturing your relationships with your top professional connections to help generate more referrals and more revenue for both of you.

Don’t Forget To Play It Forward

At MNO, our main philosophy is always to play it forward. Basically, this means to proactively help others, whether there’s an expectation to receive something in return or not.

When it comes to fostering relationships with your connections, it’s always best to follow this practice rather than to wait for your next opportunity to come from them first. In the world of business, we tend to keep our cards close to our chest, but if you’re the first one to send your connection a referral, you will hold the upper hand in asking them to reciprocate this generous act.

The Process Is A Two-Way Street

The relationship between two connections is and always should be considered to be a two-way street. One should never enter a relationship expecting the other party to be the only one creating opportunities for them.

Since connections are professionals in the same industry that don’t compete with one another, it’s much easier to speak to one’s clients about their connections’ services. For example, when a CPA does a client’s taxes, it’s quite easy to recommend that they also sit with a financial advisor to place some of their assets in tax-sheltered accounts. In this same example, when a financial advisor places a client’s assets into a tax-sheltered account, they can recommend that they meet with their trusted CPA to make sure that their taxes are filed properly.

Let MNO Take The Guesswork Out Of It

When an MNO member identifies their top connections, they can use the app to create feature links that are designed to source these connections when they’re shared on their fellow members’ social media platforms.

For example, a mortgage lender in an MNO chapter can create a featured link asking to be connected with a realtor who’s looking to partner up with a reliable mortgage lender who is able to send them clients in return.

With just one feature link, an MNO app member can generate multiple connections for their fellow members, thus multiplying their ability to generate revenues from these connections. Now that is the perfect way to nurture a relationship with your top connections!

Ready to get started with referral networking and building effective relationships through MNO? Visit a Chapter below!

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How Business Networking Online Can Help You Reach New Customers

How Business Networking Online Can Help You Reach New Customers

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How Business Networking Online Can Help You Reach New Customers

When it comes to building and expanding your network of clients and customers, there’s nothing quite like the power of word of mouth. This method is extremely effective in many, if not all, circles, as it is more like a personal recommendation rather than a professional business referral. However, it can quickly prove to be limiting if you’re not careful.

With traditional networking groups that rely on word-of-mouth referrals, you run the risk of getting stuck. This type of referral is only typically done when engaging with someone in need of a service, so you can quickly become limited on how far you can reach.

The Power Of Online Networking Groups

This is where online social networking groups can step in and help. A perfect complement to traditional word-of-mouth referrals, social media groups can cast a much wider net to hopefully attract new clients, with a potential worldwide reach.

When a member of your online social networking group or referral group shares your links on their social media, they’re in essence creating an ad for you with their signature or stamp of approval. Much like Yelp and other review-based websites, a referral group can help generate referrals between the members via their endorsement of each others’ products and/or services. A simple share on Instagram or a quick tweet can result in an influx of new potential clients.

How To Use Online Networking Groups

If you’re considering using an online social media networking group to help you generate referrals, chances are you’re already feeling stuck and have had a few key questions arise: “What links should be used? What should be specifically said about you? Where should the link be shared? What are we trying to accomplish with the link?”

With the MNO member app, you can easily answer all of the questions above and much more. Using the app, each member is allowed to not only designate which link(s) they want to be shared on social media but also where they want them shared (ex: in a Real Estate Group on Facebook, to their professional LinkedIn network), what should be stated to accompany the link, and what the end goal is in sharing the link (ex: landing a new client, increasing social media presence, etc.). These multifaceted links are called ‘Feature Links’ in MNO and the members share each others’ feature links in hopes of securing even more referrals than traditional word-of-mouth referrals.

In the MNO app, word-of-mouth referrals can be logged and tracked. The act of sharing feature links through the app across many social platforms and forums with just a few clicks have been proven to help both businesses’ and musicians’ business grow exponentially.

Ready to get started with MNO? Visit a chapter below.

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