#011: Smart Networking Strategies for Freelance Writers

Welcome to the High Income Business Writing Podcast, helping you propel your writing business to a whole new level. And now, here's your host, Ed Gandia.

Hey everyone, thanks for joining me for episode number 11 of the High Income Business Writing Podcast. I am your host, Ed Gandia and this is the podcast for business writers and copywriters who want to take their writing businesses to the six figure level or the part time equivalent. You can find detailed show notes this episode by going to b2b launcher.com episode 11 the number 11. So I'm very excited about my guest today, Elise Bennen. Elise is a good friend, she's a colleague and she's a very smart lady. She runs the marketing mentor blog website newsletter and she's been working with freelancers, solo professionals and entrepreneurs for a long time. And her specialty is prospecting and getting more and better quality clients. One of her true specialties in my opinion is networking. I think Elise is very smart and very strategic in the way she approaches and teaches networking. And the thing about networking is that it's one of those things that freaks out a lot of freelancers, especially freelance writers. Many of us are more on the introverted side. And the idea of having to go somewhere and work a room and shake hands and get business cards, that is.

Kind of nerve wracking.

So what Elise talks about is how.

To take a lot of this fear and anxiety out of the process.

And really it boils down to knowing how to approach networking events and networking opportunities and how to prepare better for them. And that's what we're going to be talking about today. Elise is going to show you how to go about networking a little bit more strategically, how to prepare better so you can make the best use of your time. Some smart things that you can do to stand out to get notice and to increase your chances of starting some good dialogue with the right people, not just at the event, but taking that beyond the event and then how to determine if the event was successful. And finally, we're going to talk about online networking and whether or not some of these online networking platforms can replace some live on site networking events. This is part of a longer conversation that Elise and I had on this.

Topic a few weeks back. I'm going to jump right in the middle of it. I hope you enjoy it.

I really do think that this strategic networking starts with deciding what kind of event you're going to based on the goal that you have.

That's a good point. And you know, we should probably also distinguish between networking events where you're looking for potential clients or prospects and those where you're maybe looking to network with some of your peers. Right?

Yes.

So tell me a little bit about that because I know that there's different really approaches to both.

Right. Well. And you know, because I help people with marketing, my focus is usually on the networking events where they're going to meet their prospects. And even amongst all of those, there are so many different types from a big conference and or trade show where you go and spend more than a day usually and you're immersed in the event and seeing the same people for a longer period of time than just an hour or two. And then on the other end of the spectrum, there are breakfasts and lunches and cocktail hours and networking, business card exchanges and everything in between. And one thing I've noticed recently is that if you're going to meet actual prospects, usually you want to go to an event where there's some content, where there's a speaker or a panel or something to be learned. Because the strictly networking oriented business card exchanges, especially the ones put on by a local chamber of commerce, etc. Are more likely to draw vendors. Only vendors, which you are one of, that's okay. Than the actual buyers, which is what ideally you'd be looking for.

That's one way to look for the right venues. Right. It's just kind of looking to see if they have actual content that they're delivering there because that's going to attract the right kind of people. What other factors do you look for in order to determine if it's going to be the right event to go to?

You want to make sure that the right people are going to be there. So, for example, because I work with so many designers and copywriters and people involved in the marketing aspect of any industry, when someone, for example, is thinking about targeting the technology industry, which is huge, first of all, or let's just say software, since you know a little bit about software, then you will find a lot of events to go to that are about software, but even more specific, they should be about marketing software so that you'll be sure to meet the right people as opposed to people with all different titles that know nothing about what you could do for them.

That's a very good point because I was doing exactly that when I started networking locally. And there's an association in here called the Technology association of Georgia. And they have multiple, and I forget the term they use, but multiple subgroups.

Like special interest groups, I think.

Special interest groups, exactly. And the whole thing it was overwhelming because I had, I want to say we had 20 or over 20 of them. And it was very difficult at first for me to figure out, okay, which ones do I go to? Because all of these are dealing with technology. And of course, I mean, you know, looking back, it was actually very obvious they had a technology marketing special interest group, and that's the one I ended up joining and getting involved with. That's a very good point, and that.

Is the perfect one for you. But as you say, it's not obvious until you really start to focus on it and think about, well, where exactly would my prospects be? And then of course, for that, you have to know who your prospects are. What are their most typical titles, what kinds of topics are they interested in, and then the events that address those topics. You'll kind of be sure to find the right people there.

So that example that I gave you was kind of obvious, right? Because once I started going down the list, I said, oh, wait a minute, this might be it, right, the technology marketing group. But what if you're looking in an association and you're not really sure if they're going to have the types of titles that could potentially hire you? How do you make that decision when you're kind of outside looking in?

I mean, I would look at everything from an organization's email newsletter where they promote the events to see are they talking about or addressing the types of topics that you have something to say about. Or, you know, you scour their website to see if they have a forum or a blog or experts or speakers, anything again, on the topics that you would be interested in and that your prospects would be interested in. And then, you know what you can call them. This is the thing I sometimes suggest to people like, oh, I can pick up the phone and call and ask.

My question and talk to a human.

Right? Not a novel idea.

So what would you ask?

I mean, if you were to call them, what would you. What would you want to know?

Or what would you ask them directly?

Well, if I were you, for example, I would say I'm a copywriter that specializes in technology and software, and I'm looking to meet the marketing people at technology companies. Do you think those are the people who would be attending this event next Thursday?

Interesting.

And you know what is interesting actually about that is again, to me, it's kind of an obvious thing. But a lot of people assume that because they are not the thing or the type of title that is a member of the organization, they won't be welcomed. They feel Intimidated, they feel kind of guilty often for looking for work and that they won't be allowed. Sometimes people imagine they won't be allowed at the event and usually the case is if you pay your money, you're allowed.

Yeah, I've been on the other side and I can, I will agree with that. They're looking to fill the event and because if you're a non member, in which case, in these cases, these examples we're giving, you're probably not going to be, you're going to pay a fee at the door, 15, $20 or whatever. And they're looking to get as many of those as possible because that goes straight into their funds. So that's a good point. So let's talk a little bit about. Okay, let's say you've picked an event, you've researched it, you've researched the organization, the specific event. It looks like there's going to be some potential clients there. How can you best prepare to make the best of your time so often?

So let's start talking about how the social media, which a lot of people think of as networking also and sometimes imagine can replace the kind of in person, face to face networking that we're talking about. But there is a role for social media in this networking process. And one thing I'm seeing people doing quite a lot lately is using social media, whether it's Twitter or Facebook or Meetup or LinkedIn especially to make an initial connection before you actually meet the person. And so on Meetup for example, you can see who all is going to. And a lot of events are starting now to promote and list the attendees. And so you can use that information, you can access it, you can search for the people and selectively, I would suggest, choose who you want to pre connect with.

Interesting. Okay.

I did this recently actually. Excuse me, I. Here in Hoboken we have the New Jersey Tech Meetup which has just over 2,000 members on the Meetup group and they cap the monthly meetings at 150 people. They're held at the Stevens Institute for technology which is 10 minute walk from my house. And I saw recently that one of the Internet entrepreneurs that was speaking was someone in the design industry that I was interested in meeting. And so I pre tweeted him the night before and I said looking forward to meeting you at the event. And I wasn't sure what he was going to do if he would tweet back. But the next morning I noticed that he had favorited my tweet for some reason. And again, I didn't know what that meant, but I went to the event and I saw him immediately when he came in, during the networking portion, approached him, I actually, I wrote a blog post about this because I tapped him on the shoulder. And so then we did a whole blog series actually on shoulder tapping as a networking technique. And I tapped him on the shoulder and I said, you know, I'm the one who tweeted you, I'd love to chat. And he said, yes, of course. And he came over to me after he had had his pizza and. And we had a nice 10 minute conversation and not that that wouldn't have happened if I hadn't tweeted him. And it took him a while to make the connection between, oh, that was you. Okay, and here you are. Okay. But I think it's helpful to lay a little groundwork whenever possible so that we can use that as just a thread in our follow up afterwards too.

I think that's very smart and I do agree, because think about where you are regardless of your personality. If you go to any of these events, it can be a little overwhelming. You go there and right away there's lots of people you're talking to a lot of different people. I mean, time flies. And if you can lay that groundwork, I think you increase your chances that the person will first of all recognize you, maybe even have a good discussion starter and I think provide the foundation for maybe a more meaningful conversation.

Mm, absolutely. And I think this can also easily be done on LinkedIn. You know, again, I was reaching out to the speaker, which anyone can do, because that information is public. You don't always know who the attendees are going to be. But often if it's a group, a trade association, or a community that you've started to become involved in, then you do start to get to know who's going to attend. And maybe the group has a LinkedIn group where you could post a discussion. You can initiate a discussion asking who's going to the event next Thursday and then start to lay a little foundation in advance there too.

I like that. And I think with a lot of this especially, I'm kind of halfway between an introvert and an extrovert. It depends on the situation. I'm not really sure. I can't really classify myself as either or, but I've found that it becomes a lot easier if I'm either a speaking at the event. That changes everything for me.

I don't know why.

I heard Bob Lye once talk about that, about how he's very nervous in A room full of people, unless he's speaking. And I didn't get it at the time. And then when I started speaking, I felt the same way. So if I'm either speaking or if I've laid that groundwork with some people, maybe started a discussion online prior to the event. I love your idea of tweeting, you know, about that person in their presentation. Any of those things, I think, I don't know, maybe psychologically it takes that weight off and makes me a little more relaxed.

Yeah. You know, actually, I think there's a larger issue here that might be interesting to explore because even when it comes to prospecting, whether it's warm email prospecting or cold prospecting or cold calling, as I've been talking about these things with people, I'm noticing a distinction or like a common characteristic, which is that often people say to me, if they come to me, I have no problem talking to them. It's just that when I have to go to them and I don't know how they're going to respond, that's when I'm quote, unquote shy or an introvert or terrified some people. And so I was starting to think about, well, why is that? Like, what is it about someone coming to you that makes you relax? Number one, you know, they already have accepted your invitation or they're open to talking to you. Why assume the person who you don't know yet isn't. That's my question.

That's. I, that's a very good. I don't know, I think it has something to do with the fact that you don't feel awkward doing it. Right. It's where many times if you're starting from scratch and you're the one making the outreach, it can feel a little awkward. But if you've planted that seed, then a lot of it's coming from them. And that doesn't seem as unnatural to a lot of people.

And it seems like your whole course on warm email prospecting is kind of built on that idea that if you can make a connection in advance, then it's almost as good maybe as them coming to you, it starts to bridge that gap.

Absolutely, absolutely. In fact, it's interesting because I've tried the same technique you're talking about, not in that way with the speaker, but also not in a very specific networking event. But I did it a couple of years ago at a conference and actually it was Jack Canfield. He was doing a conference here in town and it was a one day thing and I was really excited Because I've never been to one of his conferences, and it was a workshop, not a conference. Anyway, I was tweeting the night before about, hey, I'm just so looking forward to going to this event tomorrow. Let me know if you're going. You know, I'd love to hear anybody out there in the. In the. In the tweeter sphere if you're going. And I think there was even a hashtag for the event. And right away, I think three people responded. And it was so cool, because I think two out of those three people I met that morning before the workshop started, they came to me or I found them, you know, so now we had a picture right in our minds of what the other person looked like. And it became a lot easier than trying to, like, Right. Go into one of these little circles, these little clicks where people are already talking and trying to join in the conversation.

That actually is another interesting idea. I saw this. Someone tweeted it this morning, in fact, in advance of the HOW conference and the Creative Freelancer conference. Someone wrote, be sure to print out your Twitter pic and put it on your name tag for when we get there. And I don't think I've ever actually seen that yet, but I think it's a really good idea. Although I don't really have a printer that I could do that on, I think. But most people perhaps do. But that idea of, now we have pictures of people that we can associate with their names, obviously, and meeting them in person, because part of the awkwardness, I think, sometimes comes from, at least for me, not knowing if I'm going to be able to find the person I connected with.

I agree. And the thing with it, I love the idea of the twit pic because.

Many times you would kind of recognize.

The face, but it's the exact setup, the way the picture was taken, that you recognize the most, not necessarily the exact face.

Right. And sometimes it's not even a picture of the person, but you've already associated that image, whatever it is, with their name.

Yeah, true. Their logo or some other picture that they've been using. Yeah, that's a great point.

Nice.

I'd love to hear how that works out. By the way. It sounds like it would work, but let me know after the event.

We'll see.

So let's talk about some other smart things that you could do during the event itself to stand out, to get notice and just overall increase your chances of starting some dialogue that will go beyond the event itself.

Well, I think here's an example that came to my mind just a few minutes ago. And I think it responds to what you're asking here. But if it's not, tell me. I had a client who last month attended an event and her target market is nonprofits, especially nonprofits that are focused on women oriented issues. So women oriented organizations, etc. And so she went to this event and I think it was someone from the American Red Cross was there and. And she was busy tweeting during the event about some of the things that the speakers and the panelists were saying. And she found that some of these large organizations that she's actually interested in working with were retweeting her tweets. And so that gave her an instant connection. And so I was thinking also about how you can. This is perhaps especially good for introverts and shy people who don't necessarily want to be talking at these events to be tweeting, because then at least you're connecting with some people in a way that is perhaps more comfortable. And as you were just asking, laying some groundwork for future follow up.

I love that idea because it's different. It's different and I think it will get noticed. And you're right, it's kind of a half introvert. I see how it could. It can make it a little easier.

What about in terms of, you know.

Because the general advice you always hear is like, hey, walk away with a bunch of business cards. I mean, I never really bought into that. That never really resonated with me.

In terms of, you know, quality versus.

Quantity and what you want to get out of the event, you know, what are some general recommendations?

I think that it is important to have goals, but I agree that quantity is not necessarily the way to frame those goals. So when I go lately, for example, I am looking for one or two really good connections. Everything else is gravy. And so I want to have. What that means is I want to have a substantial conversation with someone with whom there is some potential and a reason to follow up. And one or two is generally easy. It's not overwhelming. I think part of what is overwhelming when people try to set some goals for themselves based on quantity is that you're not really paying attention to what's actually happening. You're just trying to reach your goal. And for me to have just one or maybe two at the most, solid connections is plenty.

I think it's very good advice. The anxiety does go up when you feel you have to. You set some goal of, let's say, five, and you're Having a really good conversation with just one person and the event is more than halfway over, you.

Think, oh, I'm supposed to be talking to other people. But it's in your best interest to just keep the conversation going.

Tell me a little bit about, because I know you're really good at this. And this is an area where I think most people have trouble in, which is the whole elevator speech. Any tips that you have as to how to make this a little bit more stress free?

So the first tip is you be the one to ask first, don't wait to be asked, which requires especially of the introvert and shy people to take a little bit more initiative. But it's worth it because that way the other person, number one, talks first and gives you some information that you can use. Then when it's your turn to answer the question. So then when it is your turn to answer the question, the biggest mistake I see people making is the assumption that you're supposed to distill everything you do into one sentence so that you can say it to them in answer to the question, what do you do? And that's not at all, in my opinion, the point of that elevator pitch, the point is to get into a conversation. And so the important thing to say is the thing that will get them interested or engaged in talking with you. So ideally that is something related to what they've said.

All right, so, and I got a couple more questions for you, Lyse, but one of them is this whole issue of continuing the conversation because you could do things right at the event and start some dialogue. But how do you take that from the event to an ongoing conversation offline?

Well, the first thing is that when you're talking to someone, there's no reason not to make some notes about what it was that you were talking about. Like to be starting your follow up while you're still there, to be thinking about how you're going to follow up rather than wait until you get back to your desk and then you have to kind of recreate in your mind, all right, what were we talking about and what should the next step be? To be thinking of that in the moment and make a note of it for yourself so that you can be more fluid in the follow up process. And then, you know, really the point is just to find whatever that next step is. And usually it's, I'll show you some samples, I'll call and we can have a 10 minute chat. I have a brochure I can send you. You know, again, people I think go Often to a networking event because they're in the feast or famine mode and they need something right away and they go expecting to come back with a job and that is really not very realistic, although it does sometimes happen. So the idea of going and thinking about, you know, initiating some new connections, nurturing other connections and just keeping the conversation going. So as a follow up, what is the most logical next step with each different person? You really do have to think about it on a case by case basis and then be able to take that step and keep track of where you are in the process with each person so that you can develop these prospects, the best ones only, into actual qualified leads.

I think it's very smart advice and I would add that if you're going to an event because you're in feast and famine cycle and you set that expectation to walk away with a really solid lead, I would urge you to let that go and not make that a goal because that will only add more anxiety to the process and you're going to be very ineffective. I think it's going to work against you. I know from experience.

Yeah, it's true.

One last question and that is do.

You feel that online networking, as many.

Social media platforms than there are out.

There, do you think they can replace.

Face to face events?

The short answer is no. I think what happens is in a face to face event, needless to say, you have an actual live experience with a real other person and the effect of that, the impression that is left on both of you and is so much deeper and stronger than anything in my opinion that could potentially happen online. Because online the pace is really fast and the images are not necessarily related to the names or they're not pictures of people as we were saying before, and there's this constant barrage of them. So I think a lot of it just stays on the surface and it's very difficult to make a real connection. I like social media to make an initial connection, a spark to get you going. But I really think that in person networking is so, so important. And you know, there are lots of people I work with whose goal is to create a virtual business so that they can have prospects and clients nationally, which makes it a little bit more difficult because local networking doesn't really work for them. But in those cases, I highly recommend that you choose a market, number one, that has an annual conference that you can go to and perhaps eventually speak at and then make the actual effort and investment to go and be with the people in person when you can.

That's a Great point, because that was my follow up question. What do you do if you live out in the middle of nowhere or that's what you wanted to do, establish a virtual business. And I think it's very sound advice. Make sure that you go to one or two annual conferences where it really makes sense. And you know what, I've also found.

That sometimes, and especially if you can.

Get to speak at one of those, you can get there via the blog of that conference or that organization. So sometimes it's, you know, you don't go from zero unknown to I'm a speaker. Many times you build up to that right by offering to be a guest blogger and you start building that relationship and then you try to get in as a speaker. And I think that again for those introverts, I can't tell you how much that has helped me. When you go in as a speaker, that makes the networking even more effective.

Yeah. I have one final comment for you.

Okay.

And this to me is, I've been thinking about this a lot lately. The big goal of not just networking but marketing is, is to find a community, essentially a market that could be, that is a community that you can become a part of. Because if you're choose, if you're trying out this market here and this market there and you're not really ever committing to an actual market, then you never become part of the community. And what happens when you become part of the community is number one, you're perceived as an expert in that community, in that target market. And more importantly, your marketing stops feeling like marketing. It is just your contribution to the community. It's what you do in your role with these people. And it's a beautiful feeling, I can tell you from experience, to play a role that is essentially an essential role in a community. But if you don't make a commitment to a market, you never get there.

That's an incredible point. And I would add that it doesn't have to be a market in terms of a specific target market or an industry. It could be a specific group of people or a type of organization. And this is why I am a big believer in getting involved in the organization, not just going to the events and joining some of the committees, joining the board, because that's really where the opportunities are going to come from. You know, people are going to recognize your work ethic and they're going to get to know you as a person. And it's not necessarily going to come from people you meet at the lunch meeting. In many cases it's going to come from your peers in the committee or the board. So I think that's a very, very solid point and that's what turns networking from a tactic into a strategy.

Elise, thanks for coming on. And before we sign off, where can people find out more about you?

So my main website is www.marketing mentor.com and I encourage everyone to sign up for my tips, which come through email. And you can sign up for those@marketing mentortips.com and then follow me on Twitter. I'm mmtoolbox.

Super. Thanks again Elise.

Thank you. I'd lovely to chat with you.

All right, folks, I hope you enjoyed that conversation with Elise. I can tell you that in my case, networking has been one of the most productive prospecting tactics that I've implemented in my freelance business. But it didn't really become that effective until I started following much of what we talked about in this conversation until I took a much more strategic approach to networking. Again, you can grab the detailed show notes for this episode@b2b launcher.com Episode 11 these are detailed notes and make great reference material, especially if you've listened to the show in the car or somewhere.

Where you just can't take notes.

And before I sign off, I have a quick favor to ask you. If you're enjoying the show, I would be very grateful if you could give it a quick rating or review in itunes. And the easiest way to do that is to go to b2b launcher.com Ratings and reviews play a huge factor in how itunes ranks their podcast. And as you can imagine, I'm trying to get this free educational material in front of as many people as possible. So the higher this podcast ranks, the more writers will find it who really need this information. So thank you in advance for your support and your ratings. Many of you have already done that.

I really appreciate that.

This brings us to the end of the episode. I'm your host, Ed Gandia. Thanks so much for listening and I.

Hope you have an awesome day.

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