Let’s Tweetup and Have Coffee May 13, 2009
Meetups, Tweetups and Other Modern Networking Events You Should Attend
We all know that one of the most important things that you can do for your business is to stay constantly engaged in networking. Traditionally, we have done this through attending industry conferences that are related to our businesses. In modern times, we tend to forego those conferences in favor of online networking. To maximize the networking potential in today’s society, it is important to combine these two approaches. Some people do this by attending traditional networking events and then connecting with the other attendees online afterwards. This is a good approach but you should also work in the opposite direction by taking your online social networking offline to put a face to the name and strengthen the bonds that you’ve created through the Internet. There are three major types of networking events that you should attend to connect in person with your online contacts: meetups, tweetups and Web 2.0 conferences.
Meetups are social gatherings (or mixers) designed to bring together different people from the same industry. These are great because you can identify good meetups online and begin networking with the other people who may attend. Add these people to your Facebook, LinkedIn and Twitter profiles and start the conversation before the meetup takes place. This gives you a solid foundation for developing your offline relationship when the meetup occurs. Meetups may be at bars, restaurants or local events related to your industry. They are particularly great for freelancers who may not otherwise meet local people in the same line of work but can be useful for all types of entrepreneurs.
A spin-off of the Meetup is the Tweetup. These are gatherings of Twitter users that are beginning to crop up across the nation. Tweetups are great because they bring together Twitter users from diverse industries. With Meetups, you’re only connecting to those people who already work in the same area of business that you do. With Tweetups, you are meeting many different types of people including those people who are likely to be interested in purchasing the product or service that you sell. Stay active with your networking on Twitter, connect in person with Twitter users at local Tweetups and then follow up by re-connecting with those folks on Twitter after the event is over.
Finally, you may want to take things to the next level by attending Web 2.0 conferences that happen throughout the year. Even if your business isn’t providing Web 2.0 services, this is a great way to learn more about improving your business with great web marketing. At the same time, you’ll be connecting with new people who are obviously connected to online social networks. Exchanging contact information with them at the event, you can then follow through with maintaining your online social networking with them after the event is over. By working back and forth in this way (connecting online, meeting offline at one of these events and then re-connecting online) you create a solid networking approach that benefits your business far more than simply one method of networking or the other.
[...] Networking is one of the most important things that you can do to grow your business and improve yourself professionally. Although today’s networking takes place primarily online, there are a lot of places where you can go to meet business contacts in person. [...]