ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Small Business Guide: Networking to Help Market your Small Business

Updated on May 31, 2010

FACT: People are more likely to do business with someone that they are familiar with.

It's true, people in general are more likely to solicit services or purchase products from someone that they know than from someone who is a stranger. In the event that they do not know someone who can provide the services ore products they desire, people often either ask people they do know for recommendations or they go with a name that sounds familiar to them. And for this reason, networking is the number one method of growing your small business.

Networking is a fancy word, but it's not particularly a fancy activity. All that it really means is that you're out there, meeting people and letting them know about your work. It's not the same thing as sales; you aren't trying to convince someone to get your product or sign up for your service right now. You're simply introducing yourself to them and making them aware of your work so that, should they need what you can offer, they think of you. If they're familiar with your name, they'll come to your first. So, networking is all about making sure you know people and that they know you.

There are two levels of networking that you need to keep in mind at all times. One is casual and the other is proactive ... and both are important to growing your small business. Casual networking just means making sure that you mention your business, as appropriate, in your every day unrelated-to-work activities. When your hairdresser asks what you do for a living, give her a genuine answer and follow it up with a business card. If you can easily see how your service might work for her, mention it. This is the kind of word-of-mouth that happens every day and it's how you spread your name.

Your casual networking is important, but it's something that will grow your business slowly. In order to get more immediate traffic increase to your business, you'll also want to do more proactive networking. This means that you'll identify locations where potential customers are likely to be and then go to those locations, even if they aren't the places that you spend time on a regular basis. Conventions, workshops, and other business activities are excellent networking locations but you should also think outside of these boxes; consider the hobbies and activity interests of those who are in your target market and begin to participate in them. For example, if you sell design services, your target may include musicians who could use your services for their CD packaging; begin attending events where musicians can be found.

Also, remember that networking doesn't just happen when you are out, walking around the world. Of course, that face-to-face connection is the best networking that there is. But you can also use online networking and phone meetings to meet others and let them know about your work. Any chance that you get to make sure that your name is heard or seen by someone is a chance that you get to make an impression on them. And if they can easily associate that name with your product or service, then they'll be more likely to come straight to you when they see a need for it in their lives.

That's what networking is all about!

working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)