Has Traditional “Networking” Been Replaced By Online “Social Networking”?
Article by David C
With use of internet, online networking has been used by many as a part of their marketing strategy to further enhance and expand their businesses. But with the advancement of technology, is there still a need to go back and use the conventional and traditional ways?
While there are a lot of networking organization and companies that have been taking advantage of the web but there is still a relevant number of businesses that still uses what they called as offline networking.
Though the use of social networking sites such as Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn and many others are equally useful to build and widen your business links, making use of offline networking is still just as important, if not more important than online networking.
In building your offline network the first thing that you must do is to prepare yourself. You have to be ready and know what to expect. Unlike online networking, this one requires your appearance and you have to be equipped not just physically but emotionally and psychologically. You must understand what it’s like to be in front of many people. You must also make a strategic plan on how you plan on networking with the group.
What are the things that you need to say and what is it that you have to do to catch the attention of the other people in the group. When networking, make sure that you are a good listener. Ask what they do and how you can help them, then share information about yourself. It is the biggest mistake to go into a conversation with a new contact and only talk about yourself and how great you are, then be sure to exchange business cards with each other.
Your business cards must be professional business card and high quality business cards since they will be a reflection of you and your business.
Attending offline networking is a significant step to market and widen your connections. You can have instant and quick results through this. Unlike online network, this one, you can see face to face the people you are dealing with. You can tell right at the moment whether they are interested or not in your business. And with so many scams and unlicensed businesses in the web today, offline marketing has a greater advantage. People would easily believe and be convinced that that are dealing with a real thing and not just a fake online campaigns. This is also an excellent opportunity to meet people with the same interest as you are. You can exchange and share ideas that will benefit you both. And since you are dealing in person, you can instantly tell if the person or company that you are dealing with is authentic or not.
Regardless of the rampant use of the internet for business marketing, offline networking remains to be a significant and valuable technique to further develop and improve one’s company or organization.
The number one most important tool for offline networking is having an eye-catching and informative business card, but you don’t have to spend a lot of money. Visit http://www.premiumbusinesscardsonline.com for quality business cards price comparisons and coupon codes for the top four business card printing services online.
