For your business to meet its full potential, you will need to be actively marketing and networking. We would encourage you to join a networking group if your local
A sure fire way to generate new customers as an Accountants247 business owner is to join and work with as many local networking events as possible. Here are 5 great reasons to join a Networking Group.
#1 – Break out of your comfort zone
Attending conference and networking events forces you to break out of your comfort zone.
It’s easy to watch a webinar from the privacy of your own office, you won’t break a sweat listening to a podcast (unless you’re on the treadmill.) You don’t have to make small talk while your YouTube video loads up.
While there are those among us who are born networkers, for many of us, live events, and other people, can be a challenge. But breaking out of our comfort zones is just the type of action we need to take to break out of old ways of thinking.
If you’re absolutely terrified of the idea of going to a conference, why not bring a colleague so you won’t feel completely on your own.
#2 – There’s nothing like being in a room of like-minded people
When you sit in a room and you discover that you’re not alone in experiencing the various difficulties within your business, or wanting to improve your skills and bring something back to your office or organisation.
Other people who are willing to take time away from the office to learn something new, other people who want to “better” themselves. That energy is lacking in all online learning channels, regardless of how much chatter there may be around a hashtag.
#3 – Sharpen the saw
The idea is that sometimes you must take a break from the “work” of your work to sharpen your skills. A dull axe won’t cut a tree nearly as effectively as a sharp one. Stephen Covey lists this as his seventh habit of highly effective people.
We always return from a conference with new ideas and approaches that make us more effective and efficient at work.
Don’t be the woodcutter hacking away at the tree with a dull axe while your competition cuts it down in half the time with a sharp one.
#4 – Meet Experts & Leaders Face to Face
While not all conferences offer you the opportunity to meet your business idols, having the opportunity to be in the same room as them and to listen about how they approach business is certainly a great experience and one that you can only benefit from.
To help you understand how leaders in business approach and to overcome challenges are greatly improved when you’re sharing the same space.
That could never have happened from an online webinar.
#5 – Networking Opportunities
Good conferences and events have opportunities for attendees to mix and mingle, form new relationships, and strengthen existing ones. Over coffee, lunch, or cocktails, you may make a connection with the perfect provider or prospect. At a breakout session, you may find yourself sitting next to your next customer or mentor.
Or, if you don’t go, maybe your biggest competitor will be sitting in your seat.
