Thoughts on Networking

My wife and I headed to the Bozeman Area Chamber of Commerce Business After Hours event last night. The new First Security Bank hosted this months event. This event is monthly and is a great way to meet other businesses in town. There is always a company catering the event with food and another with drinks. A jazz band was also playing. This was my first time to be at this event (Jenni has been before) so I was not sure what to expect. The parking lot was packed and the room was even more full -- a great turnout in my opinion. I was very interested in getting our business cards out to people and talking about Cafe Evoke Catering. We walked around a bit and talked with some people that we knew and then began to just mingle around. I began to think of networking tactics that I had learned while at Belmont University. We only talked about it twice while I was there which -- at the time -- I thought was plenty. I think I was wrong. I had my name tag on the right hand side so that when shaking hands, people would be looking directly at my name. I had my business cards in my shirt pocket in order to get to them easily. The thing I was missing was a conversation starter -- something that makes people ask questions. I was once in a seminar with a lady that specializes in networking. She explained that she always wears a fancy brooch or something that will catch the eye of the person she is trying to talk with. That instantly starts a conversation she says. While I did meet a few new people, I did not feel that I made any business relationships. We are going to see what we can work out for name tags or shirts for events like this as I think it would help. What other techniques are there that we should be doing at these events? I am really enjoying them but feel I need to work on my networking skills a bit more. Any books out there that would help? Any advice on the subject? Leave a comment and let me know. ..be bold Tagged: bozeman area chamber of commerce, business after hours, networking, cafe evoke, catering, bozeman, montana, first security bank, coffee, tea, espresso