Business Networking groups

[ppp123]

Hi all,

I am a Full stack Web Developer/ Web Designer and Graphic Designer. I have my own Web development Agency. It is called Spark Web Solutions.

I am looking for Business Networking groups to find customers. Any Business Networking groups, which can help me ?

Thanks.

 

[fisicx]

Unlikely. Most groups will already have established members offering these services. Have you joined local networking groups?

Edit: I see you offer digital marketing services, can’t you use these skills to generate leads.

 

[Ozzy]

Joining organisations like the local Chamber of Commerce and FSB groups will help, but like anything you will need to put effort into establishing yourselves at these groups as you will be one of many.
The Chamber will have smaller or small businesses, and it may take a while to get known in the room. The FSB is going to be micro businesses and trades, so to be honest probably unlikely to work for you.

If you are lucky enough to get into a local BNI group than in your line of work that would work well for you, if you can work to their rules and play the game. The problem you will have is that your market is very crowded and you'll find it difficult to find a group with a gap in your sector (as it's exclusive only).

Depending on your area, you may find the IoD run some events in your area. They are usually medium to larger businesses, and if you work the room and build relationships there you may find a larger and more sustainable client.

You should find some local business publications and get on their mailing list, as these usually have a list of local networking groups published in them. If not, then joining your local Chamber of Commerce and then ask them, they should be able to help give you a list.

 

[ppp123]

Unlikely. Most groups will already have established members offering these services. Have you joined local networking groups?

Edit: I see you offer digital marketing services, can’t you use these skills to generate leads.

Hi,
Thanks for your reply.

There are many web development agencies in town. People trust people, not Ads. When people recommend, more chances are that people believe it. I believe in trying both. This is just my opinion.

With kind regards,

 

[ppp123]

Joining organisations like the local Chamber of Commerce and FSB groups will help, but like anything you will need to put effort into establishing yourselves at these groups as you will be one of many.
The Chamber will have smaller or small businesses, and it may take a while to get known in the room. The FSB is going to be micro businesses and trades, so to be honest probably unlikely to work for you.

If you are lucky enough to get into a local BNI group than in your line of work that would work well for you, if you can work to their rules and play the game. The problem you will have is that your market is very crowded and you'll find it difficult to find a group with a gap in your sector (as it's exclusive only).

Depending on your area, you may find the IoD run some events in your area. They are usually medium to larger businesses, and if you work the room and build relationships there you may find a larger and more sustainable client.

You should find some local business publications and get on their mailing list, as these usually have a list of local networking groups published in them. If not, then joining your local Chamber of Commerce and then ask them, they should be able to help give you a list.

Hi Ozzy,

Your reply was very helpful. Thanks !

With kind regards,

 

[Mark T Jones]

Go along to a couple of local groups as a free guest, just to get a feel.

Don't be fooled by the 'leads' thar are passed around the table - they are mostly nonsense.

Do get a feel for whether you want to mix with those people (they vary greatly from one group to another)

Then, give a lot of thought to who you actually want as your customer and what level of service you want to offer.

From experience, these forced weekly groups do generate leads - but they are mostly rubbish (in your world, the type of start up that wants a website for £200, then blames you when it doesn't generate business)

To thirow in a cliche, quality business comes from quality sources. Local networking fed me a flow of rubbish leads with the odd gem. The gem always came from a resident bank manager. So I left the group & started networking in bank environments - which worked brilliantly until banks stopped talking to their customers.

I now network amongst my target customers- mostly hotels and care homes. It doesn't generate lots of leads, but each funding conversation is relevant and on target.

 

[fisicx]

I get most of my leads by giving away free stuff. Plugins and themes generate a lot of custom work.

@ppp123 - people don’t care if you are a full stack anything. They don’t care about you love of code, design, marketing of anything else. All they care about is the thing they need. Your job is to get people to say ‘I want one of those’. Which means lots of case studies, project report and portfolio pages.

 

[Paul Norman]

We have been in (sort of) that arena for 12 years or so.

We have got work from networking, but it is a long haul, and requires a LOT of effort. Try some groups - local and otherwise, online and offline, and see what works for you - it is a fairly personal thing.

Also, get yourself very visible online. And as stated above, use yourself as a case study - if you can make your own business get leads, you can do it for customers, too.

It is a competitive area, and you are going to have to kiss a lot of frogs. But it can be done - there are a number of us that have been making a living at this game for some years.

 

[Paul Green]

There is a diverse array of networking groups from mix 'n' mingle coffee mornings to more highly structured meetings like BNI. Some have agendas, others not. There is also a variety of pricing, times of day, frequency, membership and not, etc. Whilst a lot of networking is still online, it is a great time to try out all these different variants.

You can make most networking groups work for you by following some basic principles: regular attendance, be a giver not a taker, offer support, raise your profile through sharing your experience, bring visitors and give referrals.

Often, you will not find customers within the meeting; however there will be people that could be good referral partners.

Whatever networking you do; make sure you have goals you want to achieve when you attend e.g. connect with new people, arrange 121s, etc.

Remember that it is not just the formal event that is the be all and end all with networking - make use of the preamble before/after the meeting, arrange 121s with useful connections and most importantly follow-up with any referrals you are given or actions you agree to undertake.

 

[Paul Kelly ICHYB]

@ppp123 Where are you?

Your website doesn't say (which is naughty!).

 

[AW-UK]

I would suggest looking at local Meetup groups, getting involved with some local groups (can be a group of dog walkers for instance), get to know them, someone will know someone who wants that kind of work done.

You can approach local businesses who do not have a website or have a poorly designed website and give them a list of how you can make their business stand out.

Don't mention technologies or frameworks, people don't know or care if you use React, Angular, MySQL, Firebase, Node.JS, PHP, or even WordPress, they want to know how it will benefit them and their business.

 

[InsuranceBroker]

Eventbrite will show you what networking is available in your geographic area and area of interest.

 

[yyovvo]

I have used Eventbrite before and it covers a lot manual advice given above virtually, so certainly worth a try!