Seven Ancillary Benefits of Virtual Networking for Entrepreneurs
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Attending virtual networking events with the sole purpose of finding leads is so 2019
Since the pandemic, virtual events have come a long way in everything from the technology foundation used to host them, to the care that most event hosts take to ensure an enjoyable, value-added experience for attendees.
This is especially true for virtual networking events. In recent years, even speed networking events — the digital version of speed dating events, but for business owners to meet many fellow owners in a short period of time — are set up to give you value in so many more ways than just as a conduit for more ideal client profile (ICP) leads.
So if you go into these events with the goal to ICP lead-hunt only, you’re missing out on a ton of information and insights that will help you grow your business.
Here are seven business benefits, not including lead generation, that virtual networking events deliver:
Get instant feedback on your latest offer. At 98% of events, you are encouraged at some point to share your elevator pitch (which can include your newest offer) or what’s new for your business. This usually happens in breakout rooms where you’re “in the room” with typically 2-4 other business owners. This is basically a free focus group when it comes to sharing your current offer. While fellow folks in the room very likely won’t diss your offer, if they don’t like something about it, they’ll stay silent. However, if they like one or more things about it, most owners will share that with you. You can gauge the level of “no feedback” to “several pieces of positive feedback” to get a small-group take on what you’re offering, which can help you understand what’s working with it and what you might need to highlight more and/or change in it.
Find people who meet a need of someone in your network that you want to pitch to — or to keep the conversation going if you've already pitched them — that you can achieve by making an introduction. If you’re on LinkedIn, for example, you’re probably hearing in DMs and/or when reading posts from your connections about business owners’ vendor and staffing needs. If any of these folks are either your ICP or can help you reach more contacts matching your ICP, then the needs-matching services and products you learn about in virtual networking events can be just what you need as an impetus to reach out to your contacts to make introductions that you know have a strong likelihood of solving their pain point(s). These introductions help you because they keep you top of mind with folks you want to do business with, or who are connectors to those with whom you want to work.
Validate your tips and tricks for sharing on your social media and other marketing platforms. The longer you’re in business, the more shortcuts and tricks you develop to both run your enterprise more efficiently, and to meet and exceed client and customer expectations. This ever-growing knowledge base of value nuggets is perfect fodder for marketing content, such as social media posts and emails. However, on a given day when you’re trying to see the forest through the trees, it can be tough to know which nuggets will resonate most with your audience. The good news: breakout rooms in virtual networking events are the perfect laboratory to share your nuggets in consideration for wider sharing on your marketing platforms. This is where you can take full advantage of everyone having their camera on: when you share your nuggets of wisdom, look to see who’s looking off toward a second monitor to type what you said, as well as who’s looking down in their frame because they’re writing what you said on their notepad. For more context, I recently posted a video about this on LinkedIn.
Get on the radar of event hosts. Because virtual event hosts are super connectors — they meet many, many new business leaders all the time who are both attendees and sharers of their event — taking steps to get to know them one on one always amounts to a crazy huge return on your time investment. You’ll find that most event hosts are eager to meet with you to learn about your background and business and to suss out whom from their network they can connect with you to help you meet your goals.
Get real world insights on the most effective backgrounds to use on your business video calls. If you attend virtual networking events regularly, you’ll never need to read any articles or watch any videos on the best types of backgrounds to use on your Zoom, Google Meet, etc. calls that you conduct when you’re running your business, such as client discovery and paid consulting calls. This is because you’re continually seeing what other business leaders are using — across industries, zip codes, and even countries. Granted, because business-leader attendees are at different stages in their business and bring all ranges of years of experience, you will see some “dud” backgrounds, as well as ones you can tell are designed to be eye-catching in a Zoom gallery view and don’t do much for prospects beyond that. Still, I find it helpful to keep a pulse on what business leaders are currently using, both bad (so I know what to avoid for my own background) and good in terms of effectively advertising a business and communicating its brand message and key value points at a glance.
Emotional support to keep going and push the limits of what you can accomplish. Let’s face it: entrepreneurship is lonely, even for founders with spouses and families. Therefore, I love the built in emotional support that comes with commiserating with fellow business owners in both virtual event breakout rooms, and in main-room discussions. These group touch points have helped me in several key moments when I felt down about how my business is going versus my goals, or when imposter syndrome rears its ugly head. I recommend — obviously within reason to avoid any privacy issues — that you share the emotional challenges you’ve overcome in running your business, which can help your fellow attendees reach a better mind-body balance in their businesses, and that you remain receptive to what others share that can help you in your journey.
Extra exposure for your business (at some events). Because networking event hosts are focused on growing event attendee counts, more and more I’ve seen that there’s a moment at a given event where the host says, “OK, everyone smile and I’m going to take a screenshot to share on our social media.” Even if you don’t like having your picture taken, this is a good thing for your business. When this photo is posted on socials, the host almost always tags you and other attendees that allow profile sharing. So you get one level of extra exposure from the post or comment tag. And you can stretch this even further by commenting on this post; you’ll get the most mileage, when it comes to the algorithm, by sharing something of value or otherwise trying to move the conversation forward with your comment. Here’s an example of me using this tactic:
Could virtual networking supplant your current top strategies for lead generation and sales pipeline growth?
In this post I’ve talked about the ancillary benefits of virtual networking for entrepreneurs. However, lead generation and relationship building and steering into a longterm sales journey will always be key for business owners who devote their valuable time to attend virtual networking events.
With this in mind, I’ve made public the system that I use to drive a pipeline of leads for my service business from LinkedIn > virtual networking events > 1:1 calls. Learn more about my DIY system for service business owners and solopreneurs here.
