We all know connecting with people through networking is important for growing your business. We try to connect with people who meet the criteria of what we are looking for in a client or referral partner. What about the people we meet or see on social media that do not meet the criteria? Should we connect with them too?
One of the mistakes I made when I started my Business Networking Group, Friends of Kevin, was only connecting with people who had business to consumer needs. Business to Business type of companies I would pass over as I did not think they were a match. Five years later, I started the New England B2B Networking Group. It would have been a little easier if all those B2B businesspeople I met in the early days I had connected with and stayed in touch with! Same goes for people across the country that tried to connect with me. I thought, we are never going to be able to help each other or do business together. Now it’s 2020 and in person events are on a long hold. Video networking is hot right now. Someone in Texas can do business with someone in Massachusetts very easily.
We should all be a little more open to connections we make. Maybe you will be planning for a future business model you don’t know you are even interested in yet. Now I know why I should have taken a small amount of time to follow up with people who did not fit my immediate business needs. We can not predict the future and don’t know what crazy twists and turns life and business will throw our way.
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