b2b networking

Happy Palindrome Monday (7-17-17 backwards is also 7-17-17).

My Pinnacle Network allows guest two visits to a group before asking them to make a decision about joining. We do this for a couple of reasons.

First, we want people to be comfortable with our group and the members. Seeing people a second time certainly helps with that comfort level.  You might also hear things from people’s verbal brand the second time around that makes you think you could be a good referral source for them and vice versa.

Second, sometimes groups, just like people, have a bad day. Maybe several key members are out. Maybe it was a bad traffic day and people show up frazzled. A second visit can help you get a better take on if the group is always like this or was it a one-time thing.

Third, you get a chance to experience the group between meetings. With My Pinnacle Network, we circulate a spreadsheet after every meeting with the name and contact info of members and guests. This gives people a chance to reach out to fellow members and guests. If you commit to two meetings before making a decision, you get to see what follow up is like with the current members. Now, it will probably be a little different as a member. But if you are truly interested, you can start setting up one-on-ones right away to see if the group is a good fit for you.

Now, some seats in networking groups go faster than other, particularly for a niche like B2B. You may not have the luxury of a second meeting before making a second visit. So what then?

The answer to that will be different for everybody. We created My Pinnacle Network as a monthly group because most B2B folks are too busy to commit to a weekly meeting. So even though being a member requires you to be engaged, you don’t have to physically be at a meeting every week. So, your time commitment is reasonable.

Also, we also priced a My Pinnacle Network membership at a very reasonable $250 a year. This is so members could base their decision on the fit of the group more so than cost.

Does My Pinnacle Network fit into your schedule and budget? Drop a line to Steve Dubin at sdubin@mypinnaclenetwork.com to see if your category is open at any of our seven locations.

[st_row][st_column][st_text el_title=””]”If everybody jumped off the Brooklyn Bridge, would you?” Your mother or father probably said that or something similar when you wanted to do something that “everybody” was doing. Many small business owners jumped into social media for essentially the same reason and then wondered why it wasn’t working. The reason why was pretty simple…

Your website.

You might be wondering, “How can you make a claim like that without having seen our website?” Perhaps you’re right. Yet if your home page or whatever page you are driving traffic to does not encourage visitors to provide some contact info–name and e-mail address–or the means to collect that information–a sign-up form–then chances are it’s a fairly safe assumption. And that explains why your social media efforts are falling short.

Think of social media as a handshake. That typically happens at the beginning of a business relationship, right? Have you ever gotten any business based on the initial handshake? Probably not. If after the handshake and initial pleasantries the conversation doesn’t evolve to something of interest to the person you just met, chances are good they will move on to the next person. The same holds true with your social media.

If your social media merely draws people to your site without any direction, it really is like trying to close business with an introductory handshake. Yet if you take that handshake/social media and direct visitors to a download of an e-book or pdf that demonstrates your firm’s area of expertise, you have started a conversation that you can continue. Assuming that mechanism has at the very least captured a name and e-mail address, you can continue that conversation in any number of ways, including:

• An auto responder campaign offering additional eBooks or pdfs
• A sample of your monthly e-newsletter
• Direct outreach by e-mail or phone

If you’re missing these elements on your website, the good news is that it’s a fairly easy fix–particularly if you have access to web designers and copywriters in your network (like those in My Pinnacle Network do). Most importantly, do not throw away the baby (your social media pages) with the bath water until you put those elements in place. Once you do have those things in place, track results on a quarterly basis to see if your social media posts are resulting in leads.[/st_text][/st_column][/st_row]

My Pinnacle Network recently announced a full slate of business-to-business networking meetings for January. My Pinnacle Network meetings are as follows:

My Pinnacle Network – Westborough, Tuesday, January 3, from 8 a.m. – 9:30 a.m at Digital Federal Credit Union, 18 Lyman Street, Westborough, MA 01581.

My Pinnacle Network – Mansfield, Wednesday, January 4, from 8:30 a.m. to 10:00 a.m., 20 Cabot Blvd., Suite 300, Mansfield, MA 02048.

My Pinnacle Network – Marshfield, Thursday, January 5, from 9 a.m. to 10:30 a.m., 165 Enterprise Drive, Marshfield, MA 02050

NEW LOCATION – My Pinnacle Network – Newton, Thursday, January 12, 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at Social!, Crown Plaza Hotel, 320 Washington Street, Newton, MA 02458.

My Pinnacle Network – Braintree Third Thursday, Thursday, January 19, from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m. at 100 Grandview Road, 3^rd Floor Conference Room, Braintree, MA 02184.

My Pinnacle Network – Bourne, Thursday, January 19, from 7:30 a.m. – 9 a.m., 550 MacArthur Blvd. (Route 28), Bourne, MA 02532.

Only one B2B professional will be selected for each category. Those categories can be found at http://mypinnaclenetwork.com/about/categories.aspx. Prospective members are encouraged to attend a My Pinnacle Network meeting before committing to join.

If you are interested in attending a meeting in your area, please contact Steven V. Dubin at SDubin@MyPinnacleNetwork.com or 781-582-1061 to RSVP. There is no charge to visit a My Pinnacle Network meeting.

It happens to every business person. You know you need to be consistent with your networking efforts but there are times when getting your work done gets in the way. In situations like this, you have two choices: get mad at yourself or simply do one networking activity to get yourself back on track.

You can even take it one step further and make up your mind that you will do one networking-related activity per day.

If you’re in a networking group, call up one person to see if they can get together for coffee.

If you have time constraints that day, drop an e-mail to somebody in your contact sphere to inquire if there’s any new product or service they are offering that could help you pass them leads or referrals. Use that e-mail exchange to pass along similar business about your business.

What you don’t want to do is let one day without a networking activity turn into two, then three and the next thing you know a week or more has gone by. There’s no need to beat yourself up about it and there’s no way you can make up for lost time. Just do one thing today and make a goal of doing one thing tomorrow.

For the best networkers, it’s a habit. It’s just something they do a point where it’s just part of their day and they don’t even think of it as an extra. If you’re not there yet, simply do one networking thing a day and you will get there. Make it the first thing you do every day if you’re concerned about your day getting too busy and forgetting.

And what if you miss a day? Guess what? You can do one small thing tomorrow and start the habit again.

Gratitude month continues this week with Veteran’s Day on Friday. If you know a veteran, give them a call or drop them a line to thank them for their service. And while a nice post on one of your social media pages is nice, how about going one step further and finding out if there are more people in your network who served?

How do you do that? Quite easy. Go to LinkedIn’s Advanced Search function. Under keywords, type in military or a particular branch of service, then check “1st Connections” under Relationships and then search. The results should turn up people in your network who served.

What next? Thank them, but also check in and see how things are going. Maybe even set up a time to get together and share some connections.

We admire our veterans for their service and their humility. Yet volunteering to serve your country is something that should be praised. This Veteran’s Day, take every opportunity you have to thank the veterans in your life. There are more than you know.