Over the next week, I am going to focus on a series of posts on networking from home. 🏠
This is so embarrassing, but I don’t think I’m alone. 🙈
I’m pretty introverted and I’m pretty shy, and for a long time, I was encouraged by others to go to trade shows for networking in order to grow my business.
And I get it! 👋
It really makes sense that all of the people you’re trying to connect with are there in one room and they’re looking to network and make connections too, so why not show up where they are?
I’m totally good with that concept. 👍🏽
But, maybe after 20 or 30 minutes of scoping out the tradeshow floor and getting a lay of the land, I would find that I was hiding in the bathroom feeling really anxious. 😰
I think a lot of people can relate. 🖐️
So since then, I feel like I’ve mastered the art of networking from my home office. 😺
I’m gonna do a series on how to network from home. So buckle in for segment one of five of this series! 🫶
So, here’s the first thing I came up with for networking from home.
🌟Host a podcast.🌟
Yes, there are now thousands if not millions of podcasts out there. I get it. it’s competitive. 🤷
But what a podcast does is it actually opens a door to a connection with a person who probably isn’t going to respond to email outreach from you. ☝️
If you can build up that podcast audience, build up the credibility, and really get people who your potential guests are attracted to, you’re going to get some easy yeses.
Then, when the guest shows up to your show, It’s them giving you 30 minutes of their time, and you’re getting to know them in that 30 minutes where you wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity if you would have just sent them a cold outreach email. 🏆
I had this podcast called “Standing Out” for a long time. It was an interview-style podcast where I interviewed people making outstanding contributions in their field, and I was so impressed and excited by the types of people that wanted to be on the podcast. 🎙️
I’d reach out to them and let them know what I was doing, let them know I’d built the audience to about 20,000 subscribers, and I got a ton of yeses. 👌
People wanted to be a guest on the show because it gave them exposure to a new audience and got their stories out.
So, if you want to get to networking from your home office, start a podcast! 🎇
Time for segment number two of my how to work from home series! 🎉
I started a home-based business because I believe deep in my heart that there’s got to be a better way. 🤔
There’s gotta be a way to work and build an income even when you have young kids that doesn’t involve commuting to an office to sit in a cubicle. 🚸💰
But, I found out pretty early on that the expectation was to travel and go to a lot of networking events. 🚃
It actually takes a lot from my bucket to do that so one of the things I started doing is joining other people’s podcasts. 😫
Finding podcasts that want to host other business owners or professionals in your field can be a really great way to open the door to conversations that you might not otherwise be able to have. 🚪
And, there are sites out there now like matchmaker.fm that help you find podcasts. 🤯
Welcome to segment three of networking from home! 🌟
They say it takes a village to raise a child and the same goes for business. 🫶
When I started out it just felt like the wild west. Everyone wanted me to be a part of their women’s business group, or go to their trade show or networking event. 🐎
I quickly learned that I had to figure out a way that worked for me. I had to figure out how to network from my home office. 🤔
I don’t really love traveling to networking events, I do really like to host training events or meet-ups. 🤩
One of the easiest ways to get this going for yourself is just to go to meetup.com and put in the details of your event. 👈
Meetup then pushed your event out to their members that are interested in the types of topics that you’re talking about. 😮
It’s a cool little way to network from your home office. 🏠
The past couple of years have been nothing short of crazy for most of us. 🤪
It really made me sit back and rethink how I do business and how I network to grow my business. 🤔
In the last couple of years, I really cut back on a lot of business travel to trade shows and networking events.
Even just in my nearby city of Denver, it’s an hour each way for the networking event and so it would be like a half-day sort of endeavor just to do that. ⌛
I cut back but it was important for me to continue to grow my business. 🪴
So I have found that meetup.com is really viable even now. 👈
Basically, I just go on the platform, put in some keywords about the types of people I am looking to mix and mingle with, and the topics I might be interested in, and then I look at what fits my schedule, show up and participate.
You know if there’s one thing I really like reading, its what’s hot and what’s not lists. 🔥🥶
I think it just kind of fills my libra moon. ♎
When it comes to networking from home, one of the things that is really hot right now is Lunchclub.
Lunchclub is kind of like a matchmaker. 🤩
I found out about it before the pandemic and essentially, you put in your keywords and types of people you’d want to be meeting with, and the types of asks that you have for that person such as introductions or potential partnership opportunities. 💗
The platform then matches you to someone and sets up a meeting during the week.
It’s a kind of cool and easy way to network from home. 🏠
Part 1
Over the next week, I am going to focus on a series of posts on networking from home. 🏠
This is so embarrassing, but I don’t think I’m alone. 🙈
I’m pretty introverted and I’m pretty shy, and for a long time, I was encouraged by others to go to trade shows for networking in order to grow my business.
And I get it! 👋
It really makes sense that all of the people you’re trying to connect with are there in one room and they’re looking to network and make connections too, so why not show up where they are?
I’m totally good with that concept. 👍🏽
But, maybe after 20 or 30 minutes of scoping out the tradeshow floor and getting a lay of the land, I would find that I was hiding in the bathroom feeling really anxious. 😰
I think a lot of people can relate. 🖐️
So since then, I feel like I’ve mastered the art of networking from my home office. 😺
I’m gonna do a series on how to network from home. So buckle in for segment one of five of this series! 🫶
So, here’s the first thing I came up with for networking from home.
🌟Host a podcast.🌟
Yes, there are now thousands if not millions of podcasts out there. I get it. it’s competitive. 🤷
But what a podcast does is it actually opens a door to a connection with a person who probably isn’t going to respond to email outreach from you. ☝️
If you can build up that podcast audience, build up the credibility, and really get people who your potential guests are attracted to, you’re going to get some easy yeses.
Then, when the guest shows up to your show, It’s them giving you 30 minutes of their time, and you’re getting to know them in that 30 minutes where you wouldn’t otherwise have had the opportunity if you would have just sent them a cold outreach email. 🏆
I had this podcast called “Standing Out” for a long time. It was an interview-style podcast where I interviewed people making outstanding contributions in their field, and I was so impressed and excited by the types of people that wanted to be on the podcast. 🎙️
I’d reach out to them and let them know what I was doing, let them know I’d built the audience to about 20,000 subscribers, and I got a ton of yeses. 👌
People wanted to be a guest on the show because it gave them exposure to a new audience and got their stories out.
So, if you want to get to networking from your home office, start a podcast! 🎇
Read the full story on my LinkedIn page.
Part 2
Time for segment number two of my how to work from home series! 🎉
I started a home-based business because I believe deep in my heart that there’s got to be a better way. 🤔
There’s gotta be a way to work and build an income even when you have young kids that doesn’t involve commuting to an office to sit in a cubicle. 🚸💰
But, I found out pretty early on that the expectation was to travel and go to a lot of networking events. 🚃
It actually takes a lot from my bucket to do that so one of the things I started doing is joining other people’s podcasts. 😫
Finding podcasts that want to host other business owners or professionals in your field can be a really great way to open the door to conversations that you might not otherwise be able to have. 🚪
And, there are sites out there now like matchmaker.fm that help you find podcasts. 🤯
Learn more on my LinkedIn page today!
Part 3
Welcome to segment three of networking from home! 🌟
They say it takes a village to raise a child and the same goes for business. 🫶
When I started out it just felt like the wild west. Everyone wanted me to be a part of their women’s business group, or go to their trade show or networking event. 🐎
I quickly learned that I had to figure out a way that worked for me. I had to figure out how to network from my home office. 🤔
I don’t really love traveling to networking events, I do really like to host training events or meet-ups. 🤩
One of the easiest ways to get this going for yourself is just to go to meetup.com and put in the details of your event. 👈
Meetup then pushed your event out to their members that are interested in the types of topics that you’re talking about. 😮
It’s a cool little way to network from your home office. 🏠
What do your networking events look like these days?
Part 4
Time for segment four of networking from home! 🥳
The past couple of years have been nothing short of crazy for most of us. 🤪
It really made me sit back and rethink how I do business and how I network to grow my business. 🤔
In the last couple of years, I really cut back on a lot of business travel to trade shows and networking events.
Even just in my nearby city of Denver, it’s an hour each way for the networking event and so it would be like a half-day sort of endeavor just to do that. ⌛
I cut back but it was important for me to continue to grow my business. 🪴
So I have found that meetup.com is really viable even now. 👈
Basically, I just go on the platform, put in some keywords about the types of people I am looking to mix and mingle with, and the topics I might be interested in, and then I look at what fits my schedule, show up and participate.
It’s as easy as that! ❤️
Do you use meetup? 🤔
Part 5
You know if there’s one thing I really like reading, its what’s hot and what’s not lists. 🔥🥶
I think it just kind of fills my libra moon. ♎
When it comes to networking from home, one of the things that is really hot right now is Lunchclub.
Lunchclub is kind of like a matchmaker. 🤩
I found out about it before the pandemic and essentially, you put in your keywords and types of people you’d want to be meeting with, and the types of asks that you have for that person such as introductions or potential partnership opportunities. 💗
The platform then matches you to someone and sets up a meeting during the week.
It’s a kind of cool and easy way to network from home. 🏠
So, now that I am wrapping up my how to network from home series, what are your favorite ways to network? 🫂