4 Networking Mistakes That Keep Solopreneurs Stuck

Networking is a key part of creating a successful business as a solopreneur, but it’s easy to make these four mistakes that could be keeping you stuck.

Many networking events, whether in person or virtual, seem to be attended mostly by solopreneurs or small businesses owners. This can either be the perfect opportunity, or depending how you approach it, a huge let down and waste of your valuable time and energy.

Here’s the problem. Most people go to networking events with the wrong approach, and it can be painful or at least feel uncomfortable.

There are four major obstacles that could be standing in your way of creating lifelong business relationships. Today’s episode is all about the networking mistakes that may be keeping you stuck, and how to avoid them.

Find the full transcript and other resources at richlysuccessful.com/3

When you started your business, one of the first things you probably decided to do was go to networking events. Or maybe you set your business up to be mostly online, so you decided to network virtually. However you choose to network, there are some common mistakes that could be holding you back from finding your networking flow.

The 4 Main Networking Mistakes Solopreneurs Make

1. You are too scared to go.

2. You go to sell or “get clients.”

3. You don’t follow up.

4. You forget that it’s great practice.

Let’s dive a little deeper into each mistake.

1. You are too scared to go.

If you are scared to go, you are not the only one. So many of my clients struggle with this. Yes, this is the number one issue, and it stops so many of you from attending.

Or maybe you sign up, but at the last minute you “get a headache.” Ask me how I know about this. When I first started my business in 2016, I was terrified to network.

This is a common problem that I see with my clients, especially the more introverted ones. A lot of you panic because you get so nervous and are afraid to put yourself out there. 

But I’m here to help. Once you learn how to get past this first major obstacle, the rest will be a piece of cake. And there may even be cake at the event if you show up.

Here’s how to get yourself to go:

·       Tell yourself you only have to stay for five minutes.

·       Make a goal to just talk to one person.

And when you talk to that person, don’t make it about yourself, make it about them. Ask them something about what they do or how their day is going.

I’m always inspired by kids and especially my nephews. I have 4 nephews now, and one of them always says, “by the way, how are you doing today?”  It’s simple and genuine, and it can feel really refreshing to be asked this.

·       Practice!  You don’t have to DO anything, you just have to BE, which brings me to our number 2 obstacle.

2. You go to sell.

When you go to networking events with the thought that you are there to sell, you will feel the need to impress, be impressive or “get clients.” This feels terrible. Anytime you feel like you have to be impressive, or a certain way that people are expecting a professional to act, it feels terrible and fake.

I think this is probably the main reason so many of you don’t even attend networking events. You may think you have to go to sell or be “on.” You think you have to sell your service, which means sell yourselves. And this is uncomfortable. But this is not really the goal of networking. You do not have to sell at networking, in fact, that probably makes you feel creepy and uncomfortable, and makes you get a last minute headache.

The best reason to go to networking events is to meet people and build relationships.  That’s it! Nothing else.  Here’s how to flip the situation.

·       Bring business cards, of course, but only give them to people who ask.

·       Don’t talk about yourself (at first). Just meet people and get curious about them. Ask them questions about who they are and what they do.

·       Be curious and be genuine.

·       Do not try to impress anyone. Just be yourself and be open to meeting interesting people.

·       If they ask what you do, tell them. This is perfect practice to tell them about yourself and business in a no-need-to-impress way, but as a fellow human.  Remember, you are just a human talking to other humans.

·       This may be a good time to remember to scan the room.  Look for other people who may seem lost, stuck, shy or alone (they may have just forced themselves to go for five minutes).  Go talk to them! Introduce yourself and help them feel welcome and comfortable.

Ok, you’ve got this.  You are just meeting humans and being curious.  No selling now.

3. You don’t follow up.

If you show up looking to sell, when you finally show up and don’t see any “ideal clients” you may feel that it was all a worthless waste of time to get out of your comfort zone and be there at all.  But the point of networking is to make new relationships. This is very similar to making new friendships. So really, you are just going there to be open to meeting new people who you may someday want to talk to again and again.

The more genuine, real relationships you have, the more referrals you will eventually receive, and GIVE. And this will snowball into a referral giving and receiving networking, a community of people who will always know you and want to do business with you.  This is the best thing about networking.

I once went to a networking event early on in my business. It was a 8am, and I’m not an early morning person so I got there late. There was only one seat left. The woman sitting there had a similar coat to mine and we hit it off and talked and exchanged business cards.

After the event, I emailed her to see if she wanted to meet for coffee. We set up a time and met for coffee, and she asked, “so, how can I help you with your business?” I said, “I don’t know, but maybe we could be friends?” We laughed and have been great friends ever since.  My point is, you never know who you will meet or how they may fit into your business life, but it’s always worth being open to all the possibilities life opens up for you.

So, when you meet someone at a networking event that you feel a connection with, invite them to coffee. It doesn’t have to be your ideal client, just go with the feeling of connection. You may meet one or two people per event that you feel a potential connection with. Don’t be afraid to invite them for coffee or a zoom meeting. If they say no, that’s ok too.  It’s actually a good thing if you put yourself out there and someone ignores you or says no. You also want to weed out the people that don’t click with you. It’s all good.

4. You forget that it’s great practice.

Networking is everywhere. Everywhere there are humans, there is networking opportunities. Airplanes, grocery stores, social media. Everywhere you go as a human, you will get the opportunity to bump into other humans and the more you get to practice interacting as a human and a solopreneur. The more interactions you have, the more chances you get to ask questions and talk about how you help people. People will naturally ask you what you do, and with practice you will be excited to tell them. It’ll just be a part of who you are and you won’t need to separate your business self from your personal self so much.

With practice,

·       You will develop real relationships.

·       People will know you, and when they hear of someone who needs or wants your service, you’ll get referrals from everywhere, even though it will seem like they come from out of the blue.

·       People will like you and trust you and want to do business with you.

Plus, networking is fun.  You are most likely a service solopreneur if you are listening to this podcast, so your heart wants to serve.  This relationship building part will be so rewarding that you may never want to retire.

As you develop your love of networking and creating connections with more humans, you will start to create what I like to imagine as an invisible web. It’s a thread of connections that is running behind the scenes in your life and business. Clients will start finding you and you’ll think it’s “out of the blue,” but really it’ll be because of the invisible thread of connection that you are building. This is why networking is key. Learn to love it and picture yourself building that invisible thread of connection and service.