To improve your personal life or even your professional life, have you ever thought of ways of doing this? Would you like to speak with people that are more like you? By creating a networking group, you could accomplish all of this.
If you are not able to find one in your community, therefore, if you cannot find one in your community, you may want to consider making one on your own. Creating an event like this will allow you to meet others like you and also promote your own platform.
The following eight steps will help you create a successful event that will allow you to network with others and also bring new opportunities in your direction.
Determine What Your Purpose Is
Some of the top networking groups will always focus on one particular area. They may want to create a group for their network, or their specific industry, which could be for small businesses or entrepreneurs that are trying to create a project. Or perhaps you simply just want to make new friends?
It can be very beneficial to host the event, and also attract people just like you that will want to attend. It is at these events that you will be able to sell them on your ideas. An example of this would be doing this for professionals in media, and you may market this by saying that publicists, editors, and journalists will be able to benefit from the professional opportunities that you are presenting.
Choose The Best Format
If you want to do networking like this, you need to focus on attracting the proper audience for this venue. There will be people that you will meet that will be familiar with what you are speaking about, and you can do this at a local pub, have a good chat, and begin to interact with others.
There is something called speed networking which is very effective, allowing people to speak for a few minutes at a time. This can be done at a table, perhaps during the meal, where you can swap information. By facilitating all of this, such as with a cooking class, or a hike, you can begin to meet like-minded individuals. You may even want to give a professional workshop, and also provide incentives for those that do attend.
Figure Out Your Budget
If your primary objective is to meet people, and not make a profit, you still have to remember there are costs associated with setting one of these up including the cost of the venue location. If you are going to present this event, you will want to charge admission. By selling tickets, you can fund all of this, plus you can also find sponsors that will want to help you. By making short presentations, you can easily raise money with others in the group, and they will all be relevant to what you are talking about at each event.
