Are you an entrepreneur looking to make connections and build your business network? If so, you’ve come to the right place. In this comprehensive guide, we’ll explore the various networking events available to entrepreneurs in the area. From local chambers of commerce to global networking events, there are plenty of opportunities to meet and interact with other business owners. The best place to start is often your local chamber of commerce.
Through relationships with mentors, online networks, and global networking events, you can create a community of more than 15,600 business owners from around the world who share knowledge and build their business networks. BNI (Business Network International) is the world’s leading business reference organization, with more than 286,000 members and 10,600 chapters available worldwide. Social media sites for entrepreneurs are also a great way to meet and interact with other business owners. Remember when Facebook was only open to college students? There are a lot of them out there, and the picture is constantly changing.
While researching for this blog, I discovered that many sites had been acquired, disappeared, or closed. Here are 10 social media sites designed specifically for entrepreneurs:
- Networking for Professionals
- Founders Network
- Vator
- Upspring
S. Founders Network is a networking site for founders and entrepreneurs of technology companies. The site has a growing community of more than 500 members and prides itself on encouraging professional and personal relationships among its members. As a member, you can learn from your peers and pass on your knowledge to others.
In fact, the site itself states that it’s a place to get support, not to sell products. Founders Network also hosts in-person events in California and New York City. Vator has a great section that is completely dedicated to company videos and member products. LinkedIn has existed since 2003 and allows business professionals to create personal and company pages. A true social media site, members can interact with other members on a personal level by writing recommendations, approvals, and even sending InMails (LinkedIn’s branded version of the email).
LinkedIn allows you to present a professional online image of yourself and your company, complementing any website you already have. Upspring was created to help companies engage with their online audience and help owners grow their businesses. An Upspring membership allows you to create a business profile and connect with other professionals or companies on the site. The Upspring suite also connects to other social media platforms (Facebook, Twitter, etc.).If you want to establish specific contacts with other job seekers, think about attending a work club meeting. The structure varies from club to club, but advice and support are usually provided in the search.
You can make references, presentations and notify others of any opportunities. You can usually find work club meetings by searching locally (for example, see if the chamber of commerce is organizing a meeting), consulting public bulletin boards, etc. If Google doesn’t produce good results, you can always turn to your local chamber of commerce. Most will have a link to events in their main menu to guide you to local networking events for businesses in your area. Some will also have a search box so you can narrow down events by keywords for your industry. Focusing on the economic prosperity of all American business enterprises, the MBDA (Minority Business Development Agency) offers programs, services and initiatives designed to help minority entrepreneurs grow and prepare them for the business world of tomorrow.
These meetings are especially beneficial for people whose busy schedules prevent them from attending networking events since they are held before the workday begins. The non-profit group aims to unleash the full potential of entrepreneurs and move the world forward by giving its members access to the world’s best business experts. Some of the events won’t be strictly business so be sure to bring business cards to meet other network users but keep in mind that these types of networks won’t be a priority. You can reach a larger audience than you can get with traditional networks so be sure to use these platforms to provide value to your followers as this will increase the credibility of your company. In addition to networking opportunities many chambers of commerce invite guest speakers and offer mentoring opportunities at affordable prices for new business owners. Learn about networking groups focused on helping entrepreneurs and small business owners succeed through peer-to-peer connections support and online resources. If you value using your company to do good in your community you can find a like-minded network in the local section of your Rotary club. Meetup is a networking site dedicated to encouraging local and offline groups dedicated to improving the lives of group members and the community in general.
Like Brella and Bizzabo Whova is another network application in this collection that focuses on improving networking at events. This application includes numerous network features such as intelligent attendee profiles community forums scanning and sharing of business cards individual and group chats links to social networks and much more. These are local network groups that meet weekly to allow members to practice their presentation and oral expression skills. If you search for the name of your city followed by “business networks” you’ll find event calendars in your area for local business events. People will want to establish contacts with you because you show everyone that you care about your community and not just about yourself but that you make you and your company more visible. If you want to network and develop speaking skills so that you can go beyond attending events and start speaking at them Toastmasters groups can help.
