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Women and Networking, The Right Way to Go?
“Women are launching businesses at twice the rate of men, and doing it primarily for lifestyle reasons — they want more freedom, flexibility, and creativity in their lives.” Â Â Â Ladies Who Launch
Having decided I need to get out more, I’m beginning to network in a more structured way. Last night I went to my first meeting of a new women’s networking group in my community. The women gathered were of all ages and represented a wide variety of businesses, from retail fibre arts to home design.
It was a bit of a stretch for me to network formally for a couple of reasons. Our sleepy community has changed so much since we arrived here twenty years ago and I had a bodywork practice. Everyone knew everyone else within a particular interest group. Lately I’ve felt like I was really putting myself out there and exposing myself, because although I’m known and have had successful experiences in business, I’ve also had my failures – disappointing ventures and even downright insulting ones, like many of us.
Once a couple of years ago I set myself up to fail, promoting a workshop at a prominent destination resort up the Coast. The lefthand and the right hand of the organization were on entirely different pages, and upper management did not approve of the hands-on approach the spa manager wanted. I knew from the beginning it wasn’t right for me, but the idea of providing a service in that beautiful place excited me, so I over-road my reservations and gave my power away. It was a big learning opportunity for me, an AFG as a friend of mine calls them (another (fill in the blank) gift).
So I begin this new adventure cautiously, but hopefully. One of the great things about networking for me is, if you enjoy people it gives you an opportunity to spend time with like-minded others, and some of them may become friends.
Many studies have shown that most business comes through word of mouth, through clients or people who know us, so networking groups are an opportunity to test this. Women don’t network as much as men, although women are well equipped to do this because they’re good at relationship building.
Sometimes it’s hard for women to get out after hours because of family responsibilities. That’s why women-only groups can help, because meeting times are often planned around family activities. From my reading I’ve learned that it’s also good to attend mixed gender groups, as men could be a potential market for many women’s businesses. Take mine for example: even though I work with women mostly, men have wives, friends, sisters who could possibly benefit from my services.
Finally, networking is about getting to know others and finding out how you can help them in their business or in their life. If we keep this in mind and go out and be our authentic, friendly self, we’ll likely have a good time and ultimately help our own business prospects.
Here are some links about business networking I thought you’d like:
Article: Advantages of Networking for Women
Benefits of Business Networking Groups Exclusively for Women
