Author: Danny Bermant

When you go to a networking meeting that has competitors in the room, how do you feel? Are you worried? Do you feel threatened?

Well you shouldn’t be!

Some networking groups promote the members benefit of being the only business in the room that fits a particular category. e.g. the sole graphic designer, the sole architect. But let’s be honest, how beneficial is that for your business?

I run an internet consultancy but rarely do I find two consultancies that do exactly the same thing, and I think it’s the similar case for most businesses. In fact, I often do business with competitors because I find there are gaps that we both fill for each other. One internet consultancy may be limited to large websites, another may be focused on low value websites, another may be focused on web programming but isn’t interested in design. 

So when meeting competitors, remember (a) your skills might actually overlap (b) you can learn a lot from each other. e.g. new technologies, marketing techniques. 

When people complain they’ve been to networking meetings and got no business, I ask them one simple question:

Did you follow up?

Yes, you may have swapped business cards, yes you may have met up already, but did you follow up your meeting? We are all very busy, but if we fail to stay in touch, it’s all a waste of time.