Mastering The Art of Connection Making — The “Old-Skool” Way

So, I have to admit, even though I promote in-person meetings as much as possible, I too have become a sucker for social media connecting: Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and on.

Despite the conveniences of connecting through social media, I strongly feel the best networking is still in-person, especially through attending conferences and events with like-minded others.

Sometimes the obvious to-dos for in-person networking are overlooked. Here is a laundry list of what I would suggest to do in-person, if you are seeking new business opportunities with others:

1. Find a website that provides discovery of events in your local area to identify a relevant event to attend. For me, in San Diego, here is an example: http://www.thompsonsearch.com/newsletter/sdevents.htm
2. Try to make time attend at least one event per week. You should choose an event that draws an audience leading to a direct networking connection for your product or service.
3. For tech events, unless it’s formal, I suggest jeans, a nice shirt, and a jacket or blazer. Business casual (and the cool factor) is the way to go these days, especially for entrepreneurs.
4. At the event, keep your business cards in your pocket. Make sure you set a goal to try to meet with at least 3 others to network with.
5. In order to achieve step 4 above, you must limit your conversations to no more than 5 minutes each, unless it seems to be leading to a direct customer opportunity.
6. When approaching an individual to connect with, remember to be direct even if it seems awkward. Most folks understand that you’re meeting for the purpose of seeing if there is a business connection that can be made. For example, something as simple as, “My name is Raj Oswal, nice to meet you, I’m with Oconnect. What do you do?”
7. Be prepared to provide an elevator pitch on your company/product as well. It’s important to work a room–and if the conversation is engaging–revisit it. If the conversation isn’t very engaging, or you sense a lack of interest, keep it to less than 5 minutes and try to engage your audience by asking more questions and digging deeper. Keep your elevator pitch concise and to the point. It is important not to appear too calculated during this time. People don’t want to engage when you are in robot mode. Best to practice at home! Consider this as PR for you.
8. Always end a conversation with an action. If it does lead to a direct opportunity for your product or company, score some brownie points by offering them to search your LinkedIn network for a relevant connection that you’d be happy to do an introduction for.
9. If it is a direct opportunity, make sure you indicate your interest in connecting and set up a time you will follow up with an email to schedule an in-person meeting. If you dare to be even more ambitious, set up a “tentative meeting” as a placeholder on your calendar, right then and there.
10. All B and C leads (non direct connections) go in the left pocket, all relevant A leads (direct connections) go in the right pocket. Keep your own business cards in your jacket pocket or shirt so there is no confusion.
11. Use @oconnectapp to send an email or message to someone you met at a prior conference, at least once a week.

Our platform #oconnect, the premier conference and connections platform, can be downloaded via iTunes or the Google Play store. One handy feature is allowing for the ability to favorite attendees that you meet at a given event. You have the ability to peg these contacts to the event you met them at and save in your own contact list in the app, to stay in touch.