In the professional landscape, good marketing and good overall communication between businesses and clients is of the utmost importance.
Whether you are operating a business in a B2B or B2C sphere, you will nonetheless always need to be mindful of how you are handling branding and messaging, not to mention how you are dealing with various technical logistics — either with regards to managing a team, or with regards to managing a solopreneurial venture.
One of the most significant things to get right as a marketing professional or entrepreneur, however, is to nurture and maintain meaningful professional connections over time. Doing so can help to open up a wide range of possibilities that would otherwise be unavailable, and it can lead to some amazing mutually beneficial exchanges of skill.
Here are some tips for making meaningful professional connections.
Look for opportunities to collaborate where possible
Although not every situation you’re likely to find yourself in, professionally, will be ripe for collaboration — many of them will be.
Both within a team, and in a broader context, collaborating on projects — and getting involved in partnerships — with other skilled professionals can help you to delegate tricky tasks, to benefit from great skill sets that are outside of your area of core competency, and to forge powerful professional connections.
Once you’ve worked with someone else fruitfully on a given project or endeavour, it’s likely that you will be able to work together again or — at the very least — to maintain a friendly and mutually beneficial professional relationship down the line.
Seek out promising professional clubs and networking groups
Professional clubs and groups such as the Prosper2 B2B Reward Scheme can sometimes be exceptionally powerful with regards to helping individuals to accelerate and grow their careers, and to make powerful connections with others.
Depending on the field you work within, and the particularly of your professional situation — such as whether you’re a new entrepreneur or are an employee of an established company — various groups and clubs designed specifically for the purpose of networking can be all but essential for your ability to succeed and thrive.
In addition to considering specific groups, make a point of also attending trade fairs and conferences on a regular basis, and consider having business cards made out that you can hand out when you’ve had a meaningful discussion with someone (but don’t just hand them out gratuitously to absolutely everyone).
Keep in touch with former colleagues and associates, and reach out every so often
One good thing about modern digital platforms and services such as LinkedIn, is that it’s now very easy to keep in touch with former colleagues, contacts and associates — and to touch base with them every once in a while.
Generally speaking, this should be a basic common practice you employ in your professional life by and large — but, of course, you should practice a bit of discretion here by primarily keeping in touch with former colleagues and associates who you got on with well, and had a fruitful professional relationship with — and not just with everyone you’ve ever crossed paths with at the office.
