Networking Your Business

A goal of any business, regardless of size of community, city or county, should be to network, and network often.  There are so many great ways to do this and many are free (and easy): blogging and getting followers, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, chambers of commerce, networking groups/meetings, board participation and many others.  At LHT we have many conversations about networking and try to divide and conquer.  The great thing is it isn’t a chore, at least not in a small community like mid-coast Maine. 

This morning I was at my twice monthly Camrock Network meeting.  Camrock is a group of women, only one woman per profession, that meets to get to “know, like and trust” one another because you are more likely to work with people you know, like, and trust.  The group was started over 2 years ago by some entrepreneurial women looking to start a group in complete support of women.  We are 19 women strong meeting on Tuesdays in a local coffee shop, sharing elevator speeches, asking for referrals, hearing one of our members speak for 15 minutes or so about their business, and then talking about the referrals we made for other people’s business.  As I left the meeting today, a group of elderly gentlemen meeting for their morning coffee said they wanted to join the fun because we were laughing and carrying on.  I guess that is a good sign of our meetings.

In our 19 strong we have very talented and lovely women that include: a banker, insurance agent, an architect, a structural engineer, doula, day spa owner, unique Maine tourism site, website/database designer, dog care specialist, photographer, nutritionist, cloth diaper service with laundry mat, building manager, car wash owner, jewelry shop owner, finish carpentry business, copier/supply service business, realtor, acupunturist, and accountant.

I welcome you to check out the Camrock website and the talented women involved.  And I encourage you to check out networking opportunities wherever you are.