I was talking to a friend the other day who was telling me that they really liked going to bars to meet people, but it was really difficult because they weren’t allowed to sleep with anyone at the bar.
All they can do is, like, have a drink and talk and stuff.
So how are they supposed to, you know, close the deal.
I’m not talking about bars.
One of the most common complaints I hear about virtual networking is that you can’t have a “really good conversation” with people there.
And when I hear that, what I hear is some version of the made up story I led with.
Of course you can’t really get to know someone at a virtual networking event.
In fact, you can’t even really get to know someone at an in person networking event.
That’s not what they’re for, just like the bar is not for doing the deed.
But Michael, you say, when I go to live networking events, I have great conversations.
Yes. That’s called socializing. If, by “great conversations” you mean that you really enjoy talking to them, then that’s good. That’s what parties are for.
Networking is for building business relationships. A business relationship is, indeed, a human relationship in which you must built authentic connections, but here’s the thing.
The key to successful networking is to build authentic connections with the right people.
This is the trap most people fall into at live networking events. They have long, engaging, fascinating conversations and develope authentic connections with people who have nothing to offer your business, and you have nothing to offer theirs.
Rather than connecting with the right people, you’re connecting with the fun people.
And since the results of networking have always felt like luck rather than strategy, you might as well have fun while doing it right?
But in a virtual event…
A virtual event (run the right way) forces you to network the right way. That means that you use the event to assess whom it makes the most sense to follow up with and build that authentic connection with.
Because you can’t hang out and chit chat for an hour in a virtual event, instead you get to know just enough about the people you’re meeting to know if you want to invest more time with them.
Then, you get on a one to one call or meet in person or whatever, and that’s when you can have the deep, meaningful, insightful conversations that make things happen.
In the follow up… not at the event.
This is why JV Connect runs the way it does
The optimum space to get to have an experience of a number of people is a larger breakout room.
Each person gets to learn about over a dozen people in half an hour.
The extroverts get to grab the mic and carry the conversation.
The introverts get to sit back and observe the extroverts.
Everyone can select among those they experience whom they would like to connect with and follow up with.
Networking over Zoom is like nothing humans have ever done in history, which means it is potentially more powerful, but also somewhat less intuitive.
That’s why you need to find a great event, structured the right way, led by someone with the right intentions.
The event is JV Connect. Get your ticket now.