Belly Up: Karoline Rose's Best Networking Advice

By Toston PowerHouse Karoline Rose Networking. If we go back five years ago, the term networking took on a completely different visual with social media. All of a sudden we needed to add everyone to our Facebook friend list and get their email address and stay in touch. Hi guys, I’m Karoline Rose with KRose Marketing and Consulting and people laugh when I tell them that I live in Toston, Montana and you can find a bar, a post office and a cattle scale which is really important in my job because as a cattle procurement officer I rely on that cattle scale. Networking is vitally important and it doesn’t matter what job you have, relationships are what move business forward! Yet, we are caught up in a society that has tons of friends on Facebook and doesn’t know how to network in real life. So, I am going to really encourage you in this blog for some of the tips and tricks that I have learned that will push you outside of your comfort zone and get you networking real life. I am going to tell you the number of friends you have on Facebook absolutely does not matter but instead it’s time to pick up that phone, it’s time to meet people for coffee and it’s time to belly up and actually make some connections in person. As a female small business owner in rural, rural Montana (and I don’t say that lightly), it’s really easy to get caught up in staying in contact with people, strictly based on social media. I can go all week and honestly see my father, my brother, my sister-in-law, my nephew and the people that work around my father’s operation and I’m a happy camper, to be completely honest. But, in order to move my business forward, comfort is not the zone I want to be in. So, in college we are taught that every event you have to go to, you need to network. A lot of times we are encouraged to add them on Facebook. While it’s great to keep up with your cousins half way across the world, I don’t encourage that that be the conversation starter when you sit down at a conference. I love the term “belly up.” I really encourage you to get out and get involved in your community or where people who you want to connect with are. So, when you attend a conference or go to an event, two things- don’t ever sit at the table with a person you came with because you have absolutely no idea who is going to sit next to you and if you sit next to the person you came with, you miss the opportunity of having someone who you could make connections in life with sit next to you. Also, I have learned that sometimes it’s as important to stick your hand out first, as it is to walk up to the person that you absolutely need to meet and introduce yourself to. So when you’re thinking about networking I really want you to consider getting up and bellying up. Get involved where you want to be involved! While social media is massively important and with live video that I am a huge, huge fan of- you can do some incredible things getting your face out but there is nothing more important than sticking your hand out and being at an event or speaking at an event that has people that you want to be involved with. Now, if we’re talking about networking from a social media only stand point; you know how important it is for you to get involved. I just talked about that, but let’s go to social media. We all know that live video is 100% where it is- the know, like and trust factor and so, when you are networking it’s so easy for us to get massively caught up in what we’re doing. Are our live videos enough? Are we doing them on a consistent basis? Are we building our audiences- know, like and trust factor? I am sure all of you have the same experience, when you did your first live video. It was very nerve wracking. So, one of the best ways to network is to put yourself second and to hop over to some people that you admire, some people that you look up to. Get on their live video, send them some likes, send them some hearts, send them some encouragement and just say that, “I am on your team, I am supporting you and I want you to know that I am here watching what you have to say and I care what you have to say.” Another great way is getting involved in groups. I know that there are people in the KRose Marketing Group that are doing an extremely good job at networking because they constantly come into that group every day for an hour or so and provide value. They answer people’s questions about email marketing and branding and logo designs and Facebook ads when I can’t get to their questions. So, be available! When people need help, volunteer. That is the best way to network and my last tip is put yourself in their shoes. What would you want someone to do? How would you want someone to act? If you do that, constantly put someone first. You’re going to become better and you’re going to be a better networker. The big thing is- stop hiding behind your phone, stop hiding behind Facebook, get out, belly up, get involved in some events. Volunteer in your community and get to know people because life is all about who you know.