Business to business networking is nothing new around here. We see small business owners, educators and non-profit organization volunteers walk through our front doors all the time. In the past few weeks, however, we’ve done a belly flop straight into the deep end of the proverbial networking pool. Why? Because being a good neighbor is about more than keeping our noise pollution down. It’s about taking care of the people and businesses around us.
You never know what you'll cook up when you team up with other local businesses.
What does being a good neighbor have to do with running your business? Let’s say you run a day care center. Do you have posters and/or business cards for the children’s consignment store down the street out where your parents can see them? Do you regularly hand out flyers and coupons for upcoming events from your local children’s theatre?
If the answer is no, your neighborly skills could use some work.
The point of being a good neighbor is to adopt an “I’ll scratch your back if you’ll scratch mine” attitude toward small business networking. It’s really easy to do. Hop online (or open your local Yellow Pages, if you actually use it for something other than propping up the short leg on your dining room table) and find non-competing businesses that cater to your target market. Then, play let’s make a deal. They recommend your business, you recommend theirs.
At the end of the day, both of you walk away a winner.