In my freshman year of college, I attended a “How to Network” event. We practiced everything from holding a cocktail snack plate in one hand while shaking hands with the other, to learning what questions to ask a potential connection. However, what they did not teach us at this event was who exactly we should network with.
While co-workers and classmates may seem obvious, there are many groups you may not have considered.
Here are 5 groups of people you can reach out to that you may not have thought about:
1. Conference Attendees
When you attended that conference out in San Francisco, way back in the pre-pandemic days of 2019, you definitely did not meet every single person at the conference. Go back and utilize that attendee list! Send some notes! This list can give you the leverage you’re looking for.
Ask them:
- What are they up to?
- Don’t they wish we could go back to the days of in-person conferences?
- Are they still interested in content development?
2. Fellow Sports/Hobby Aficionados
LinkedIn has hundreds of thousands of groups and most of them have absolutely nothing to do with business.
Take, for example:
- Lacrosse Partnerships & Business: 2,678 members
- I LOVE ITALIAN FOOD: 2,565 members
- Patchwork, Quilting, Sewing: 1,309 members
Is it possible there might be prospects for you in those groups?
Join the group and search through those members.
Then, send a few connection requests asking if they want to talk Celtics basketball and lead generation.
3. College Alumni
While you may already be connected with your classmates on LinkedIn, what about the people before your time?
Or how about the people that graduated from your college’s law school or graduate school?
Look through your college’s alumni and send out some requests to people in your prospect profile.
Even if you did not know them during your time on campus, you can still enjoy a conversation about the beauty of the campus and later pivot to the value of outsourced sales.
4. Heritage Connections
A few years ago, my family and I braved the long lines at the Irish Embassy and finally earned our Irish passports.
Today, I often reach out to graduates from top Irish universities, such as Trinity College Dublin and the National University of Ireland Galway, and tell my Irish story.
Then, I see if they want to have a conversation about traditional Irish breakfast and US Market Entry.
Look at your own cultural background and see if anyone in your prospect profile shares it.
5. Current Client Alumni
According to a 2020 Bureau of Labor Statistics study, the average employee stays at a job for just over four years. That time period is even shorter at the beginning of people’s careers.
Take a moment to look at former employees of your top clients. Did someone move to a new firm that might remember the good work you did?
Take a moment and send a message to ask about their transition and whether their new company needs social media and digital marketing services.
Take the time today to look and see if you have prospects within your network that you didn’t even know existed. Then, contact us at The Endurance Group, so we can help you mine your network and close deals.