Attend networking events, presentations, seminars and luncheons. The time and effort you expend can pay off in new information, new contacts, and potential business. Here are some more tips:
1. Be on time! It’s considered polite and respectful.
2. Ask another chamber member to attend with you. Or have another staff person attend.
3. Follow up on the contacts you make … notes, emails, texts, phone calls, visits.
4. Ask questions, determine common ground with other people.
5. Volunteer to be a greeter or sell 50/50 raffle tickets … if you don’t know too many people and are a bit shy, you’ll have a “job” to do.
6. Bring plenty of your business cards.
And speaking of business cards, here’s how to use them:
1. Hand them to people when you meet them for the first time. They’ll remember your name better if they see it. Ask for their card. It will help you remember their name, an invaluable marketing skill in itself.
2. Give your card to people every time you meet them, not just the first time. This will avoid any embarrassment in case they forget your name.
3. Include your business card in everything you send out: introductory letters, invoices, FYIs, articles and photos from the newspaper, personal notes, attach your e-card to your emails.
4. Carry your business card with you at all times. Put a few in your wallet, your planner, portfolio, etc. You never know when you’ll meet someone and can make a contact: standing in line at a chamber breakfast, for door prize drawings, to the speaker; even while you’re shopping for your business.
5. Use other people’s business cards to build your own database of contacts, potential customers, partners for projects, social networking sites, etc.
UPCOMING EVENTS:
— Tonight (Sept. 23) is Chamber After Hours from 5-7 p.m. It is hosted by Day’s Jewelers at its new location at the Topsham Fair Mall. Make new connections, gather business leads and reconnect with business owners.
— Chris Fogg, CEO of Maine Tourism Association, is the featured speaker at the Sept. 30 Chamber Regional Luncheon. The event (11:15 a.m. to 1 p.m.) includes networking, buffet lunch and presentation at The Daniel, 10 Water St., Brunswick. Thank you to our sponsors: Mechanics Savings Bank, Mid Coast Health Services, RE/MAX Riverside and The Brunswick Hotel and Tavern.
OUR MEMBERS:
Check out the chamber’s website www.midcoastmaine.com to find a service or product you are looking for.
SMMC proudly serves 670 businesses and organizations in the following communities: Arrowsic, Bath, Bowdoin, Bowdoinham, Brunswick, Dresden, Edgecomb, Georgetown, Harpswell, Phippsburg, Richmond, Topsham, West Bath, Westport Island, Wiscasset and Woolwich.
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