running-a-busines

 

There’s a lot to be said for what digital media offers to personal brands and small businesses. It can afford us a personal assistant via a smartphone or laptop, it can grant us marketing tools with social media. Digital tech can do so much for us at little long-term cost.

 

So it can be easy to keep your eyes glued to the screen and interact with people through the keyboard. Even though money is coming in through the internet and it is a great way to market your goods, you shouldn’t ignore what physical promotion can do for you.

 

That being said, you shouldn’t ignore the internet and digital media either – it’s about establishing a balance here. If you ignore one for the other, your business is going to run quite lopsided, with an over-reliance on the method of choice. It’s a good thing to diversify, it’s an even better idea to make people in the real world remember you.

 

But, how can you get started? You can probably bet your house that there’s a networking event taking place close to you, somewhere and it’s worth attending. Not only can you meet and share stories with other small business owners, you can find potential affiliates and collaborators. Joining forces with others is a great way to push forward because you may very well find it hard to break through on your own. Having a network of acquaintances to bounce ideas off won’t hurt, either.

 

The other side of networking is to host an event yourself. It could be anything from a small networking gathering (like the one above) to a larger event held at the National Conference Centre, for example, where you are the glue bringing businesses from across the world together. The choice is yours. You should focus the event around your business – if you are a small record label, why not host a gig or show? If you’re a food business, why not allow people to taste your goods? If you’re a branding or design agency, maybe showing off a portfolio of your work would be a good idea in between meeting new people? It all depends on what your business is about and your event should reflect you and the business – otherwise it’s a bit of a pointless venture if people attend the event leave with no lasting impression of you, your brand, or your business.

 

 

It’s not just about throwing fancy events either. It’s just about getting yourself out there. Meetup with people like you, talk to them, leave them with your business card. Spread flyers, offers and leaflets at places where your target audience lurk and shop.

 

There’s a lot the internet can do for us; that goes without saying – but if you ignore the world outside your front door, who knows what opportunities you could be missing out on? Interact with the real world and meet like-minded people to get the most out of the world and what it has to offer.