Four Tips for Hosting Your Own Business Networking Event

Networking is one of the most powerful tools any business manager or team leader can utilize in order to raise brand awareness and therefore, attending as many industry-specific networking events as possible is always an excellent plan when focusing on growth and expansion.

The next level to this and indeed, one that takes a high level of organization and planning is to host your own networking event and here are four tips on how to ensure your event is a success.

1. Be Crystal Clear on Your Purpose

As with any endeavor relating to the progression and expansion of your business, it’s firstly necessary to cement in your mind and into the minds of your employees attending, the core reason that you’re organizing the event in the first place.

Devising a networking event core proposal will help you to solidify your ideas, and such a proposal should be at the forefront of your mind when designing every aspect of the event. An example of this would be if you’re looking to arrange a networking event to raise awareness of your new line of products and essentially, to pitch these new products to potential B2B (business to business) clients.

2. Cover Your Costs

Although publicity surrounding your business (providing it’s the right kind of publicity, of course) is always going to benefit the company, there’s no point busting your budget and losing sight of the core focus.

Instead, set a budget which should include everything from the hiring of the venue to the guest speakers and any corporate gifts you intend on including. No matter what happens and however much you are tempted to stray from it, always stick to this budget and ensure that you cover your costs.

3. Don’t Forget the Merchandise

Another hugely important element of getting your company and employees ready to host a networking event and indeed, to maximize the reach of your business, is to invest in a key piece of merchandise for a “goody bag” for each attendee.

Enamel badges emblazoned with your company logo in bright and eye-catching colors are always a good idea, as are tote bags, fridge magnets, keyrings and other affordable and impactful items of merch. These will ensure that your business stays in the thoughts and minds of the guests.

Furthermore, any merchandise that isn’t used at the networking event itself can be gifted to customers ordering in bulk and clients further down the line.

4. Event Promotion

The fourth and final most important thing to remember when planning a business networking event is to start the promotion and guest invitations as soon as you’ve secured your appropriate venue.

You may want to consider utilizing online tools such as Eventbrite that will do everything from managing the signups for interested attendees to advertising the event for you. Alternatively, you could instead choose to create private groups on social media that are aimed at the specific groups of people that you feel will simultaneously benefit from the event and will also be useful business contacts in the future.