Episode 129- How to Network at Conferences with Social Sonja

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In this episode of Business Growth Time, we discuss “How to Network at Conferences with Social Sonja.”

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About Sonja Durik:

Sonja Durik aka Social Sonja, a Social Media and Sales Funnel Strategist. She helps small business owners to grow their business with the use of Social Media.

Time Stamped Show Notes:

05:23 – How Sonja and Terry met?

08:28 – Misson and Vision of Sonja

Sonja is a natural connector, she loves to connect people.

11:06 – Sonja shares some tips on “How to Effectively Introduce Yourself at Networking Events”

Sonja has been in networking for a long time.
If you spend your time, you leave your family and business and put aside time for a moment to come to the conference, you need to be prepared, you need to have a strategy in place and show up on point and be on brand.

18:16 – Sonja started the conferences

What Sonja thought was holding her back originally.
She never forgets this the power of connecting with the right people, which led her into her current business.
Sonja says, If you really want to learn about networking, conferences or social media digital marketing and you want to learn from me, you will listen.

21:35 – How Sonja started with her Agency

It’s a great way to connect like-minded people.

23:56 – How to Decide Which Conferences Are Worth Your Time

First, it’s important to understand where you are in your career.
For local, find on Meetup, Eventbrite
Go to conferences
Not everyone knows how to network
Be known and respected in your field and go to those conferences, plus go to where your ideal client is.
Sometimes, people want to get to know me…and others hand business cards….and some build relationships
You have to be prepared because it’s all about how to show up and how you build those relationships.
Janet runs a monthly networking group

27:01 – Building Business Relationships after Events

Business Expo…what is your strategy, what is your focus, show up, follow up.
Ask who will go with me to this event? Go with people you know and trust, who will be able to introduce you to people at the conference.
So, many business owners always need your help, then, you will have a totally different approach, you’re approach changes how you think about building relationships, there is no competition-mindset.
It’s all about how you connect and what is the relationship you will have with people.

29:11 – Importance of relationship building in a business

She learned how to present and connect
A way to go about and build some businesses is all about connecting.
You have to give before you receive
Listen to our past episode about “Grow your Business the Go-Giver Way – Go-Giver Book Bob Burg” – Episode 27

31:20 – How do you really determine which conferences to attend and which conferences to avoid?

Who are you looking to connect with, which industry, what are those people interested in and where do they go, what do they attend, give them something valuable
Like-minded business partnerships
Ideal clients
Go with a tribe, easy way to connect with people who know your friends.
You can create your own workshops, because then you can attract people to come to you.

32:00 – 90 Day Year

Give Early Bird tickets
Plan your conference to feature what will help you the most, connect with people who will help you, so you can help your clients
For example, do 1 hour workshop, if you really want to be known in your local area
Social capital, where you are building relationships with people that can help connect you with more people.
You have be very relevant to your goal and what you are doing

38:19 – Sonja started to build a group home for entrepreneurs

Thank you for being in my group, how can I help you more?
People are inviting other people into the group and it is growing and running well
The group is called “Conferences for Entrepreneurs“ she actually created a list of 300 different events that are going on that are entrepreneurial focused over the course of the year.
People in the group are connecting, such as, people seeking for speakers
She created a list of 300 US conferences and 150 international ones from real estate conferences, digital marketing conferences and affiliate marketing conferences, all kinds of conferences.

42:22 – Where to find Sonja?