Networking events – place to make good contacts or waste of your time? Honestly, depending on the event and how you approach it, it could be either. But one thing’s for sure. Every event you attend will present you with the same ridiculous cast of characters. Sure they may look a bit different, but they’ll fit the mold.
Don’t believe me? Take a look at the list and then take note at your next event.
- Barbie and/or Ken – Let’s start with the best and possibly most pitiful. Barbie and Ken are almost always represented at these things, although sometimes you may only get one or the other. But they’re there, all dolled up, their skin stretched way too tight across their face. The unnatural physique with the held-in-place-by-glue hair. Why do they attend? Because they want you to look at them, of course. Looking in the mirror does get old after awhile, doesn’t it? Oh, did I mention they are usually too old to try and look so young?
- The Leech – If you’re extremely unlucky, you’ve gotten caught by the leech before. Although, hopefully you learned your lesson after the first couple of times. The leech is the person who is at the event but probably isn’t that comfortable going up to new people and forming lots of connections. Instead, they will sense the easiest target, anyone that remotely shows any interest in them, and will attach themselves. And once they start sucking your blood, they’ll be with you the entire night, gravy training on all your conversations.
- The Too-Important Guy – This guy is out of place and he knows it. “Why the hell am I here,” is written all over his face and you’re wasting your time and paper if you try and hand him your business card. He probably has a million business cards just like yours and won’t remember you 5 seconds from now. He’s bigger than this.
- The Newbie – Everyone is a marketing event rookie at one time. However, some handle it worse than others. And usually they go around telling everyone, usually whispering out of the corner of their mouth, that they’ve “never been to one of these things.” And they ask lots of annoying questions like “how does this work” and “what do we do now.” Act like you’ve been there before, man!
- The Overly Ambitious – The overly ambitious will not stop until they have shaken every single hand and exchanged business cards with every person in the room. They typically talk so fast that you’d swear they were on something (they probably are). Of course, being so ambitious, they probably will call you and may even be a good contact. So don’t hesitate to talk to them.
- The Drunk – This one might be better than Barbie and Ken. More fun to watch anyway. These events almost always have free booze of some sort. Usually wine. Anyway, the drunk volunteers to attend these meetings because…well, he knows he’ll get to drink for free (and not have to drink alone that night). Unfortunately, he almost always has too much and walks around glass-eyed, making little sense. It’s a waste of your marketing time to talk to him, but certainly adds to the entertainment value.
There, you see? Guaranteed you’ll find someone to slide into each category at your next marketing event. Just wait and see!
This article is written by Mickie Kennedy, founder of eReleases (https://www.ereleases.com), the online leader in affordable press release distribution. Download your free copy of 7 Cheap PR Tactics for Success in Any Economy here: https://www.ereleases.com/free-offer/cheap-pr-tactics/