74: Stop Hiding Behind Your Laptop: In-Person Networking Tips for Online Business Owners With Andrea Shah
Because your next client (or your next best friend) probably isn't hiding in your living room.
You work online, your friends are online, and your clients are online.
Your coworker is either a woman in another country you’ve never met, but somehow you still refer to her as your coworker, or your dog. There’s really no inbetween.
And, same.
So when someone tells you to “go network,” it immediately conjures up an image of standing awkwardly in a conference room full of men in navy suits while someone hands you a stale cracker and asks for your elevator pitch.
That sounds like my personal hell.
Which is exactly why I wanted to have marketing strategist, Andrea Shah, on the podcast this week.
Because networking doesn’t have to look like that.
Some of the best business relationships you’ll ever build happen because you simply got your booty out of your house and talked to another human being.
The squirrel brain questions 🐿️
Before we talked networking, obviously we had to cover the important topics.
If she could gather “nuts” like a squirrel: Spices and candles. Specifically enough candles that she’s one TJ Maxx trip away from becoming the “spend less on candles” meme.
If she had to get a phrase tattooed on her face: “You don’t have to like it... but you do have to do it.” Which might be the most relatable gym motto I’ve ever heard.
I complain all the way to kickboxing, then when I get there, suddenly I’m setting personal records.
Sometimes complaining is just part of the warm-up.
What would be in the museum gift shop dedicated to her: Custom tea blends. Which somehow turned into a conversation about homemade chai, emergency kitchen candles, and me forcing Andrea to send me her husband’s family recipe.
(The chai recipe is in the podcast description)
Her walkout song: Murder on the Dancefloor.
Perfect choice.
Networking isn’t about finding clients.
It’s about finding people.
I think this is where so many online business owners get stuck, because they assume networking only “counts” if the person standing in front of them is their ideal client.
If they aren’t...What’s the point?
But one of my favourite things Andrea said was that sometimes the person you’re talking to doesn’t need your service.
But maybe their cousin does.
Or their business partner.
Or the person they have coffee with every Thursday morning.
Or maybe...
Neither of them need what you do at all.
Maybe you just made a business friend who understands exactly what it’s feels like to run a business.
That still has value.
One of my closest local friendships started because I accidentally joined my Chamber of Commerce years ago.
I didn’t join looking for a best friend.
I joined because I thought maybe I’d meet a client.
Instead, I accidentally built a community.
Sometimes networking gives you referrals and sometimes it gives you people.
Both are worth leaving the house for.
Everyone is waiting for someone else to say hello.
I think the biggest misconception about networking events is that everyone else knows exactly what they’re doing.
Spoiler alert: They don’t.
Most people are standing there hoping someone walks over and starts the conversation first.
Andrea shared one of my new favourite networking hacks: Wear something memorable.
A bright jacket.
A fun pair of glasses.
A ridiculous handbag.
Anything that gives someone an easy excuse to say: “Oh my gosh, I love your...”
Instant conversation starter.
And if you’re the nervous one?
Here’s the good news: There are people exactly like me wandering around every networking event looking for the person standing awkwardly in the corner.
I physically cannot leave them alone.
My second-hand embarrassment won’t let me.
So if you’re worried you’re going to stand there by yourself all night...
Trust me.
Some extrovert squirrel is already making their way toward you.
Nobody is thinking about you as much as you are.
This might’ve been my favourite part of the conversation.
Andrea said something that every anxious business owner needs tattooed somewhere:
You are not the main character in everyone else’s evening.
People aren’t driving home replaying the slightly awkward thing you said.
They’re driving home replaying the slightly awkward thing they said.
We’re all starring in our own movies.
Which means you get a lot more freedom than you think.
If you accidentally interrupt someone...
If your joke doesn’t land...
If you completely blank on what someone does for work five seconds after they tell you...
Congratulations.
You’re a human.
Nobody’s keeping score.
(Except maybe your own brain, which is notoriously dramatic.)
POINT OF THE STORY
Networking isn’t the old-boys-club elevator pitch you’re picturing. It’s wearing something bold, asking a good question, and remembering that nobody’s replaying your awkward moment the way you are. Go talk to someone!!!
Love you, mean it. 🖤
ANDREA LINKS
— Follow Andrea on Instagram and Threads
— Check out her website
— Grab her freebie
— Her walkout song
BTL LINKS
— All of my website copy resources: betweenthelinescopy.com/web-copy
— All of my email marketing resources: betweenthelinescopy.com/email-marketing
— Take my website copywriting course: betweenthelinescopy.com/sprint
— Sponsor this podcast (or my newsletter!): betweenthelinescopy.com/sponsorships
— Follow me on Instagram at instagram.com/btlcopy OR instagram.com/capecodcierge
— Subscribe to my marketing newsletter at www.betweenthelinescopy.com/subscribe
— Subscribe to my ADHD newsletter at bysarajoelle.substack.com
— Subscribe to my copywriter-only newsletter at btlcopy.myflodesk.com/open-loop
— Subscribe to my designer-only newsletter at btlcopy.myflodesk.com/for-designers
— Check out my website at www.betweenthelinescopy.com
OTHER LINKS
— Blog post: 3 Reasons Why AI Copywriting Won’t Replace Humans
— Past episode: Episode 49: If You Want A Village, You Have To Be A Villager
This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz.