I’ve been writing about strategic partners and how to add value to them. You’ve identified them and have a good message to attract them. Now, how do you find them?

1. Ask Your Network

That’s a good place to start. People in your network might be potential strategic partners or they network with them. Ask where else they network. You’ll find some new events or get a new perspective on an old event.

2. Look for Professional Organizations

If you are targeting particular professions, there are probably professional organizations which serve them. If you are looking for people in related professions (e.g. real estate), one organization might serve multiple professions. Many organizations have open events a couple of times a year. Those are your opportunity to meet a lot of different people in a particular industry or profession.

Be warned. Members of such organizations are accustomed to visitors coming to open events and looking to sell their services. Remember that your role at the event is to find referral partners, not customers. As long as you act accordingly, you’ll be welcomed where the sales-focused people will be politely (or not) ignored. Quickly review yesterday’s post on adding value to strategic partnerships for ideas.

3. Don’t Forget Social Media

Events and groups are often promoted through social media. If you are targeting a particular profession or industry, follow some influential local people. Look at what events they talk about. I’ve gone to an event because someone I followed on Twitter was going to be there, and I wanted to meet in person.

LinkedIn Groups or Yahoo! Groups are another good place to meet people. Look for a group dedicated to the industry you are targeting. Provide useful information and be a good group member. I just scored a connection to a local published author and writers’ group through a Yahoo! Group. I’m still bouncing about that!

Tags: Networking, Networking Events, Referrals, Relationship building

This entry was posted on Thursday, September 9th, 2010 at 9:16 am and is filed under Networking Events. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.