Finding The Best Networking Group That Doesn’t Waste My Time

Finding the best networking group for you and your needs can be an arduous task.  Especially in today’s world, where most professionals are overworked and under-staffed, finding time to network professionally can fall by the wayside.  But is this a good thing for professionals to do?  Should professionals cast business networking to the side?

According to Marketing Expertus, 2020, one of the biggest advantages of networking is career advancement.  Professionals who allotted around 6.3 hours per week to professional networking activities said that it played a crucial role in their success.

Unfortunately, professional networking does have its downsides.  If you don’t do it right, it could be a huge waste of time, money, and sanity!  Approaching networking groups smartly could be the difference between networking successfully or it is a time and money suck!

How to Get the Most Out of a Professional Networking Group

Getting the most out of a business networking group isn’t rocket science, but it IS important to have a strategy before heading into an event or meeting.

Be clear about your goal, your desired outcome, and specific industries/people you want to connect with.

First and foremost, do NOT go to a networking event with the sole purpose of selling people in the room.  That is not the point of networking!  When you go to a networking event or group, focus on meeting with professionals who have the same target audience as you but offer different products and services.

For example, if you’re a realtor, make it a point to meet with mortgage lenders, home inspectors, P&C insurance agents, contractors, moving companies, etc.  These are the people who will be able, and hopefully, willing, to pass you more business.

Be able and willing to talk and meet with new people.

Keep this in mind, you never know who you are going to meet and how you can help them, or how they can help you.  Sure, there may be some people who can’t refer to you regularly, but you never know who they know.

Too often I’ve found certain people in networking groups who are, for lack of a better word, “snobby.”  They are too good or “better” than everyone in the room.  Honestly, if I catch that vibe from someone I stay away.  I don’t listen to what people say, I watch what they do and how they behave.  I am of the mindset that how a person does one thing is how a person does most things. 

If someone walks into the room and needs to be the main event, I stay away.  If someone walks into a room and only has time for certain people and blows everyone else off, I stay away.  Lastly, if someone walks into a room and tells everyone over and over, “I’m a gentleman,” or “I’m very humble,” I DEFINITELY stay away.  Without going too deep into this topic there are several ways to spot a narcissist out and about, and we cover it in this article here.

Spend a few minutes with each person you meet (unless they are skeazy, sleezy or rapey – then run!)

There’s no question that joining a networking group opens you up to meeting a wide array of people – both professional and unprofessional.  At a networking event, make it a point to spend a few minutes with each person you meet so you can see how you can benefit them, and see who you can connect them with. 

Unfortunately, there may be some people who are unprofessional.  They may show up to a networking event to find people to date, or to simply try to sell everyone they meet their products or services. 

This is not the point of networking.  The whole point of networking is to expand your centers of influence, advance your as well as others’ careers, and to be a resource to other professionals. 

If someone does happen to be skeazy, sleezy or rapey, it would serve you to bow out of the conversation as quickly as possible.  And if they ask for a face-to-face meeting, there are a few different ways you can decline meetings with these kinds of people.

As someone who hosts professional networking events, one of the biggest lessons I’ve had throughout the years is to trust your gut when meeting people.  Failure to do so can cost you more in the long term both financially, timewise and mentally.

Bring a strong follow-up game.

What’s the point of attending a networking group or event if you don’t follow up with the professionals you met afterward?  My rule of thumb is to reconnect via text, phone call, or email within 24 hours.  

I understand that some events may fall on a Friday.  It may make more sense to reach out Monday instead of on a Saturday.  That’s perfectly fine and is up to your discretion.  Personally, if I haven’t set a meeting during the networking event, I try to set one when I follow up with them the next day.  This is especially important for your particular centers of influence.  As with most things, time is of the essence!

Be authentically you!

One great rule of thumb is to always be yourself.  You may not be everyone’s cup of tea and that is OK.  Personally, I want people to know who I am upfront so they can more easily figure out whether or not they want to work with me.

How to Find the Best Networking Group

Finding the best networking group for you and your needs will take a time commitment.  There may be several different networking groups in your town, and not all of them may work for you!  To help you determine the best networking group for you, we’ve made a chart to help you determine your needs and wants:

Keep in mind, there are no wrong answers!  Everybody has different wants and needs and figuring out what works best for you and your profession is in your highest interest! 

Characteristics of the Best Networking Groups

I’ve been in several different networking groups, and one of the defining characteristics of a great networking group or chapter is the culture.  A networking group may have a culture of fun and comradery, but are they passing referrals back and forth?  This is where structure and systems come in:  without automated accountability and systems, the culture of a networking chapter can become lax. 

One of the keys to creating a great culture within an organization is the support challenge matrix.  A great culture within a group starts with a leader who provides high support and high challenge.  The challenging aspect has a lot to do with having a leader “ask more of you than you’re willing to ask yourself.”

 With both support and challenge, you create a culture of empowerment, opportunity, responsibility, and accountability. 

A networking chapter leader who provides high challenge but low support can become a dominator.  This breeds a culture of fear and manipulation.

Perhaps one of the most damaging cultures is provided by the protector.  I call this the “Rah Rah Rah” leader.  It creates a culture of excuses and justification and creates entitlement and mistrust within an organization.  This one is especially damaging because if you have committed professionals who want to see results, and they are surrounded by people who “argue for their limitations,” they are going to become disengaged and eventually leave.

The abdicator is a leader who may be experiencing burnout.  It’s a leader who stops caring, and this apathy trickles down within the chapter.  Eventually, the chapter members sense this apathy and could start demonstrating it as well.

In summary, finding the best networking group for you and your needs starts with identifying what it is you’re looking for, what you are wanting to provide the group and how you want to benefit from joining.  From there, one of the keys to seeing if a group is healthy is to see what kind of culture that particular chapter has.

About We&Co and The We&Co Huddles

We&Co is a professional co-oping & professional networking business that was founded in Springfield, Missouri in July of 2020.  While there are many professional networking groups in and around the United States, We&Co focuses on creating small industry-specific groups with five to ten professionals who all have the same target audience but offer different products and services.

In essence, professionals come to us when they want to save time while making more money.  These industry-specific groups are pods of professionals who are dedicated to growing their own and their respective members’ books of business.  If we’re completely honest, we aren’t for everyone.  We were created for those professionals who, in the words of Patrick Lencioni, are humble, hungry, and smart.

These small groups of referral partners (called “Huddles) meet up twice a month for an hour and talk strategy on how to become that one-stop-shop for their clients.  If you are a professional who is interested in joining or launching your own We&Co co-op (or “Huddle” as we like to call them), feel free to shoot us an email at info@weandco.org or by joining our 14-day free trial (no credit card required). and a representative will get back to you shortly!