In case you haven’t noticed, holiday networking events are in full swing. These are most typical during decemberm but you may find some around St. Patricks Day or other holidays. I personally have an event almost every night for two weeks straight. Sometimes I even have two events in one day!
Seeing as how I’m an extrovert, I’m loving this. I get to party, enjoy the holiday season and grow my business all at the same time. However, I get not everyone feels this way about holiday networking events. In fact, this time of year can be really stressful for some people. Here are some of my tips on how to survive the season.
Adrenal support.
While I’m no doctor, I know it doesn’t take much for our adrenals to get shot. Especially if you already naturally tend to go at 100 mph like I do.
I actually learned this the hard way earlier this year when I started experiencing thyroid problems. My doctor helped me connect it back to my adrenals which were absolutely spent.
From there, I worked with a nutritionist who taught me how to support my adrenals during really busy times. This included food and supplements for those times in life when you’re working hard and not sleeping much. For a lot of us, holiday networking events fall into that category.
Don’t take it so damn seriously.
Can you make money by attending holiday networking events? Absolutely. But holiday networking events tend to be a little jollier than other networking events throughout the year. That means you have permission to relax and have a good time.
Everyone’s primary goal at these events is to have a good time. If you focus on that the business talk will organically make it’s way into the conversation.
Besides, keep in mind that most people aren’t going to be back to their regular grind until January, so chill out and have a drink. With that being said, keep reading to find out what you should do when the shop talk does come up.
Don’t freak out.
As I already mentioned, most people you meet at these holiday networking events won’t be back to their regular grind until January. And the closer it gets to Christmas and New Year’s the less likely that they’ll be checking for your email.
So don’t freak out if you don’t get a response right away or can’t get that deal closed before the end of the year.
Come up with a follow-up system.
Since it’s unlikely that you’ll get a meeting with someone you met a holiday networking event before January, it’s up to you to stay on top of your follow-up system.
The first step is to obviously send your typical post networking event follow-up email. The second step is to know it may take some back and forth emails before you get that meeting. And finally, you might also have to send an email again in January when everything is back to business as usual.
Also note that since some time might pass before you can actually sit down and talk with this person, you might want to make some notes on their business card when you get them. That way you have a reminder as to who this person is and what they do.
Final Thoughts
Holiday networking events are supposed to be fun so enjoy them! While you can and will grow your business by attending these events, realize that it’s appropriate to let loose a little this time of year.
