You're aiming to boost your career as a Life Coach. How can you make the most of networking events?

Making the most of networking events as a life coach involves strategic planning, active engagement, and effective follow-up. For you to have good and creative networking I believe one should; - Determine what you want to achieve, such as meeting potential clients, finding collaboration opportunities, or learning from industry leaders. - Find out who will be attending and identify key people you’d like to connect with. - Create a compelling introduction that communicates who you are, what you do, and what sets you apart as a life coach. - Focus on listening and understanding others, which can help you build stronger connections. - Engage in panel discussions, Q&A sessions, or group conversations to showcase your expertise.

Know before you go. You might not be able to research every attendee but the main speakers you should research and provide Value. Talk about a recent article they did, a podcast episode they were on, or anything that is related to their interests! This opens the door to an amazing conversation and an opportunity to build with them.

It's important to have a short elevator pitch to help you quickly introduce yourself and what you can offer to people at networking events. You can check out online for some possible pitches to craft. The more important thing than having a perfect pitch written, is to deliver it well. Practice, practice, and practice even more, will help you to feel more natural at delivering your pitch.

I truly believe in authentic connections. Following, researching, and connecting with people in the network you want to build and grow in is more for you in personal development than gaining clients or services. Start from a genuine place of connection and get to know and build from there.

Think of quality connections rather than purely quantitative ones. People want to connect with us as fellow people, not just as a business entity. While you may feel that you are missing out by not reaching out to any and everyone at an event, think of the bigger picture that you will make valuable connections with a few smaller pools of people, who may be able to connect you with your best clients, if they are not the right client, because they feel deeply connected with you in the first place. Think of the longer bigger picture, than just short term gains.

Offer Value to your contacts when you follow up. I offer for them the chance to be on my Podcast but you can 9ffer other things. This allows for them to build a relationship with you and you both get exposure so its a Win Win situation

Having follow-up contact with people is important to keep the memories fresh in your contact's mind. They will appreciate you taking the extra step to catch up again right after the initial networking session. Building a relationship takes time, and what's a better time than 24-48 hours after the initial meeting? To remind them of who you are, and what you hope to continue to offer down the road.

Social media, such as LinkedIn, allows professional connections to be made easily. You can also follow up and follow your connection's latest up-to-date events and growth over time with LinkedIn. Through LinkedIn, you can also meet like-minded individuals, whether they are close by or far away. I have enjoyed meeting and connecting with fellow professionals across the globe in the USA, despite living and working in Singapore myself.

How you can make the most out of networking events if you're aiming to boost your career as a life coach is to genuinely care & be interested in people and what they do. The first goal of networking is not closing deals but opening relationships. Networking is basically about meeting people so you can have access/connections/opportunities to gain from or through them but the fact that you met a highly skilled, highly influential or a high networth individual and exchanged numbers doesn't automatically mean you've gained camaraderie with them. Be intentional about caring enough, to consistently communicate, that's how closeness & connections that lead to cordial relationships, close friendships or committed partnership is formed.

"It's not what you know, but who you know" is an often-quoted quote in the job search circle. I think the quote applies to any relationship—people don't buy things or services based on the product specs alone, but they also buy from those they have a good relationship with, of course, expecting the products or services to be of a certain quality. When we try to focus on building that relationship with others, think of Quality instead of the Quantity of people you know. You will find that you will enjoy the networking process better because you are truly connecting from a fellow human to another human level.