In business, your ‘network’ can be restricted to your immediate work contacts, meaning you may be missing out on meeting people outside that circle who could put valuable business your way, or recommend you to a third party. Business-to-business networking events are a great way to widen your circle of contacts, and put you in touch with influential people whose paths might not cross yours otherwise.

You may well be networking to some extent on social media, of course. Sites such as LinkedIn, with their professional groups and first/second/third degree connections, can be very useful. But they’re no substitute for talking to someone face to face; a personal meeting could make all the difference.

Networking events are also a great opportunity to promote your business in an informal setting, talking to a variety of people about what you do, and raising your company’s profile in the local business community.

If you’re starting up a new company these events are particularly important. As well as helping you find your first customers, a good networking group will be able to recommend reliable suppliers and good providers of the other outside services you may need.

DM PR & Marketing can identify the best local business networking events for you to attend and go along with you to help with introductions. Dana Mulligan is well-known in the business community through her work in the Exeter area and a familiar face at networking events as well as business awards, ceremonies and seminars.

Too busy to attend yourself? Dana can go along on your behalf, taking on the role of Business Development Manager for your company, identifying useful contacts for you and promoting your products or services.

We have been helping the Exeter company JR Carpets to raise their profile in the local business community, at a time when they wanted to increase awareness locally of their retail showroom and were advertising it in the local media. We arranged for their retail sales manager to attend various networking events where he had plenty of opportunities to talk to local business people and spread the word. The advertising and networking combined to bring about the desired increase in customers.