10 Reasons Face to Face Networking is Important for Landing Freelance Writing Clients

The Internet is an amazing freelance writing tool. We use it to communicate, find work and network. I don’t like to bore you with too many “back in the day” stories, but I can tell you times have changed drastically in the past ten to twenty years.

The problem with all this online stuff is how it makes everything less personal. It’s one of the reasons I enjoy attending so many confererences. Networking not only gives me the opporutnity to meet interesting people, but  people who might be in need of my services. I also meet people who know people who might be in need of my services. Social media, online networking, email…these are all great tools. It’s the face to face networking that really drives it all home.

Here’s why face to face networking rocks, especially at writing and social media conferences.

1. Lots of elevators to pitch: Actually, I don’t believe in giving elevator pitches, really. I do believe in face to face marketing, however. When you’re in a room filled with hundreds of others, you have the ability to reach so many people. Now, chances are you won’t get to meet everyone in attendance but whether you meet 5 or 10 or 50, you now have more contacts…and potential clients.
2. Business cards and promotional material don’t get lost in the email shuffle: Cold calling or cold emailing can be effective. The problem with email is it either gets lost in the queue, put in a folder never to be seen again, or deleted outright. People tend to keep business cards and brochures. I have envelopes filled with business cards from every conference I attended. When you give someone your business card he might not use it right away, but he may use it a month or a year from now.
3. Passion: Your potential client can’t always see your passion in an email.  (though as a writer it’s something that should show through.) However, when you’re face to face your passion shines through each time.
4. You can better conduct business over a cup of coffee than an email pitch: When you’re having a conversation you can flesh out ideas. You can offer suggestions and listen to advice in return. One 30 minute conversation will do a lot more for your career than 3 emailed paragraphs.
5. Email is so impersonal: Though it’s not necessary to elaborate, I will say this. People prefer to talk to real live people than a computer. They prefer to hear voice than to read an email. It’s the reason no one likes automated phone calls or Twitter DM spam. They prefer personalized pitches to impersonal online marketing.
6. The trust factor: Folks trust you better when they can see your face and hear your voice. They like to look you in the eye and make sure you’re on the up and up.
7. You know exactly who you’re talking to: When you’re face to face you’re talking to the person you want to talk to. Not the receptionist. Not the fake supervisor. You’re taking it straight to the man. (or woman as the case may be).
8. No one can hang up the phone: One of the reasons I dislike cold calling is because sometimes the person who answers the phone will say, “no thank you” and hang up before I can even get the words out. When you’re meeting with someone face to face, you can usually at least say what it is you do and offer a business card.
9. Face to face is memorable: Potential clients are more likely to remember you if reach out in person as opposed to online. Emails don’t always make a lasting impression.
10. It gives you a chance to work on your people skills: Networking is good practice. It allows you to try out your people and customer service skills. When you’re talking with others you can tell what works. You can read their expressions and body language to see what they’re thinking. When you network you learn a lot about your delivery and can tweak that to your advantage.

How do you network?