How Can You Profit From An In-Person Networking/Meetup Business?

Do you know that according to the job site Zippia: You’re 24% more likely to gain new customers through in-person networking as opposed to online networking? That’s right, even in the age of online networking it’s still in-person networking that gains more customers.

I found this statistic in an article by article author Jess Pingrey on the site Fit Small Business titled: 12 Business Networking Statistics to Generate New Opportunities in 2022. I highly suggest you read this article as well.

Another in-person statistic she stated is that: “you should maximize your ability to convert leads by finding a networking group that does plenty of events, with at least some of them being in-person.”

The counterargument is that virtual events are more easily accessible—letting you attend more in one day. They also give you the ability to network with more people in a shorter time. This is also a good idea in itself.

Many proponents of online networking like to state that it is cheaper and much more convenient to implement than in-person networking. These proponents are correct. Online networking is indeed cheaper and more convenient to implement.

All you need is a mobile phone or an iPad or a laptop and an internet connection and you’re ready to network online. An internet connection and all these devices are very cheap these days that even a child can have one.

Online networking is also very convenient. You don’t have to travel to meet someone and book a place for your meeting. This is especially important during bad weather days when traveling is not only a hassle but could even be dangerous.

But meeting a person in-person signifies to your counterpart in the meeting that you are committed to them. You are so committed that you are willing to spend good money and time as well as even risking your life just to be able to meet them.

Also, there is no substitute for human warmth. There is even a saying that a lot of business deals are sealed with a single handshake. This is how powerful in-person contact can be. So, you should integrate in-person meetings to your most important customers.

This might seem contradictory because I was extolling the virtues of in-person networking before, but you should be aware of this statistic from Jess Pingrey’s article as well: According to Zippia: “Online is where most small business owners (70%) do their networking.”

“Online networking events, and social media platforms such as LinkedIn, are now where a majority of business owners do their networking. The next-highest business networking function is a party or social event at 51%, followed by professional conferences at 49%.”

As we can see, if you are a small business owner of which I presume most of the readers of this article are, you would most probably have to begin with online networking first followed by in-person networking.

This is because everyone has accepted the fact that we are now transacting our business, financial and career life online and in-person meetings are reserved only for the most urgent or important ones.

You could network online by attending virtual meetups like in meetup.com, conducting online courses, and in social media like Facebook, LinkedIn and the likes. It is suggested that you start collecting contact details as early as you can.

Depending on your location and the person attending your in-person events, arranging in-person networking events could be cheap or expensive upfront. These are few of the costs involved:

Venue: The venue can be anywhere, from conference rooms, restaurants, parks, etc… The first three are very popular venues for in-person networking and comes with varying costs from very expensive, affordable to free.

Refreshments: Most often than not, in-person networking events last for a few hours. This is the reason why refreshments are needed to be included in the events. Refreshments could be as simple as affordable drinks up to full-sized meals.

Props: If your in-person event has a theme, for example Christmas in-person business meetups, you would probably need props to define the atmosphere of the event. In some instances, these are necessary costs.

Prizes: You can be creative in the prizes you hand out. Your Prizes don’t have to be expensive. For example, digital ebooks and other digital content could be cheap and almost free prizes that you could give out to your attendees.

You can earn by soliciting fees from the different parties that make up your in-person networking event. The most basic one would be by charging Ticket Fees to the attendees of your event. Here are a few more:

Commission From The Venue: For example, if your event is to be held in a restaurant, you can negotiate with the restaurant such that the more business (attendees) you bring in to the restaurant, the more is your commission.

This is especially important in social business networking meetups where the attendees tend to spend way more on food and especially drinks as they conduct their networking activities. You can even earn further commission if the venue has entrance fees as well.

Commission From The Sponsor: For example, if an office software technology company is sponsoring your in-person networking event, you can negotiate so that you earn a commission everytime this office software technology company picks up a client from the in-person event.

Subscriptions: This should be your ultimate goal: To generate regular income by hosting regular in-person events from the same group of attendees. When this happens, you could charge subscription fees from your attendees.

Your Own Personal Connection: By organizing these in-person events, you don’t only connect your attendees together, but you also are able to connect with each of your attendees. Arguably, you would be the most connected person in these networking events.

Being The Go-To Person: Being the most connected person in these events has great benefits. For one, you have the ability to become the ”bridge” between one attendee to another.

If an attendee is hesitant in connecting to another attendee, chances are is that they would consult first with you before initiating contact with the other attendee that they want to network with.

Perhaps by this time you are already envisioning to yourself that an in-person meetup business is all fun with hardly any work, but you are wrong. This is because you have to constantly monitor your attendees for signs of boredom or even disenchantment.

This is because people tend to be with other people who they share similarities with. For example, people interested in making money and talking about business will tend to find other attendees who are also interested in making money and talking about business.

These same people would less likely not associate with people who are not interested in making money but are interested in something else like having fun and drinking during networking events.

This is the reason why you should from the onset, even before the in-person networking event happens, match like-minded people with each other. For example, if you have attendees who are into sports, you should match them with other attendees who are into sports as well.

By doing this, you are able to create a subgroups within your main group which gives you the opportunity to organize smaller in-person events which are more liked by the attendees because of the other attendees involved. A greater chance to earn more income for you.

Organizing in-person events has a lot of benefits. For one, it widens your contact list and it may even be a profitable business for you. In fact, there are actual companies whose sole service is organizing networking and meetup events.

But it takes hardwork to become an in-person event organizer. You should learn how to read your attendees behavior. They might become bored are disenchanted with your event that they don’t become regular customers, this you should prevent at all cost.

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