)
)
You don’t need to know everyone. You just need to find your people
What if we stopped calling it networking?
I’ve always had a slightly different relationship with the word ‘networking’.
For some people, it conjures up images of walking into a room full of strangers, name badge firmly attached, trying to remember your elevator pitch and wondering who on earth you’re supposed to talk to.
It can feel like there’s an expectation to perform. To sell yourself. To collect as many business cards as possible (or QR codes these days!).
But what if, instead of walking into a room thinking, “I need to network”, we walked in thinking:
“I wonder who I’m going to meet?”
That tiny shift changes everything.
Because suddenly, it’s not about how many people you can speak to. It’s about being curious.
Having a conversation.
Finding a connection.
Not every room will be your room
This is important too.
Not every network will be right for you.
Not every event will be right for you.
And not every room you walk into is going to feel like home.
That’s okay.
I think sometimes in business we put enormous pressure on ourselves to make things work. If everyone else seems to love a particular networking event, surely we should too?
But finding the right community shouldn’t feel like hard work.
Give yourself permission to explore different communities in a relaxed and unpressured way. Take time to really sink in and experience them.
Because when you find the right one, it should feel natural. Comfortable. A bit like coming home.
(Only without all the never-ending jobs to do!)
You might only need to meet one person
Which is one of the reasons I’m really looking forward to The Business Show at ExCeL London this November.
There will be 25,000 entrepreneurs under one roof, alongside hundreds of exhibitors, speakers and experts.
That’s a LOT of people.
And I can imagine, for some, that number might feel exciting.
For others, slightly terrifying.
But here’s the thing.
You don’t need to meet 25,000 people.
You might just need to meet one.
One future client.
One collaborator.
One person with exactly the expertise you’ve been looking for.
One person who introduces you to someone else.
Or simply one person you find yourself having a brilliant conversation with over a coffee, who gets it.
That, to me, is networking at its best.
Find Your People
It’s also why, at Freelance Mum, we’re spending this autumn celebrating something that has been at the heart of our community from the very beginning: find your people.
Over the years, I’ve watched friendships form, collaborations happen, businesses grow and opportunities appear because two people happened to meet on a netwalk, at an event or over a coffee.
Some of those connections have lasted for years.
And very often, they began with nothing more complicated than:
“Hello.”
Because business might be what brings us into the room.
But very often, it’s the people we find there that make us want to stay.
So whether you’re heading to a huge event like The Business Show, trying a local networking group for the first time, or simply saying yes to a coffee with someone you’ve never met before, perhaps take the pressure off.
You don’t have to work the room.
You don’t have to meet everyone.
You just need to be yourself.
And be open to meeting someone.
You never know.
They might just be one of your people.