How To Do Business Networking While Working Remotely

Working from home is awesome. It gives you so much flexibility and freedom. In the United Kingdom, more than 8.4 million employees were doing jobs that allowed them to work from home. The recent global pandemic even made remote work more popular, and millions of people are still working from their homes until this day.  However, even if you are working remotely, networking is highly essential. Networking will expose you to different professional opportunities. It would also help you to cultivate and establish vital relationships that can help you take your career to the next level.  Nevertheless, networking can be a bit difficult, even more, difficult when you are working remotely. For you to be able to strike a perfect balance, you need to know business networking best practices and follow them through. In this guide, I will be sharing with you some business networking best practices and tips on how to do business networking while working from home. 

Business Networking Tips for Remote Workers

1. Join Relevant LinkedIn Groups

Joining relevant LinkedIn groups is a great business network tip, and it yields interesting results. When you go through your LinkedIn account, you can do much more than just see those that viewed your profile. Many people just scan through this platform to look at other people’s profiles and interesting articles. Interesting, LinkedIn has a lot to offer than that.  The platform has a wide range of groups for different job fields, personal interests, locations, and more. Perhaps you are interested in TED talks or you are a freelancer designer that wants to connect with other freelancers in that community. You can always find a group in your line of interest on this platform.  Maybe you are a writer in London; there might be a group of other writers like you in that same city. You can look for a group that appeals to your interest and request to join. However, joining the group is not enough; you need to make an effort to be part of their discussions. Members of the group might be exchanging ideas and thoughts every week.  Some group members might also share some updates about your profession as well as some relevant job opportunities. You can also get notifications of in-person networking events close by. Hence, you should look for relevant groups on LinkedIn, request to join the group, and participate in the conversations in the group. 

2. Connect and Meet with Your Colleagues

Depending on the size of your organization, you might have a few colleagues that are also working from the comfort of their home as you. Many people working from home stay connected to their co-workers via platforms such as Slack, Skype, GoToMeeting, and other chat and online conferencing tools. Those are the most convenient means to keep in touch with your colleagues on a regular basis. However, that does not mean you cannot make an effort to meet with them in person -occasionally.  You can reach out to some fellow team members that live in the same city as you. You can pick a nice place to meet and network; probably go out for dinner. Even if the in-person meeting is very short, it would still go a long way. 

3. Join Professional Slack Communities and Groups

If you want to do business networking while working from the comfort of your home, Slack is one of the best tools to use. Many companies and organizations use this platform for sharing ideas, communicating, and working on projects. Interestingly, Slack does more than that, as it can also be used to bring people together, regardless of where they are in the world.  If you are not part of a private Slack group or community because of a Slack platform or shared experience from your firm, you can start with loads of free Slack communities. You can join the free groups to meet new people.  Joining these groups will expose you to other professionals in your field. You would be able to learn new things from them. You can also see new job posts, shared work experiences, work opportunities, and more. For example, there are different Slack groups for professionals in development, design, writing, product, technology, and more. You can join more than one Slack group, provided they help you to network. 

4. Connect with Others via Your Social Media Channels

Social media also play a key role when doing business networking. Many professionals use their social media account, especially Instagram, as portfolios for art, products, professional services, or photography. If you want to do business networking over social media, you should make sure that your account exhibits who you are.  Your account should be transparent about your goals, skills, or business. If you want your social media account to be private, then you can create another account for your business only. You can use the business account to know about your audience and engage with them in a meaningful way. With this strategy, you can build and grow your professional network virtually, completely online. 

5. Start a Podcast

Podcasts are increasingly becoming popular, as people use them for a wide range of purposes. Podcasts are not only for keeping you entertained during a workout or long drive; you can also use them to connect with other people in your profession or industry. You can build an incredible business network by creating relevant and insightful podcasts.  Starting a podcast is not easy, as it requires a lot of effort and time. Creating your own podcasts is more labour-intensive than inviting someone to join a Slack community. However, if you are genuinely interested in podcasting, and you are willing to put in all the extra work and time, podcasting can be an extremely valuable networking tool.  With a podcast, you can interview interesting, influential people, and this will help to get your name or brand out there in your industry. When your name is out there, chances are you will get more opportunities down the line. Because you are not confined to a particular space or time zone as your guests, you can manage the whole process from the comfort of your home. 

6. Look for Ways to Offer Value

People like those who help them. Hence, if you make yourself one of those who add real value to others, you will endear yourself to people automatically. The most interesting part of this is that you can do this while working from the comfort of your home. 

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You can do business networking by looking for opportunities to offer value. Look for ways to support, help, or make valuable connections for people in your network. If you are a designer, look for people on LinkedIn, Facebook, or Slack groups that are finding it difficult to get design work for their business. You can share some of your favourite design tools with them and teach them how they can work with them.  If you know people that are having challenges in hiring a new assistant, you can send them a helpful article on how they can hire a virtual assistant or team. If you have two clients that can work together, you can link them up. You should be genuine when helping others.  Do not help them because you hope they will help you along the line. Your goal should be to add value to others, and this would help to build your network much faster than you can imagine. Your name or brand will go far for your good works, and you will reap the rewards in no time. 

7. Look for Networking Events in Your Community

If you are looking for a network, Google can be a great tool. A simple Google search can bring up loads of local events for you. Most of the major cities in the UK have networks designed especially for young professionals. You can search for the network in your city or the local area, join the groups, and check out their meetups.  These networks come in different forms. Some might be for networking in certain fields, some might be only social, while some might be volunteer opportunities. Irrespective of the form, this is a nice way to leave the house and meet with plenty of people who are looking to meet and network with others.  These events are usually open to everyone. Hence, you might meet a mix of professionals who work from the comfort of their homes like or you in an office. This is a great way to connect and meet new people that can help you take your career to the next level.  Final Thoughts There are different ways you can do business networking while working remotely. You can also start with the network you already have before expanding your reach. Networking is very important, especially for those who work from the comfort of their homes, as they spend most of their time indoors. For you to learn new skills, find new jobs and opportunities, you need to network and connect with others. In this article, we have listed some of the most effective ways you can do business networking to get your name, brand, or business out there while working remotely.