In today’s highly competitive marketplace, a good network could be the difference between a successful and a struggling business. As such, any robust marketing effort should incorporate a bulletproof networking strategy for growing your business and expanding opportunities.
Notably, modern networking strategies go beyond merely talking and exchanging business cards. It is more about a deep understanding of modern networking tools for success and how to leverage them to make the best of the process.
In this post, we discuss the benefits of networking apps and advise you on the five best networking apps on the market today:
5 Benefits of business networking apps
Active networking can help build long-term relationships and a good reputation over time. Networking apps can help you leverage the growing social media space to create a robust network for your business.
The following are other benefits of business networking apps:
Enhances business connections
Networking has a lot to do with sharing and not taking. It is more of building trust and helping everyone within the network towards a goal. When you regularly engage with your contacts, including customers, and find ways to help, you strengthen your existing relationship. When you offer help to your contacts, you sow seeds for mutual assistance when you need assistance to achieve your own business goals.
A source of exceptional business ideas
In most cases, your networks turn out to be ideal sources of new ideas and perspectives that help you achieve your business goals. Robust networking provides you with opportunities to share challenges, experiences, and goals. This information enables you to gain new insights that may help streamline your business operations for overall growth. Besides, when you offer helpful ideas to your contacts, you build your reputation, which may earn you several referrals in the future.
Career building opportunities
One crucial benefit of networking is that you become highly visible and easily noticeable. When you regularly contribute ideas to your platform or attend professional and social events, you quickly become an authority in a given niche, and your face becomes recognizable. This exposure helps build your reputation as a supportive, knowledgeable, and reliable contact, which in turn helps boost your career.
Gain a different perspective
It is relatively easy to get caught up in your daily activities and remain stagnant and unproductive. When you talk with others in your fields or persons with crucial expertise in a given niche, you get an opportunity to gain insights that help you view your situation from different angles. Networking offers you a chance to seek help and mentorship that enables you to see things afresh and circumvent your roadblocks.
Build confidence
When you continually interact with new people and share experiences, you will confidently step outside your comfort zone and aim for higher goals. Learning where others are in your fields of interest is a key motivating factor to boost your confidence level. Networking also serves as a guiding anchor that allows you to learn from others, especially their mistakes and where they are excelling.
Top 5 business networking apps
If you are considering networking in 2021 as a critical strategy to grow your businesses, check out the following five best-in-class business networking apps to make your efforts worthwhile:
LinkedIn is one of the most popular business networking apps for professionals. The app has over 560 million users and enables you to create a profile that others can find and connect with you for business purposes. The best thing about LinkedIn is that you have better control over who finds you. It features an inbuilt protection functionality against unwarranted invites that enables you to restrict the information available about you. Ideally, LinkedIn allows you to easily share your trusted business contacts with others to create a community of connected and approved people.
GroupMe
GroupMe is a free networking app built with business networking in mind. The app operates much like a private chatroom where every group member easily sends and accesses messages. It is an Android, iOS, and Windows 10 compatible platform that can also connect via SMS using your address book. Once you send out messages, the members can react to information sent to them quickly and efficiently. Apart from text-based communication, GroupMe also supports web hyperlinks, documents, videos, and pictures in its exchange.
Invitly
Invitly is another exciting professional business networking app worth your time. The app is a members’ only platform and is thus more exclusive than the other networking apps. Because smaller groups use it, the app makes it quite hard for spammers to use or access sensitive member information. Invitly is designed to connect specific like-minded professionals who can privately exchange ideas and feedback within their community. The app also offers mentoring and training service options that help with personal and professional development.
ShapR
If you are experiencing trouble making meaningful business friendships try the ShapR app. This app is an ideal tool for connecting with people who work in your industry and with whom you share interests and objectives. ShapR shares a lot of resemblance to the typical dating apps where you swipe people when looking for an ideal partner. Once you have found an important person, the app automatically sends them a personal message and establishes contact with them. The app is available for Android and iPhone devices and doesn’t allow any unsolicited requests, meaning you won’t receive any inappropriate messages.
Bizzabo
If you are looking for an excellent tool for conference networking in 2021, go for Bizzabo. It is a free mobile app that allows you to connect specifically with the people you hope to meet in an otherwise highly crowded and disorganized conference environment. If you have an existing LinkedIn account, you won’t need to register your information afresh as the app will automatically access your profile as well as the other Linked profiles of the people attending the conference.
Key Takeaway
Active networking is crucial for business growth, and nurturing relationship with your contacts is mutually beneficial. Regular networking within your business industry will set you up to progress in your business and achieve your outlined goals. The apps we have shared here will help you raise your professional profile, connect with others in your network, and quickly broaden access to crucial business opportunities. If you need help getting started, don’t hesitate to contact Zirtual.