8-step guide to successful elite networking at BRAND MINDS
Are you attending BRAND MINDS? Congratulations! You are one step ahead of your peers and closer to reaching your personal and professional development goals.
Are you attending with your team? Even better! You will exchange ideas and learn much more from your colleagues’ points of view on the insights, frameworks and trends shared by our esteemed speakers on stage.
Your first goal as a participant at BRAND MINDS is to learn as much as possible from every speaker going up on stage. And you have a lot to learn, indeed: sales, marketing, business strategy, leadership, team engagement, creativity & innovation, decision-making, AI and the future of work, good habits building and so much more. We don’t say BRAND MINDS is a 2-day MBA for nothing!
Elite networking is equally important when attending BRAND MINDS, the biggest business event in Central and Eastern Europe.
Here’s how to make the best of your networking opportunities.
8-step guide to successful elite networking at BRAND MINDS
1. Come in early and meet other participants like yourself
I can’t stress enough how important it is to come at least 15 minutes before the event begins.
You have time to get your badge, grab a cup of coffee, take your first selfie, tag BRAND MINDS and share it on social media and just take in the vibe of the event.
There are only a few people at the coffee station so you can enjoy your espresso or cappuccino in the company of other conscientious professionals like yourself. What do they like the most about BRAND MINDS? That’s a great way to start a conversation!
2. Talk to the people sitting next to you
Participants are pouring in and soon the venue is packed full of participants: marketers, salespeople, CEOs, top executives, influencers, entrepreneurs, startup founders and investors in over 80 industries and 500 companies.
Before the lights dim and the event host goes out on stage, it’s your opportunity to meet the persons sitting next to you for the next six hours. Just find a good moment to ask the person at your right and your left one simple question: are you attending BRAND MINDS for the first time? And go from there.
If you are attending the event with your team, don’t sit together. Spread out and take seats in different parts of the venue. That way it will increase your chances of meeting and connecting with professionals if this is your team’s goal.
3. Visit the event partners’ booths and activations
The partners supporting BRAND MINDS at every edition are among the best in their industries: UniCredit, BMW, One United Properties, Lenovo, Motorola, Lidl, Teilor, Coca-Cola, Costa Coffee, Edenia, La Strada and many more.
Visit the space dedicated to our partners and enjoy their activations! Talk to other participants, whether it’s over a glass of wine, a book or the latest smartphone.
4. Talk to the people you eat with at lunch break
‘Never eat alone’ is one of the tenets of networking. Research has shown that sharing a meal with someone can greatly boost our well-being making us more confident, relaxed and happier.
The event is a safe space where you can meet and connect with your peers or professionals in other industries effectively expanding your network. The food at BRAND MINDS is delicious, which is another good conversation starter.
5. Wear a T-shirt with a relevant message
Not fond of reaching out to people you don’t know? Print your favourite t-shirt with a smart message and invite attendees to come up to you, say hello and start a conversation.
Let your creative juices flow: here are two examples for marketers.
Marketing is my bread and butter. Is it yours too? Let’s talk!
Marketers turn brands into movements. Feel the same? Let’s talk!
6. Connect with influencers
Business leaders (CEOs and other top executives) and business influencers with powerful personal brands and a large following on social media attend BRAND MINDS every year.
Are you looking to meet them in person? You can, provided you approach them respectfully and with a smart strategy. First, say Hello, introduce yourself and say a few words about the influencer’s latest project or blog post. Let them know you appreciate their work. It’s a great way to start a conversation and they will be more open to talking to you.
7. Networking is far better over a glass of wine, at the BRAND MINDS Afterparty
Meeting professionals at the event is great, but nothing is better than exchanging impressions and ideas at the afterparty, sipping from a glass of white wine or a colourful cocktail.
Don’t be shy and take the first step!
8. Sharing your LinkedIn QR code is the new way of exchanging business cards
Now that you’ve learned how to expand your network with elite connections, what’s your next step? Exchanging business cards. But I have a better recommendation. Skip the business card stage and get straight to connecting on LinkedIn thanks to LinkedIn’s QR functionality.
Here is how to do it:
Step 1: Open your LinkedIn account, on mobile
Step 2: Go to My network
Step 3: Click on the small icon
Step 4: Select Scan QR code
Step 5: Invite your connection to scan the QR code
And voila! So elegant and so efficient.
I hope these pointers help you achieve your networking goals at BRAND MINDS.
See you at our next events!
BRAND MINDS starts on Friday. Upgrade your mindset for success!
BRAND MINDS LIVE 2020 has launched its live streaming and networking platform. If you haven’t bought a ticket yet, now it’s time to upgrade your mindset for success!
The event starts on Friday, September 25th and ends on Saturday, September 26th. Business-class and First-class ticket participants will join us on Sunday, September 27th for Marketing Masterclass with Martin Lindstrom.
4 ways participants are invited to take advantage of the BRAND MINDS LIVE Streaming platform for business and personal growth
1. NETWORKING – More people to meet, more opportunities for success
Networking is possibly one of the most important soft skills that professionals and entrepreneurs need to acquire and develop. Successful businessman Robert Kiyosaki said this:
The richest people in the world look for and build networks, everyone else looks for work.
The event participants are professionals working in various industries and verticals in 50 countries. BRAND MINDS helps them achieve their goals by providing them with extended networking opportunities inside the live stream platform.
The participants are invited to find connections searching by name, country, company and interests and connect by messaging. At an in-person event, one could only network during half-hour breaks or over lunch, with a limited number of people.
At BRAND MINDS LIVE participants are offered the opportunity to network with a larger number of people in the days leading to and during the event.
2. SCHEDULE VIDEO MEETINGS to establish trust
Apart from messaging, participants are provided with another way of networking, via video.
Event participants can schedule video meetings and thus take their networking strategy to the next level. Seeing the other person is a great way to connect with each other and establish trust.
3. CHECK THE ACTIVATIONS of BRAND MINDS LIVE Partners
Our event is supported by Visa, UniCredit Bank and UniCredit Leasing, BMW, Coca-Cola, TikTok, Nespresso, CEZ Romania, Regina Maria, Lidl, ProTV, KissFM, Carturesti, Bucharest Business Institute, One United, Fratelli, Simion Baciu, Mavericks, Curtea Veche, Editura Trei, Publica, Social Bee, Underline and White Image.
Participants are invited to visit our partners’ rooms in the live streaming platform. Some of our partners are running contests with amazingly valuable prizes. Others have prepared great offers created specifically for BRAND MINDS participants.
4. GROW YOUR KNOWLEDGE – Keep reading, keep learning
World-changers keep learning. Carturesti, one of the largest bookstore chains in Romania, together with the event’s main publishing partners, Publica, Curtea Veche and Trei have prepared an exquisite selection of books dedicated to the BRAND MINDS community of highly-skilled professionals and entrepreneurs.
Event participants are invited to find their favourite books on business and personal growth in Carturesti Book shop, where they can also purchase them.
BRAND MINDS LIVE starts on Friday. Get your tickets!
Top 10 Tips for Branding Yourself
source: Working Voices
Living in the era of social media power, when the information is the key and in everybody’s reach, finding oneself’s niche and becoming known is getting a more and more difficult task to accomplish. Even at first glance it seems the reality is exactly the opposite, the rapidity in which one can get into the public’s eye, but at the same time fade away, makes it even harder than before to make it last and create a strategic and smart path for one’s good brand positioning.
We’ve prepared some tips that we hope will help you on your road to success:
- Asses the market you are working on
Knowing the past, the competition and the market you are activating on is key in order to create a good positioning for your brand.
- Look deep within yourself and find your best features
According to Robert Half, branding yourself begins with self-reflection. Take stock of your strengths. What are your best attributes? What positive adjectives might a colleague use to describe you? Is there one particular talent or discipline in which you truly shine? What’s your personality? If you’re just beginning your career, choose a discipline or area of focus that truly interests you. Don’t pretend to be something you’re not. Hard-working, focused and reserved people get ahead just as often as social butterflies.
- Work on developing them even more
Go to extra classes / courses, attend workshops and seminars that will help be become even better on your field of expertize and that will enhance your talents. Learning never ends, no matter the time in your career you are at.
- Of all of them find the differentiator, your USP (unique selling point), that makes you unique
The USP is the big idea that brands are always searching for. A USP gives a brand a compelling and unique value proposition with its target audience. “Likewise, you want to represent something special that sets you apart from others and establishes a value equation about your abilities when you are pitching yourself for a job, a promotion or a free-lance assignment,” says Catherine Kaputa in Huffington Post.
- Define your brand and become an expert
Take the time to do some soul searching and determine exactly who you are and what makes up your brand. Whether you’re looking to garner media attention, attract new clients or build your business, you should focus on becoming an expert in your field. Avoid establishing an expertise that’s irrelevant to your mission, goals, and vision. You’ll just be wasting your time.
- Be present in the market and make yourself known
Make sure you are present at the most important events in your industry and start conversations with the right persons, the ones with whom the association with will help your brand and your career. Ask questions, mingle, try and show your expertize as much as you can.
- Generate brand awareness through networking and promotion
You should be connecting with other professionals in the industry by using social networks and commenting on their blogs. Networking is one of the best ways to become known in the industry. By forming relationships with people in your audience, you can grow your business and your brand long-term.
In time, once you have a known and appreciated voice try using the PR tools available to you and get your name out there.
- Be a constant presence on the social media channels that are representative for your work
Depending on the industry you are activating on make sure you know what social media channel suits you the best. Not every industry fits you having a profile on Linkedin and Facebook at the same time, not every industry requires an Instagram or Snapchat account. Also, make sure that the content you are delivering is customized to that specific social media account.
- Always keep on expending your network, strategic partnerships and focus on the game plan
The networks are meant to evolve, not stand by. So is the industry you are activating on. Moreover, you can never know what the future holds. The more people you know, the merrier. The more connected you are, the better. Make sure that at the same time you don’t lose the focus on your “final” game plan.
- Don’t look focus, get rid of your ego and accept criticism
According to the AICPA specialists, the true measure of your brand is the reputation others hold of you in their hearts and minds. Notice how they introduce you to others. Ask them what your top brand attributes and core strengths are. If they can easily tell you, then you’ve succeeded in branding you.
“These days, branding the company you work for isn’t enough. The world wants to hear what you have to say as a professional within a company. The work involved in uncovering your brand may seem daunting, but your efforts can benefit you immeasurably. Your unique brand message differentiates the best you have to offer, gives a good indication of what you’re like to work with, and shows how you make things happen,” says the American Institute of CPAs.
When it comes to being the best the ego shouldn’t be standing in your way. Accept the criticism, as it will only make you better and help you achieve your goals.
