{"id":2199,"date":"2018-04-12T14:01:52","date_gmt":"2018-04-12T18:01:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/?p=2199"},"modified":"2018-10-11T01:40:36","modified_gmt":"2018-10-11T05:40:36","slug":"get-business-networking-group","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/","title":{"rendered":"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We all know that business-to-business networking is all about taking your company to the next level through your relationships with other leaders. Not because you want to generate more referrals or find business opportunities, but because you want the support that such a network has to offer.<\/p>\n<p>Business-to-business networking groups present many opportunities to expand your knowledge, learn from the success of others, foster strong relationships, and tell others about your business. But you can\u2019t just turn up to meetings and expect these opportunities to present themselves to you; you need to work for it.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>So, what do you need to do to get the most from your business networking group?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Share Your Experiences and Learn from Your Mistakes<\/h2>\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"wp-image-2201 alignright\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/man-person-street-shoes-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"373\" height=\"248\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/man-person-street-shoes-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/man-person-street-shoes.jpg 525w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 373px) 100vw, 373px\" \/>You\u2019re going to make mistakes \u2013 that\u2019s how business works. An innovative business owner recognizes this and prepares for it, knowing that sometimes the greatest innovations are born from mistakes.<\/p>\n<p>If it feels like you\u2019re constantly going in circles and not making any headway in your business, you may find that you\u2019re struggling with the same ongoing issues.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Ask for the thoughts and feedback of your experienced peers<\/strong>; especially the ones who have no preconceived notions about your business. They could light the spark in your mind that you need to come up with an innovative solution.<\/p>\n<p>Networking with other business owners, CEOs, and entrepreneurs will provide fresh eyes on the challenges you\u2019re facing, <strong>offering different perspectives and new ways of thinking about your problem \u2013 and the possible solutions.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Listen to the experiences and lessons that your peers share and share your own with them.<\/p>\n<h2><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\" wp-image-2202 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pen-idea-bulb-paper-300x201.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"321\" height=\"215\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pen-idea-bulb-paper-300x201.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/pen-idea-bulb-paper.jpg 523w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 321px) 100vw, 321px\" \/>Borrow Innovative Ideas<\/h2>\n<p>Innovation is something that every CEO, business owner, or entrepreneur needs to explore regardless of the size of their company or nature of their business. <strong>Innovation is critical to your long-term success<\/strong>, especially in our current age of changing customer expectations, rapid advances in technology, and digital disruption.<\/p>\n<p>If you only stick to what\u2019s worked in the past, you give your competitors a chance to get ahead. Don\u2019t get left behind!<\/p>\n<p>Meet with other leaders and<strong> gain insights into how they\u2019ve achieved success\u2014and then adapt these strategies to your own business.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Remember, innovative ideas can be applied to:<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Processes<\/li>\n<li>Products<\/li>\n<li>Services<\/li>\n<li>Business models<\/li>\n<li>Marketing<\/li>\n<li>Supply chain<\/li>\n<li>Culture<\/li>\n<li>Management<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Different business owners will each have a unique area of expertise and knowledge to share.<\/p>\n<p><strong>Use these ideas to redefine the internal processes within your company.<\/strong><\/p>\n<h2>Connect with Business Owners Who \u201cGet It\u201d and Build Relationships with Them<\/h2>\n<p>CEOs and business owners face difficult challenges and tough decisions every day \u2013 <strong>and no one understands this like your peers.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>There may even be opportunity for strategic partnerships:<\/strong> you could meet a business owner who is lacking assets or expertise that your company can offer, and you would likewise benefit from what they can provide. <strong>A partnership has the potential to enhance both businesses<\/strong> \u2013 all you need to do is connect with other business owners, share your experiences, and offer your input.<\/p>\n<p>By networking with your peers, you build a level of trust and familiarity in your community. <strong>This is the most important part of networking groups; a<\/strong><strong>fter all, business is built on relationships.<\/strong><\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<p><strong>Innovators Alliance is a peer-to-peer business networking group committed to driving growth through innovation.\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/attend-exclusive-business-networking-event\/\"><strong>Be our guest at an upcoming event to see what it\u2019s all about!<\/strong><\/a><\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Is your company innovative?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/innovation-assessment\/\"><strong><em>Take our Innovation Assessment.<\/em><\/strong><\/a><strong><em>\u00a0It takes less than 5 minutes to complete!<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Like this? You might also like:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/blog\/diversity-a-hiring-priority\/\">It\u2019s Time to Make Diversity a Hiring Priority<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/blog\/6-ways-create-culture-innovation\/\">6 Ways to Create a Culture of Innovation<\/a><\/li>\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/blog\/take-company-next-level-2018-power-business-business-networking\/\">Take Your Company to the Next Level in 2018 with the Power of Business-to-Business Networking!<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><span class=\"et_bloom_bottom_trigger\"><\/span>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We all know that business-to-business networking is all about taking your company to the next level through your relationships with other leaders. Not because you want to generate more referrals or find business opportunities, but because you want the support that such a network has to offer. Business-to-business networking groups present many opportunities to expand [&hellip;]<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on get_the_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":2203,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[35],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2199","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business-networking"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.9 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group - Innovators Alliance<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group - Innovators Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"We all know that business-to-business networking is all about taking your company to the next level through your relationships with other leaders. Not because you want to generate more referrals or find business opportunities, but because you want the support that such a network has to offer. Business-to-business networking groups present many opportunities to expand [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Innovators Alliance\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2018-04-12T18:01:52+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2018-10-11T05:40:36+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"525\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"350\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Peggie Pelosi\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Peggie Pelosi\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Peggie Pelosi\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf1a0cb410a0d963615a13be9c5d98b\"},\"headline\":\"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-12T18:01:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-11T05:40:36+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/\"},\"wordCount\":627,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg\",\"articleSection\":[\"Business Networking\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/\",\"name\":\"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group - Innovators Alliance\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2018-04-12T18:01:52+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2018-10-11T05:40:36+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf1a0cb410a0d963615a13be9c5d98b\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg\",\"width\":525,\"height\":350},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/\",\"name\":\"Innovators Alliance\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf1a0cb410a0d963615a13be9c5d98b\",\"name\":\"Peggie Pelosi\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e76fa9b97ebb6bb7b139977582f880fd2bb95046e5063f06c6e45c3424a388d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e76fa9b97ebb6bb7b139977582f880fd2bb95046e5063f06c6e45c3424a388d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Peggie Pelosi\"},\"description\":\"Peggie Pelosi is the Executive Director of Innovators Alliance. She works with entrepreneurs and CEOs throughout Ontario to ensure they have access to the tools and resources to ensure profitable growth through innovation. Peggie is a seasoned entrepreneur and innovator, having built two companies which have both been game-changers in their industries. Peggie teaches in the space of Social Innovation in graduate business programs at the University of Toronto-St. Michael\u2019s College and Seneca College.\",\"sameAs\":[\"innovd\"],\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/author\/admin\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group - Innovators Alliance","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group - Innovators Alliance","og_description":"We all know that business-to-business networking is all about taking your company to the next level through your relationships with other leaders. Not because you want to generate more referrals or find business opportunities, but because you want the support that such a network has to offer. Business-to-business networking groups present many opportunities to expand [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/","og_site_name":"Innovators Alliance","article_published_time":"2018-04-12T18:01:52+00:00","article_modified_time":"2018-10-11T05:40:36+00:00","og_image":[{"width":525,"height":350,"url":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Peggie Pelosi","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Peggie Pelosi","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/"},"author":{"name":"Peggie Pelosi","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf1a0cb410a0d963615a13be9c5d98b"},"headline":"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group","datePublished":"2018-04-12T18:01:52+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-11T05:40:36+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/"},"wordCount":627,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg","articleSection":["Business Networking"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/","url":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/","name":"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group - Innovators Alliance","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg","datePublished":"2018-04-12T18:01:52+00:00","dateModified":"2018-10-11T05:40:36+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf1a0cb410a0d963615a13be9c5d98b"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/04\/people-woman-coffee-meeting.jpg","width":525,"height":350},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/get-business-networking-group\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"How to Get the Most from Your Business Networking Group"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/","name":"Innovators Alliance","description":"","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/5cf1a0cb410a0d963615a13be9c5d98b","name":"Peggie Pelosi","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e76fa9b97ebb6bb7b139977582f880fd2bb95046e5063f06c6e45c3424a388d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/e76fa9b97ebb6bb7b139977582f880fd2bb95046e5063f06c6e45c3424a388d5?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Peggie Pelosi"},"description":"Peggie Pelosi is the Executive Director of Innovators Alliance. She works with entrepreneurs and CEOs throughout Ontario to ensure they have access to the tools and resources to ensure profitable growth through innovation. Peggie is a seasoned entrepreneur and innovator, having built two companies which have both been game-changers in their industries. Peggie teaches in the space of Social Innovation in graduate business programs at the University of Toronto-St. Michael\u2019s College and Seneca College.","sameAs":["innovd"],"url":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/blog\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2199"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2887,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2199\/revisions\/2887"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2203"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2199"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2199"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.innovators.org\/stage\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2199"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}