GUEST POST: As Mintel and Get Lunched partner to reinvent the lunch hour and invite individuals and businesses to win a lunch with a sector analyst of their choice, GetLunched’s Matt Bandy discusses using social media for B2B opportunies…
It?s not always easy using social networks effectively for business. There can be many rules, lots of clutter to wade through and email often gets us nowhere.
But the Business networking landscape is changing and the social vs business lines are blurring. Driven by a younger generation who are using all forms of networking to creatively reach out and connect with people for business.
We?ve seen that the most successful social networks have just enhanced what people already want or need to do. Facebook – lets people stay in touch and see what they?re friends are up to. Twitter – lets people express themselves. Linked In – lets you hunt out useful business contacts.
But there?s something missing with online business networking. It can sometimes fail to compliment the fundamentals of business – trust! Meeting someone face to face gives you so much more. Body language, eye contact, informal chat, all these things help contribute to a much more productive connection. This is something that online business networking can never fully replicate.
How Get Lunched helps facilitate location based networking for business
New technology is now bringing networking full circle and enabling us to discover and connect with the people around us. It?s exploded in the dating world and we think there?s a huge opportunity for business. There are thousands of useful contacts around us everyday, so why not get out from behind our desks and make the most of them?
The thinking behind GetLunched is that there needs to be a reason to meet up, a common ground. And of course a value exchange of some sort – if you?re going to ask for someone?s advice or contacts, there?s got to be something in if for them! Buying someone lunch is a great little exchange.
This is what Myself and Lyndon did in the advertising industry all the time. If he wanted information on what brands had campaigns coming up, he?d buy me lunch. The informal setting is perfect for getting to know someone and the right amount of time to get a great deal of information.
We also think that people actually love to help out when they can. The US is a leading market in this thinking, you get back what you give out and everybody knows something you don?t. We?re starting to see this with forward thinking companies in the UK too. It can be too easy to spend lunch sat at your desk with a sandwich, but getting out and meeting new people, new contacts, friends, staff from different departments, sharing knowledge…it?s got to be the
way forward!
We hope that the Mintel Dream Team gives people a taste of what GetLunched is all about. The senior analysts giving up their time over lunch is a great way to share their knowledge with clients and staff. Enter now and be in with the chance of feeding your business with some expert analyst insight into the latest market trends that affect your company.
Matt Bandy is co-founder of social networking site GetLunched, a location based business and social network that enables people to make deeper and more valuable local connections. It’s mission is to enable and encourage people to get what they want through the many connections around them every day. Through years of lunching and networking in the advertising industry, Matt recognises the simple and effective value exchange in buying someone lunch for their face to face attention. Find out more about Matt via his profile on GetLunched.
