Are paid networking events worth it?

Why would any business owner bother going to a paid networking event when there are so many free networking meetings? It’s one less expense to worry about and it’s the same thing, right? Well, not so fast…

We (as in Claire and Colette, the founders) went to many, many networking events of all different types before setting up Small Business Vibes. It taught us a lot about networking that actually works. Small Business Vibes is very much built on our own experiences of networking as women business owners, creating the networking we wanted and needed. So the choice to charge for our events was very intentional. 

With networking (and most things in life!), you get what you pay for. We learned that the hard way! While there are some advantages to free meetings, if you want to build your business through networking, you can’t beat the paid meetings. Here’s why.

How paid networking meetings help you grow your business

If you’ve given up on networking after only attending free meetings, you’re missing out on what you could be experiencing by going to paid networking events.

Quality connections

As free networking events are, well, free, anyone and everyone can tag along. In some ways, that’s good because you can make a lot of new connections. But the quality of the connections isn’t necessarily what you’re looking for. It’s low stakes. Some people are just there to hand out business cards and tick networking off their to-do list. You never hear from them again!

With paid events, attendees have made a commitment, and it shows. On the whole, people are willing to commit to networking and everything that involves - having meaningful conversations, following up outside meetings, making introductions where they can, attending regularly, and building genuine relationships. They’re there to get something out of it and that something is more than a few more LinkedIn connections. 

Value from the meeting

It does depend on the hosts of the networking events but with free meetings it can be a bit of a free-for-all. You just show up and mingle without any structure to the meeting. It can make it harder to meet everybody, especially if cliques form of people who already know each other. There could’ve been a great connection for you, but you missed them.

Generally, with paid meetings, the organisers put more into the networking experience, so you come back regularly. They help facilitate networking, finding the balance between meeting lots of people and having meaningful conversations. At Small Business Vibes, we have timed one-to-ones, the show and tell table, open mic spots, and we’ve even combined networking with workshops before. All this helps you connect with the other attendees and get value out of the meeting. 

Bonuses!

Often a community will build around a paid networking group (helped by the commitment of the attendees!) and you can join online groups for keeping in touch between meetings. That’s really useful for continuing to build relationships and getting support. 

So you get even more out of being part of the network, you might get access to other bonuses too. We have an exclusive community for our online networking members where we run monthly challenges, ad hoc co-working, brainstorming sessions and all sorts. 

The return on investment

In business, it’s always about the return on investment. With free events, you’re still investing your time and any transport costs. Time is money when you’re running your own business! By investing a little bit more with cold hard cash (or more likely a charge to your card!), you get much more out of it.  

The people you meet are just as willing as you to put in the work it takes to build beneficial business relationships. The meetings are designed to help you make connections that will last. There’s more to get involved with to help you grow as a community and grow your business. 

Cheaper isn’t necessarily better. We’ve discovered that with many things in life including networking events. Most of the time, you have to put in what you’d like to get out of it. Investing in a paid networking group doesn’t have to cost an arm and a leg. Our networking meetings certainly don’t. Find a group near you or join us online.