Not all small business networking opportunities are worth your time.
Some networking groups are actually a waste of time, in my opinion, because they are not able to send you referrals.
I am referring to some of these groups that do not allow network marketing or MLM businesses to recruit people into their business.
There are basically two different types of markets. You’ve got your vertical market and then you have your horizontal market
HORIZONTAL
Horizontal Market is when the businesses in the group are everything from accountants and acupuncturist to veterinarians and zoologists.
In the horizontal market, there is rarely any common customer. They go across the board in the various products and services that they offer.
If you offer a product or service, that is used by businesses in general, such as accounting or tax preparation, and this might be a good group for you. However if you are looking for referrals it is a little bit too vague and general, in my opinion.
VERTICAL
No the vertical market is a little easier to understand. A vertical market may be some thing like real estate. In the real estate industry there are agents, brokers, developers, investors, loan agents, banks, home-improvement contractors, handyman, insurance, all these things related to real estate.
Another example of a vertical market, is the industry that I have been in for many years. That industry is the event planning business.
This industry, is much easier for me to grasp. The people involved are all of the very different resources that an event planner might use.
The event industry is a very wide vertical. Event planners come in many different varieties. Event Planners, Wedding Planners, Conference coordinators, meeting planners, incentive travel planners, destinations management companies, and all these different planners use different types of resources.
The resources and vendors that these event planners use can be anything from caterers, decorators, florist, props, decor, entertainers, speakers, staging, lighting, audio, video, photographers, independent Planners, Staffing, registration equipment, tents, tables, chairs, linens, and the list goes on.
I know this industry, because I have been in it almost all of my life. As a very young child I started out as an entertainer (magician) working at corporate events and association conventions.
This entertainment business evolved into a trade show and exhibition management business.
SEE ALSO MinnesotaEventExpo.com
