I attended the Toronto Small Business Forum at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, and boy, am I glad I did! I bought a booth as an Exhibitor, and talked to literally hundreds of #entrepreneurs and service providers of all kind. I ran out of business cards and handouts! The organizer says there were something like 7000 attendees, and I can believe it. Sure, many visitors to my booth were #startups or wannabes, but I only need a couple of good #connections from the Forum to more than justify the cost and my time. Time will tell.
My targets at the Forum were other #lawyers and law firms for referrals and collaboration, #financial advisors and #business #brokers that do small business M&A, and owners of established businesses looking to sell or looking to acquire another business. It was fun to get out along with real, i.e., not virtual people, and it was inspirational to meet so many earnest, enthusiastic business people of all ages, and cultural groups reflecting Toronto’s wide diversity.
Even before Covid, it was a challenge to reach my target prospects and contacts, as most are not active on #socialmedia. So, I figured it would be instructive – an experiment – to go to an old timey kind of business development event. And it was. I will repeat. And the classic, old timey business connection tool – the business card – was perfect. By taking a card, visitors retained my contact info for future, for themselves and also for others. People just love to refer others. Digital cards are all the rage now, and I will soon go that route as well, but not to the exclusion of my cards.
Cheers!
#gbtlaw