Networking can be a powerful weapon for the small business owners to make their presence felt in the market especially when they lack resources and marketing budget of the large-scale owners. Ginny Griffith, business development manager for the Greater Portsmouth Chamber of Commerce says:
It’s more beneficial to smaller businesses because they don’t have the marketing resources or the budget of larger companies. New England business is about who you know, very seldom do people turn to the Yellow Pages. It’s all word of mouth.
A recent report by University of Southern California shows that 52 percent of the members who are involved with networking groups get $250 worth of referral, while those who are engaged for over four years get referral worth $5000. This shows that networking brings more than business opportunities...you never know it might be the best brand that you can ever get.
