10 Fun In-Person Networking Tips for Small Business Owners To Create Lasting Relationships

If you’ve ever walked into a networking event, clutched your coffee like a life raft, and wondered what on earth to do next, you are very much my people. In-person networking can feel awkward and random, especially when you work from home and spend most of your day with your laptop and your dog.

I talked about this on my friend Chris’s show, You Are Going To Be Great At This, where he brings on self-employed folks to help them turn prospects into customers in a very real-world way. Chris Castanes is an independent insurance broker and podcast host who has done a ton of in-person networking himself, from Costco breakfasts to local events, so this episode was basically two networking nerds swapping stories and strategies.

In that conversation, I shared that, “I work from home. I’m a solopreneur. I’ve been doing this for 15 years.”

So these 10 fun in-person networking tips for small business owners are not theory. They’re what I’ve used to build a business, fill my podcast guest list, and create friendships that have lasted more than a decade.

Let’s turn that awkward name badge into actual relationships.

Why in-person networking tips for small business owners still matter

Before we get tactical, I want to make one big mindset shift very clear.

When you go to an event as an employee, your company usually pays. Your marching orders are often: get leads, bring home a list of names, fill the CRM.

When you go as a small business owner and swipe your own card, your goals should look very different.

You are investing in:

• Real relationships

• Future collaborations

• Referral partners

• Visibility in your industry

That woman sitting across from you might never become your client. But she might know three people who will.

When we forget that, we start treating networking like speed dating. And yes, I literally watched someone do that at a speed networking event - she announced that nobody in our group was her ideal client and walked away.

You can guess how I feel about that “strategy.”

Spoiler: do not be that person.

In-person networking tips for small business owners before you ever get to the event

Most people start networking when they walk into the room. That is too late. The fun (and the results) start earlier.

Always set your goals and a strategy + tactics to reach those goals!

1. Treat conferences like investments, not field trips

If you are paying for the event yourself, it is an investment in your business. Treat it that way.

Before you buy the ticket, decide:

• What do I want to walk away with?

• How many new people do I want to meet?

• Do I want podcast guests, collaborators, or potential clients?

• Are there speakers or brands I want to build a relationship with?

When I fly to Social Media Marketing World, the ticket alone is around $1,500, plus travel and hotel.

That is not a “let’s just see what happens” week. I go in knowing I want to meet at least 50 people and I set a goal of 15 to 20 new podcast guests.

Your goals might be smaller, but you should still have them.

2. Make a hit list of people you actually want to meet

Look at the event website, Instagram, LinkedIn, or even the hashtag.

Then make a short list:

• Speakers you admire

• Sponsors or vendors you’d like to talk to

• Online friends you’ve never met in person

• People your friends say, “You two need to know each other”

Walking into a conference with a list of names gives you direction. You are not just wandering from ballroom to ballroom. You are on a mission.

3. Pre-network on LinkedIn and with the event hashtag

This is where offline and online already start to blend.

Reach out on LinkedIn to people you’d like to meet and say something like, “I see you’re going to [event]. I’ll be there too, would love to say hi in person.”

Comment on posts that use the event hashtag. Ask who else is going. Start little micro-conversations before you ever get on a plane.

By the time you arrive, there are people who recognize your name and face. That alone lowers the awkwardness level dramatically.

In-person networking tips for small business owners once you’re in the room

Now you’re there.

You’ve got your badge, your coffee, and maybe some free food. (As Chris put it, “I’m all about free food.” Same, Chris. Same.)

Here is how to make the most of it.

4. Be the host, even if you are not running the event

You do not have to be in charge to be a host.

At those legendary Costco breakfasts where Chris and I met, he would always bring someone along who wanted to meet more people, then introduce them around the room.

That is a host mindset.

You can:

• Invite people to sit at your table

• Say, “I’m heading to lunch at 12, want to join?”

• Gather a small group for dinner after the event

• Text or DM people: “We’re grabbing breakfast at 8, come join us.”

You instantly become the person who creates little pockets of connection inside a big event. People remember who gathered them.

5. Use a fun, memorable gimmick or visual brand

You do not have to be over the top, but a distinctive visual helps people remember you.

In my case, it is my orange glasses. I will ask a question in a session, and later people connect the dots: they see my name on LinkedIn, recognize the glasses, and think, “Oh, that’s Dorien.”

As I said on the show,

You might use:

• A bright blazer or signature color

• A sticker on your badge with your logo or catchphrase

• A copy of your book that people can pose with for photos

Speaking of books, Chris had a great strategy. He would ask people to hold up his book for a photo, post it to social media, tag them, and it turned into free promotion. They shared it, their friends saw it, and suddenly his book was everywhere.

Selling with Humor is Chris's strategy. This is what we talked about on Strategy Talks when he was my guest.

6. Work the room, the hallways, and especially the lines

Networking does not only happen in the official sessions.

Some of the best conversations happen:

• In the Starbucks line

• Waiting for a room to open

• Charging your phone

• Sitting in the food court

Start simple: “Is this your first time here?” or “Did you drive in or fly in?” or “What did you think of that last session?”

If you wait for the perfect moment or the perfect opening line, you will miss out. Talk to the person in front of you in line. Talk to the person next to you at the table. You are all there for the same reason.

7. Smile, rescue the lonely person, and be the connector

I say this all the time: “Before you walk into a room to do networking, smile.” It lifts your mood and makes you much more approachable.

Then look for people who are:

• Standing off to the side

• Sitting alone at a table

• Clearly new or a bit lost

They might be new to town, new to networking, or brand new in business. They are perfect for a one-on-one conversation. Ask a few questions, listen more than you talk, and when you can, introduce them to others.

When you do that you are either the person who welcomed them or the person who unlocked a room full of contacts. Either way

Events blur together fast. By day three, the person from “that one breakfast table” is a total mystery.

8. Take selfies and badge photos as memory anchors

You can:

• Take a selfie of both of you

• Or take a photo of them holding up their badge so the name and business are visible

Later, when you reach out on LinkedIn or email, you can attach that photo: “This is us at [event]!” It instantly reminds them who you are and grounds the relationship in a real moment.

People rarely say no to a quick photo, especially when you tell them it helps you remember them.

9. Connect on LinkedIn right there in the room

This is where my social media strategist brain kicks in. I have always been about connecting the offline and online worlds, and in-person events are perfect for that. Business cards are fine, but they get lost in pockets and purses. I often do not even bother with them anymore.

Instead, I’ll say, “Let’s just connect on LinkedIn right now.” Then I:

1. Open the LinkedIn app.

2. Tap the search bar at the top.

3. Hit the little QR code on the right.

4. Have them scan my code and connect on the spot.

Now we are connected digitally while we are still standing face to face.

That means:

• No deciphering blurry logos or handwriting later

• No “what was that person’s name again?” panic

• A direct path to continue the conversation the next day

If we did not get to it in the room, those badge photos and selfies are my backup plan. I can search their name, find their company, and send a personalized connection request once I am back home.

10. Unpack your contacts before you unpack your suitcase

The event ends, you get home, you are tired, and the temptation is strong to just unpack your suitcase and crash. This is where most people lose all the momentum they just created.

I tell people: do not unpack your suitcase first.

Unpack your contacts.

Within 24 hours if you can, sit down with:

• Your LinkedIn connections

• Your photos and notes

• Any business cards you collected (if you still use them)

Then:

• Send LinkedIn messages: “It was great to meet you at [event]. I loved our conversation about [topic]. Would you like to stay in touch?”

• If you have a podcast, invite the right people to be guests and include your booking link. I aim for 15 to 20 new guests from each big conference.

• Suggest a next step: a short virtual coffee, a collaboration chat, or just a “get to know each other” call. I call it a virtual coffee: “We’ll do a 15-minute talk at 10:00 AM, you bring your coffee, I bring mine.”

Chris shared one of his own favorite tricks from the insurance world. He said he often tells people,

Then he actually calls the same day he gets home to book an appointment. That is how you turn random conversations into real business.

Following up quickly is where you separate “had a nice chat” from “built a relationship.”

Turning in-person networking tips for small business owners into real relationships

At the end of the day, networking is not about collecting business cards or seeing how many people you can talk to in an hour. It is about being referable and genuinely helpful.

As Chris put it in another part of our conversation, the goal of any networking - in person or online - is to make yourself someone people feel good about referring. You cannot do that if you are only focused on who fits your client profile today. You do it by showing up as a kind, curious human who connects people, follows up, and keeps the conversation going.

So the next time you walk into a room of strangers:

• Smile, even if you have to fake it for the first thirty seconds.

• Look for the lonely person.

• Bring a friend, but divide and conquer.

• Use your orange glasses or your bright blazer or your book.

• Connect on LinkedIn before you ever get back to your car.

If you apply these 10 in-person networking tips for small business owners, your events will start to feel less like awkward field trips and more like the beginning of real, long-term relationships.

And if you want to hear me and Chris laugh our way through these stories, the full podcast episode is embedded below. Put it on while you drive to your next event and you’ll arrive with a plan.

Part two is this conversation: 10 Strategic LinkedIn Networking Moves To Grow Your Social Influence in 2026

10 smart AI prompts you can use based on this blog

Here are some prompts you could give an AI tool to get help with networking like this:

• “Create a step-by-step in-person networking plan for a small business owner going to their first paid conference, based on Dorien’s 10 tips.”

• “Turn these 10 in-person networking tips for small business owners into a one-page checklist I can print and take to events.”

• “Write a short, friendly LinkedIn message I can send after meeting someone at a conference for the first time.”

• “Help me come up with three fun, memorable ‘visual brand’ ideas for in-person networking events that fit a [describe your industry] business.”

• “Draft five icebreaker questions I can use in line at the coffee bar during a conference, so I do not feel awkward starting conversations.”

• “Write a follow-up email template for someone I met at a free local networking event, suggesting a virtual coffee.”

• “Help me design a simple LinkedIn strategy to support my in-person networking, including how to use QR codes and photos from events.”

• “Create a list of polite sentences I can use to gracefully leave a conversation at a networking event without being rude.”

• “Turn Dorien’s networking advice into a 5-minute team training outline I can use with my sales or marketing staff.”

• “Write a short social media post announcing that I am going to [name of event] and inviting people to connect with me there, inspired by these in-person networking tips for small business owners.”