By Marlynn Jayme Schotland

To get ahead in the game as a small business owner or independent consultant, we all know that networking is crucial. You may meet your next big client or investor after handing your business card to someone at one of five networking events you attended last week who then passed along your business card to their best friend, the CEO of the big firm you never thought you’d land as a client in a million years. But if you’re a parent, your time is more limited than ever before and you might not want or have the time and energy to attend every single networking event and join several different groups. Enter organizations such as Matchpoint and Portland Mamas Inc., where the focus is on support and resource sharing, with the side benefit of unparalleled networking opportunities that don’t break the bank and don’t even require you to leave the house on most days!

Networking has come a long way in the past few years, with many options benefiting the surge of parents who seek work that is meaningful AND weaves harmony between their business life and their family life. Professional parents tend to do business a little differently, and also tend to support fellow professional parents with great loyalty and commitment. If you’re a professional parent, there are so many softer, yet powerful ways of networking as opposed to the more aggressive, shake-hands-and-find-out-if-what-you-do-benefits-me type of traditional networking events.

Here are some alternative networking routes that are extremely effective ways of building business for most professional parents:

• Join local playgroups. Your kids will make friends and so will you, but you will also have the chance to net new clients you may not have met through traditional networking events.


• Join online parenting forums. You’ll get the chance to connect with other parents on family life issues, but also once in a while opportunities arise to share info on your business. Referral requests for products/services are high in online forums.
  
  
• Leave business cards or promotional postcards and brochures at your favorite family-friendly restaurants and cafes, if the venues allow it. Regardless of what your business is, there are families in need of your products/services and having your information in a place they frequent makes it easier for them to find you.
  
• First and foremost, remember to try to support your fellow professional parents first when seeking to fill your own needs for products/services. They’ll remember you when the time comes to hire someone who does just what you do.