Ahhh…the weekend. We’re trying to stay productive while enjoying our jam-packed social schedules, running errands, and more. It’s not easy to balance it all but, of course, you make it happen. But what if it could be easier? What if you could enjoy some dinner and drinks while making strides for the future of your company?

It’s possible, and you can get started today. Ahead, learn how you can leverage your weekend plans to help boost your brand.

Elevate Your Personal Brand

The quality of your network strengthens (or weakens) your personal brand. In turn, your personal brand impacts the brand of your business. So get out there. Meet new people and make new friends. Meet them without expectations and realize the benefits turn up in the long run. This isn’t the time for the hard sell and don’t try to close any deals.

Excellent summertime networking spots include professionally elevated social and co-working spaces, conferences and even Facebook groups dedicated to exciting events. For membership spots, I like Soho House, NeueHouse, WeWork, and The Wing. For conferences and events, check out Summit, and Create & Cultivate, of course. These are the kinds of places where it’s okay to talk business while having fun. Research for your best fit, and get ready to discover new like-minded people.

Relax and have fun. Sometimes you’ll find it’s best to keep the business talk to a minimum, but always at least share what you do and find out what industry others’ are in. And chances are you may even know some of the same people since you’re hanging out at the same place. This could serve to further strengthen these new connections while lending everyone greater credibility and trust.

Strengthen Your Network for Future Opportunities

Your network can lead you to significant opportunities in the future like partnerships and branded collaborations. Special deals like these can boost your sales and the visibility of your brand.

For instance, let’s say a particular company is in high demand for collaborations. You and the CEO are friends or share the same friends. This immediately gets you on the shortlist for who will most likely get the deal. That’s not all. The collaboration will be easier to plan and execute and could even cost significantly less than it would if you didn’t have a personal connection.

Introduce the Possibility of Potential Reduced Costs

The quality of your network can save you a great deal of money. If your network includes critical influencers, photographers, writers, and other industry talents, you can walk away with special pricing for photography, influencer campaigns, copywriting, PR, web development and more.

Finally, while I’ve mentioned a million benefits for you, don’t forget about everyone else. Relationships are always a two-way street, and as I said, your plan is to make friends. Friends help one another out!

Always be mindful of opportunities that show up on your radar that could interest others in your network. Think about how you can help the people you know. Could this buyer benefit from meeting this emerging handbag designer? Could this photographer benefit from meeting this magazine editor? Also be willing to share your expert know-how through the form of friendly solicited advice.

The concept of networking can be cold and very transactional. We prefer to think of it as making new friends- because that’s really what it should be like at the end of the day. So make a new friend (or two) with mutual interests, and help one another out.

We’ll let you get back to dinner now…

By: Syama Meagher, Chief Retail Strategist at Scaling Retail

Scaling Retail has launched brands around the world, through a combination of expert advice and creative marketing strategy. We believe in the power of hard work to grow and build your businesses. Discover Scaling Retail at www.ScalingRetail.com.