Being unafraid to put yourself out there and networking at every opportunity shows that you've rolled up your sleeves and are ready to get to work, that you've got big plans and big moves in your future and that you're a startup worth noticing.
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I'm the CEO of a company that's based out of Northern Virginia, and my team and I aren't strangers to the local investment and startup community events taking place in our region. We attend every show we can, and we compete on any stage that's willing to have us. Big or small, there's no audience too paltry, no crowd too intimate and no venue to tiny -- we're never reluctant. The only reason we ever turn down an invitation to a function that helps connect us to our community is if a customer requests our time, because they always win. Always.

The last three months have been hectic for us in the best way possible. We launched a new platform that's a major pivot in our company, renewed our fundraising efforts and made an aggressive commitment to grow our user base. We've done each of these alongside locally and nationally networking our company at every available opportunity. One potential investor started a phone call with us like this, "Shame on me for not saying 'hi' before now, because I see you everywhere. Actually, we probably don't need to do this screening, I already know all about you." Success.

There isn't much that's more important in the business world than making your presence known, and the effects of this are long lasting and far reaching, whether that presence is negative or positive. (In fact, it's unfortunately even more lasting when it's negative.) Networking proves to be one of the most effective ways to grow a business. It's rumored that Groupon grew to viral status because of the very social team that started it. Initially, before they spent zillions on marketing, the Groupon team told their friends about their service, who told their friends, who told their friends, who told their friends. We walked into a meeting recently with a possible partner, and they excitedly shared with us, "I was just out, and I saw your signs all over. I know you guys!" Again, success.

No matter the size of your business, but especially for startups, networking is instrumental to success. It makes sense to start in your own community, particularly if you're a small business that caters specifically to a local market. But you can't network only in your own neighborhood and expect the world to hear you. You have to venture out.

We did just that. Last week our team packed our bags and headed to NYC. We arrived in the Big Apple, where we were met with an incredible, contagious energy. This is a place where investments, startups and networking opportunities are ingrained into the city's fibers. We attended NYTechDay and pitched to Golden Seeds. We were honored and humbled to receive positive feedback, rave reviews and too many contacts to list here. We found NYC to be experienced, gracious and elegant. Egos exist everywhere, but this place was warm and welcoming, and in some ways it felt more like home than our native D.C.

Inevitably, we had to ask ourselves if it made more sense to attend more startup events like this or to focus our attention on industry events where the highlight is selling. While these technology events help give confidence and build community, customers are what drive our success. We decided that we want to tackle heightening our presence from multiple angles. In order to grow, we have to look at all markets and all ways to extend genuinely and productively into those markets. We want to reach our customers, but we also want to stay connected to our industry as a whole and continue to contribute positively in that arena.

Branching out and hiring sales people with a Rolodex in major regions, establishing a presence in new places and making friends with event coordinators and investors in the areas in which you want to grow your business is what sets apart national and international startups from small, local businesses. Being unafraid to put yourself out there and networking at every opportunity shows that you've rolled up your sleeves and are ready to get to work, that you've got big plans and big moves in your future and that you're a startup worth noticing.

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