Every time I go to a networking event, someone ends up booking a call with me.
And every time one of our clients goes to a conference, they come back with leads.
Without fail.
For a long time I just thought, good – events work.
But recently I started thinking more carefully about why they work.
And the answer isn’t “because I’m great at networking.” It’s because by the time I walk into that room, I’ve already done most of the work.
The invisible pre-work you're probably missing
Here’s what’s actually happening when you bump into someone at an event and the conversation flows easily:
They’ve already seen you.
They’ve been watching your content, reading your posts, getting a feel for how you think.
They’ve formed an opinion – a good one – and somewhere along the way, they’ve thought “I should really reach out to that person.”
They just haven’t done it yet.
Not because they don’t want to.
But because you’re sitting at number 30 on their to-do list, and every day something more urgent comes along and bumps you further down. That’s not a reflection of your value – it’s just the reality of busy people running busy businesses.
Your online presence has been doing something genuinely powerful this whole time: building trust in the background, without you needing to be in the room.
The event just gives that built-up momentum somewhere to land.
The in-person moment: the catalyst, not the cause
When you walk into a room where someone already knows your name and recognises your face, the conversation starts differently.
There’s no awkward “so what do you do” dance.
There’s no slow trust-building over multiple touchpoints. You skip straight to “oh, yes – I’ve been wanting to talk to you.”
And instead of waiting for them to eventually climb back up their to-do list and find the energy to reach out, you can drive the next steps together, right there.
Get something booked before you both walk out the door.
That’s not networking magic. That’s your online presence doing exactly what it’s supposed to do – and the in-person moment being the spark that ignites it.
Crispy Tip
When someone says “I’ve been meaning to reach out,” don’t let it dissolve into “we should catch up sometime.” Pull out your phone and book something on the spot. That one tiny action is the difference between a warm lead and a conversation that never went anywhere.
The bonus you didn't expect: better clients
My Crispy friends, there’s another layer to this that I think is worth talking about. The conversations that happen at events – the ones sparked by your online presence – tend to happen before someone is desperate.
Before the panic. Before the urgent problem. Before the pressure that makes everything harder.
When someone approaches you at an event, they’re usually in a really open, future-focused headspace. They’re thinking about the long game, not scrambling to solve a crisis. And that is genuinely the best possible version of a client to work with – calm, considered, and collaborative rather than stressed and reactive.
Compare that to the frantic call you sometimes get from someone who needed help three months ago and is now in full-on emergency mode.
Harder to help well. Harder to get a great outcome for both sides.
Consistent online presence puts you in the room with the right people at the right time. The in-person moment just tips the balance.
So what does this mean for your marketing?
It means showing up online – consistently, genuinely, in your own voice – isn’t just a nice-to-have. It’s what makes every other form of relationship-building work better.
Your social media, your content, your newsletters – they’re all doing the rounds with the people you want to work with, so that when you do cross paths in real life, it doesn’t feel like a cold introduction.
It feels like a reunion.
Keep showing up online. Keep getting yourself into rooms. And watch how often “I’ll get around to reaching out” becomes “heck yes, let’s do this.”
If you want help making sure your online presence is doing that kind of heavy lifting in the background – the kind that means every face-to-face moment actually counts – a Marketing Kickstarter is a great place to start.