Corey “NetworKing” Moore, founding father of ProNetworker, has spent 15 years remodeling how entrepreneurs and gross sales professionals method enterprise development by strategic networking. As his firm celebrates its fifteenth anniversary in 2025, Moore continues to champion the philosophy that success lies not simply in what or who , however in who is aware of you. His upcoming Atlanta Black Expo, scheduled for February 22-23 on the Georgia World Congress Middle, guarantees to be the “Black Enterprise Tremendous Bowl,” bringing collectively numerous contributors within the black enterprise ecosystem.
What led to founding ProNetworker?
We’re celebrating 15 years this 12 months in 2025, and our entire objective for the corporate was to assist individuals, entrepreneurs, gross sales professionals, develop their enterprise by assembly extra individuals. So what we’ve been doing for the final 15 years is educating on the results of networking, in addition to creating totally different alternatives for them to community their companies.
What’s the imaginative and prescient behind Atlanta Black Expo?
I describe this to individuals as when you consider the tremendous bowl, like what number of groups play within the tremendous bowl, too. What number of groups really come to the Tremendous Bowl? All of them! Why? As a result of they’re celebrating the NFL. Nicely, take into consideration black enterprise, and the way a lot it’s necessary to assist these black companies, and the way necessary it’s to recycle these {dollars} locally. There must be a celebration of that, and if there was a celebration of that, what would that appear like? The Atlanta Black Expo is the Black Enterprise Tremendous Bowl we’re bringing collectively all black companies. Anyone is on this black enterprise ecosystem, whether or not they’re spending cash on black companies, whether or not they’re giving sources to black companies, or whether or not they’re black enterprise themselves, or whether or not they’re an individual who desires to be a black enterprise. All people in that ecosystem. This occasion is the celebration of that. So it’s taking place February twenty second and twenty third on the Georgia World Congress Middle.
What are the three strongest features about networking for somebody beginning out?
The very very first thing is to know what it’s that you’re offering, what are you fixing? Why do I would like your product first, and be capable to really inform me precisely what it’s? Hey, right here is my product, that is how my product helps you, and be very clear on that, as a result of that permits you to form of hone down who your “goal market” is. After that, you wish to just remember to are literally getting on the market, and you’ve got the instruments to have the ability to achieve this. Very merely, discovering out a couple of networking occasion, primary and quantity two, going to mentioned networking occasion, after which quantity 3, having enterprise playing cards, with the intention to let individuals know what you do. Give them one thing, in order that they know how you can contact you, how you can attain again out to you.
What function does follow-up play in networking success?
Everybody’s heard “fortune is within the observe up”, however you bought to do it, as a result of that’s precisely what it’s. So ensuring that you’ve got some kind of system, superior individuals are going to have a CRM system, a buyer relationship administration system, non superior individuals, individuals simply beginning, you are able to do Excel, the place you’re taking the particular person’s info that you simply met, write it in Excel, after which just remember to have a schedule of the way you’re following up with them to creating certain that they know what you do, they keep in mind what you do, and if there’s a want, that they’ll really do enterprise with you.
What three issues helped you survive 15 years in enterprise?
One, consistency, what I’ve all the time advised individuals is, particularly in enterprise, there’s some individuals who love enterprise and love gross sales, there’s some individuals who don’t love gross sales. Right here’s the factor most individuals in enterprise, they’re what’s referred to as the technician, they’re the cookie maker, they prefer to make cookies, however they don’t just like the cookie making enterprise. They don’t prefer to market the cookie, they don’t love to do the standard management of the cookie, they don’t love to do the PR for it, they don’t like doing all that stuff, however it’s a must to do it in enterprise.
What I inform individuals is that this, right here’s the place you’ll have success so long as you’re capable of, get on the market and meet individuals, let individuals know what you do, after which remind them of what you do. You can be profitable in case you are in step with these issues. You bought to be constant. The one factor that I hear essentially the most from individuals is, “Wow, Corey, you might be constant. You’ve been doing the identical factor for 15 years, getting out, letting individuals learn about how you can community and the way networking can develop their enterprise”, been doing the identical factor 15 years. So once more, taking these 3 issues and being in step with it, you’ll hit success.
How would you clarify the connection between community and internet price?
There’s so a lot of them, community is your internet price, fortune’s within the observe up. It’s not about who or what , however who is aware of you, however in relation to the fortune or your community is your internet price, if you consider your services or products, and let’s say you had 10 individuals in your database, let’s simply say you had 10% in your database who wanted that services or products, you ship out that info, and let’s simply say it will get you 100 {dollars}. Now meaning in a block of 10, if each 10 individuals you had, you bought 100 {dollars}, that’s now going to find out what your internet price is. So should you solely obtained 10 individuals, then you definately’re solely price $100, however should you obtained 100 individuals you now could be price a thousand {dollars}, and so forth, and so forth. Once you then begin including into not simply the people who find themselves going to buy your product, however the individuals who may really assist open different doorways for you and stuff like that, be referrals, then that $100 really begins to extend in that very same block of 10 individuals.
What recommendation would you give to somebody uncertain about internet hosting massive occasions?
I inform everyone, and once more it will get again to that, figuring out what your product and repair is, and figuring out who you assist. If that you’ve got a services or products that may assist someone, it’s, I imagine, your responsibility to get on the market and assist that particular person. Now, what meaning is it’s a must to get on the market and allow them to know that you simply exist, and this answer exists within you, so whether or not that’s going to an occasion the place there’s one particular person, or whether or not that’s going to an occasion the place there’s a thousand individuals, it’s nonetheless the identical factor, it’s your responsibility to let individuals know that you simply exist, and you’ve got an answer that may assist them do no matter it’s that they’re making an attempt to perform.
How necessary is negotiation for entrepreneurs?
In relation to once more about making this cookie, there’s people who find themselves good at making the cookie, and there’s individuals who just like the cookie making enterprise. In enterprise negotiation, the identical method gross sales is essential, should you don’t thoughts paying what someone else desires you to pay or getting what someone else desires you to get, the negotiation is just not an enormous deal for you, however should you really wish to pay much less for sure issues, if you wish to really customise what it’s that you simply get and get the issues that you simply wish to get and never what someone’s prepared to offer you, then it’s good to really be good at negotiations. Most instances, individuals assume that negotiations equals settling, I’m solely going to get a certain quantity, that’s not true in any respect, you can really negotiate, and in case you are actually expert on this, you’ll perceive what it’s that you really want, and what it’s that they need, after which be capable to negotiate to get each. For me, that has all the time been my mentality, how can I not simply create a win state of affairs, or perhaps a win win state of affairs, however a win win win state of affairs? How can I create the place everyone wins.
Why is branding necessary for entrepreneurs?
We as individuals today, we’ve so many selections of the place we spend our greenback, until you’re a new CEO or new founding father of an organization, and you’re the just one that does this factor, they’ll’t get it no different place, then you definately may not fear about branding as a lot, but when the particular person has an possibility on the place they’ll get it, then it’s a must to allow them to know what’s gonna be that differentiator of why to get it from you and why to not get it from what else. So far as the model is worried, that begins constructing what’s referred to as model confidence, as I’m letting individuals know what I do, and I’m being in step with that, and as I’m being conscious of what I need them to see, and the way I need them to see, and the way it appears, and all of that, how they really feel about it, that’s all part of my model. With that, that’s going to assist construct confidence within the purchaser to do enterprise with me.
How did Morehouse Faculty form what you are promoting journey?
I liked my expertise at Morehouse completely liked my expertise. Coming from Colorado and being in Atlanta and being round different black of us who really had one thing to do with their lives, who needed to develop their lives and needed one thing higher and striving higher, it was an outstanding expertise, being at Morehouse. Sadly, we didn’t have all of the sources that different schools, in all probability proper down the road, had, and it was really a better state of affairs for us. So what we needed to do was to make a method, we had to have the ability to say, “that is what I need, right here’s a brief line to get it, oh, that line ain’t out there, that useful resource not out there, let me determine another technique to get this factor achieved”, in order that now, once I get out in enterprise world, I’m virtually anticipating to know initially, I’m virtually anticipating it not being a brief line, like I’m already ready. The preparation that go into, which I might enterprise out to say, any HBCU to get you out into the true world, with this, you might be already anticipating to not have the simple method. You’re already anticipating there to be an issue and also you to have an answer in your again pocket, and I’m not speaking about Plan B, I’m speaking about plan CDE. Once more, resilience, let me let you know graduates, if something, they’ve resilience, they’ve found out a technique to make one thing occur, that observe that wasn’t there earlier than, however now could be no matter what different conditions happened.
How do you keep aggressive within the enterprise panorama?
I positively first educate myself on enterprise typically, I’m going to YouTube, and I watch a whole bunch of movies dealing in simply enterprise typically, all success tales and never wanting on the success half, however I wish to hear the backstory. How did they get there? What trials and tribulations did they undergo to get there? So primary, simply being a steward of enterprise, quantity two, being a steward of my business, wanting on the occasion business, and what different occasions are doing, what different occasions are providing, what different features are about, at occasions, what individuals are going to and issues of that nature. Simply in order that I do know, okay, if I’m doing the Atlanta Black Expo, what number of different black expos on the market? How many individuals are going to them? What parts are they having, that may form of inform me, what to both have at my occasion or what to not have at my occasion. Lastly, listening to individuals and what their wants are.
Who’re what you are promoting function fashions after 15 years?
Two individuals that really come to thoughts, one is Dr. Keyes, who right here in Atlanta, she does the Village Market Atlanta. She did an outstanding job with that occasion when she was doing it, has turned it into an precise retail store, however when she was doing the Village Market Atlanta, to have the ability to have that occasion each quarter to simply the scale of it was simply wonderful, and simply what she was doing for the group, phenomenal.
The opposite one who, simply while you mentioned that the factor that got here to thoughts was Martin Luther King, and once I take into consideration when he had his well-known speech in Washington and the variety of folks that got here out to listen to the speech, they didn’t essentially come off for him, they got here for what the entire occasion was itself, and that is previous to emails, that is previous to social media, that is previous to web sites and stuff like this, previous to textual content message advertising, it’s like, how did that get out? However when you consider the commonality that everyone had, everyone there was on one widespread objective, was for the rights of human beings, the rights of black of us, and to have the ability to faucet into what the commonality for everybody is, and to truly create one thing centered round that, is large. So once more, for me, within the occasions business with the ability to take a look at, how do you might have an occasion and produce that variety of individuals out and never have all the totally different promoting mediums that we’ve proper now. That’s wonderful, I don’t know if it’d ever be duplicated.