Your business cards should look good (you have got busines cards haven't you!).  If you havent got a business card then you need to go get some.  In terms of flyers or leaflets, you can take those with you, but keep them discrete, and do not lead with a flyer.  You can produce a flyer if you meet a networker who has expressed a real interest in what you do.

Who have you invited? A networking event gives you a chance to invite some of your customers along too. This provides a number of advantages.

1. It gives you a reason to contact your customer. Who knows, they may just be in the right frame of mind to buy what you sell, and you hit them at the right time.
2. It adds VALUE to your customer. It shows that you are thinking about them, and that you have their best interests at heart
3. Your customer can also benefit from networking, as they may close business themselves, and therefore have more cash to spend with you !
4. At the networking event itself, it provides you with a reinforcement of your brand values, and of you. Many businesses never actually get to meet their customer, and having that face to face conversation can work wonders for your conversion rates. If you;re in Field Sales, the number one thing you are taught is to get in front of your client.

So what to do next? Invite all of your customers to the next event. If you haven't got an email newsletter sorted out, then you need to get one anyway, so a perfect excuse to put this in place. Perhaps even a simple phone call such as "I'm going to this networking event, I think it will be a great chance for us both to meet new potential customers, fancy coming?". Its not rocket science, just a nice simple friendly phone call.

Networking is not about selling to someone straight away. In fact, if this is what you're trying to do, then it will take a very long time to sell anything.  You should be looking at what you can do for the people that you meet.  It may be that you know of someone who may need their service, and can take a business card or two and pass it on.  That way, the more people you help, the easier it is for other networkers to recommend you.  The networking event is just the start of the relationship.  People buy from people.  More importantly, people buy from people they know, like and trust.  Over a period of time, the more people that know you through networking, the easier it will be to close business.

A brief email "nice to meet you", or a quick phone
call the following day, is always nice.  Thats where you can start building your relatinships.  You should put the email address onto your Email Newsletter list (you have one of these set up of course!).  That way you can keep in contact with people easily, and you can let them know where you're going to be at the next networking event.  They can then come and meet you, and help solidify the relationship.

Now, the people you have invited, you now have another reason to contact them and ask them how it went for them. Did they gain any business or new contacts (remember they can and will refer you to their new customers too, after all you are the person who invited them in the first place). Do they know of any networking events you could attend.

So as well as meeting new potential customers, networking can and should be used to solidify your relationship with your current or even 'cold' customers.