How to get what you want from your networking in 2010

Yesterday I posed the question 'What do you want from your networking in 2010?'. The way to ensure you get what you want is to go about it strategically. Set your goals and plan the activities that will help you achieve them.

The temptation is to set yourself the goals you have as targets. The problem with this is that you may be targeting things outside of your control. The important thing is to target yourself with those activities that you do control and that will lead to the results you desire.

I discussed this in 'Applying the 7 habits to your business networking'. Habit 3 of Stephen R Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People is 'Put First Things First!' Set yourself targets for the things that YOU can control.

In 'Applying the 7 habits to your business networking' I included these as examples:
• The amount of time you can devote to networking
• The number of events you can attend
• The number of 1-2-1’s you can arrange
• How much time you can spend online
• Building a contacts database
• What introductions you can give
• Choosing the right networking organisation for you

Listen to this short podcast for the simple steps involved in developing a strategy to generate more business from your network.

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Dave Clarke
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What do you want from your networking in 2010?

As you reflect on the year gone by and maybe make some resolutions for next year it is worth thinking about what you want to achieve through your business networking activity.

In 'Applying the 7 habits to your business networking' I wrote about Stephen R Covey's Seven Habits of Highly Effective People. Habit 2 is Begin with the End in Mind. Unless you know what you want from your networking then how can others help you?

Once you have clearly identified what you want that's a great start. Combine that with going about it in the right way and you are well on the way to achieving your networking goals.

Take a listen to this podcast on the subject;
'Why are you networking & are you prepared?'

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Dave Clarke
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Is this the ultimate in networking?

In a meeting earlier this week someone was describing how he was developing a new venture with a business partner. He described his partner's approach to building business, "Give me one contact and I will build a business!"

It was very refreshing to hear him describe how he went about this by genuinely building close working relationships. Over time both parties gain substantially from the investment in the relationship. His approach is the opposite of many people who think networking is mainly about meeting new people. In reality they are spending lots of time getting to know very little about the many people they meet.

Most of us will need more than one close relationship to build a business. I think the important lesson is to spend more time getting to really know the people that we do meet. You really can build a business by spending your networking time in developing relationships and growing advocates within the right group of people.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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What Matters Now

In 'What Matters Now: get the free ebook' Seth Godin writes about a new ebook he has organised. In it 70 big thinkers each contribute a page in which they share an idea for you to think about as we head into the new year. Then after thinking about them to do something with what you learn. Download and read it below.
What Matters Now
The overall idea I take from it is how much more we can achieve when we collaborate!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Advocacy by Penny Power

I was really pleased when Ecademy founder Penny Power asked if she could quote me on Advocacy in her new book Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me - what online social networking means for you and your business.

Penny was at a meeting when I presented and subsequently wrote about here a couple of years ago on networking for advocates. She wrote about this in her book and what she learned about advocacy.

"The greatest aspect of 'like me' is is the power of creating advocates around your knowledge, people who will 'talk about you when you are not in the room'. To me this is real network value. 'Know me' cannot achieve this ... you cannot achieve this advocacy without having a relationship with that advocate."

Read more from Penny at the Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me Blog.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Networking Lessons from the Law of Contract

One of the first subjects I studied in Law was the Law of Contract. In order for a contract to be a legally binding agreement a number of distinct elements need to be in place:

1. Offer and acceptance
2. Intention
3. Capacity
4. Consent
5. Consideration
6. Legality
7. Possibility

These indicate that the parties have not just discussed a possibility, but have a definite agreement about a desired outcome and the specific things required by each to fulfill this.

There are great lessons to be learned from this in networking. Many people are not really getting the most out of their networking. They are just meeting people and hoping for the best. Success in networking is something that will remain a possibility rather than a probability.

Those that follow a structured and systematic approach to building trusted relationships do really well. They do the things they need to do for others in their network and those others will know what they need too.

It is a good idea to get together with your really good business contacts and find out if you can agree specific things to help you each achieve your business goals.

Dave Clarke
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Does it really cost that much?

I have attended a few meetings recently where the attendees seemed to expect a professionally run event with profitable results, but without really paying anything. Do they all provide their services at no real cost?

Someone emailed me recently to ask about a networking event "does a meal really cost that much at ...?"

I answered "No, but running a professional organisation with high quality facilitation and attendees does. They are not a non profit!"

Networking in the right group means building trusted relationship that both increase the speed and lower the cost of business development. What value do you place on that?

See these blog posts for more on speed and cost of business development in business networking:

The value of networking for advocates
Saving time with organised networking

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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You don't get fit by joining a gym...

Yesterday I wrote in 'It takes more than just showing up' about the importance of following up and building relationships in effective business networking. Later on I received an email from my colleague Martin Davies with the following quote.

"You don't get fit by joining a gym...
You don't learn to swim by reading a book...
You don't build relationships without meeting people..."

He went on to say that if you follow a good process, however, you will get the results you want, whether it be fitness, swimming or building business relationships. A good networking group provides the process and the environment that allows you to turn contacts into relationships that result in business for you.

For a great story about this follow the link to 'Winning a Major New Client through A Networking Relationship'.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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What's your story?

I facilitated a recent mastermind group where one of the issues raised was about communicating a difficult business proposition. The discussion led to the conclusion that a story would be a great way to do this. In 'Telling a story to illustrate what you do' I wrote about how useful a simple story can be in this regard.

One of the other participants shared a great tip for producing a good story. He had asked 2 clients that were representative of his ideal customers to share their stories of how they had come to choose his business. He then got a copywriter to produce these as short case studies. The stories have been instrumental in helping generate much new business.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Networking and Masterminding

One of the problems in running your own business can be taking time out from the day to day to chat about things and get ideas from other perspectives. People who are very successful in business surround themselves with people with different skills to themselves and different ways of looking at the world.

As you develop close relationships through networking it may be appropriate to find a small group where you can help each other achieve your overall goals. I am involved in a couple of these groups where the members act like a 'virtual board' for each other.

As I wrote yesterday Networking can be about much more than new business. A small mastermind group or virtual board can provide you with a much needed sounding board and challenge you to make sure your plans have a reasonable chance of success!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Where do you get your new business?

I often ask Business Owners and Professionals "Where do you get most of your new business?". The most popular answer is recommendation or referral. There is often silence after the supplementary question "so what is your strategy for generating more recommendation?".

The ironic thing is that most of them will have strategies for other parts of their marketing, but not for the most important! Listen to this short podcast for the simple steps involved in developing a strategy to generate more business from your network.

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Dave Clarke
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Getting results from networking in a Group

Yesterday I wrote about how a Networking Group can be a great investment of your time. In this podcast I share eight things that successful networkers do. If you put these things into practice, you too can begin to get the same sort of results.

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Dave Clarke
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Would a networking group help you manage your time?

Someone said to me last week "I can't justify taking the time out to attend networking events in the day". It's a common view especially amongst professionals who bill for their time. My view is that quality networking is time invested rather than time spent.

Time is a really precious resource so you want to make sure you invest your business networking time wisely. This podcast explains how networking groups can actually save you a lot of time.

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Dave Clarke
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Who should be in your Inner Network?

At an event last week someone asked me who would be an ideal connection for me? I explained that it would be someone running another network or providing complementary services to large numbers of Service Business Owners and Partners in Professional Firms. He said that gave him a great insight into the people that would be ideal connections for him.

In this podcast I talk about building close relationships with others who provide a complementary service to the same target market as your ‘Inner Network’. This will help your networking to become a regular and reliable source of new business.

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Dave Clarke
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How to build on your existing network

In 'How to get started with this networking stuff' I wrote about the importance of identifying the people you already know when starting with business networking.

In this podcast I talk about how to build on that network so that you surround yourself with the right people for you and your business. How you can do things to ensure that you build that network to produce the right results for you and your business.

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Dave Clarke
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Walking the walk and not just talking the talk

Successful networkers build their reputation at the same time as building relationships. Networking, both online and offline, is a great way of building your reputation by sharing your expertise. Your advocates can then make connections for you when the right opportunity presents itself.

I get many offers from people interested in speaking at NRG business networking events. I explain that we concentrate on Practical Business and Personal Development in the Seminars at our Networking Events and that priority is given to NRG members when choosing presenters. They are not Sales Pitches and by educating and informing other members and guests the speakers build their own reputation and help others achieve their own goals. This enhances the overall networking experience and strengthens the relationships being built.

Many of the offers recently have been from 'Social Media Experts'. I always speak to people I trust about prospective speakers. I also google them to check out their online presence and contribution. In one or two instances even these 'social media experts' have only had a limited presence online. Can you really speak authoritatively about Social Media with a handful of followers on Twitter and even fewer updates?

Much of your reputation comes from what you do rather than what you say. Make sure you are doing the things that match and enhance the message you are giving to your network. If you are referred to someone then that person will probably speak to others and check you out online too.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Saving time with organised networking

"Why would anyone join a group just for networking? said a Corporate HR Director to me last week. I explained that, as a business owner, meeting with people regularly who have a shared commitment to building business relationships is highly efficient. In this podcast I share an example of how networking in a group saved me about 3 years in business development time:

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In 'Networking saves time and money' I wrote about how networking can save you money as well as time!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Connecting with people you can work with

Networking can be a great route for finding people to collaborate on bigger projects.

I had a meeting with a couple of people yesterday about their new email marketing venture. One of the most interesting things for me was the history of how this joint venture had come about. They had both met whilst networking and as their relationship developed they had increasingly supported and referred each other. They had helped each other develop their marketing strategies and built some very sophisticated tools for systematic and effective approach to email marketing.

Over time this lead to collaboration on a number of projects and ultimately to this new venture through which they both expand their respective businesses and generate new revenues in new markets.

A great example of real business development through networking.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Mapping the Business Problems You Solve

I mentioned Grant Leboff and his seminar on how marketing has changed in my last post, 'Benefits are only benefits when someone is ready to buy'. A couple of people asked me yesterday how they can work out the real problems they solve with their business services. Grant's book, 'Sales Therapy: Effective Selling for the Small Business Owner' includes a whole section on Problem Maps.

It's worth buying the book for the section on Problem Maps alone without the other good stuff! For an example see this blog from Grant on the Marketing Donut, 'Get your sales messages right: Part 3 – Getting clarity in your sales process'. Helpful stuff for your networking and marketing in general.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Time Management and Networking Follow up

In a recent time management seminar before the monthly NRG London City Group Networking Lunch the presenter, Bob Hayward, shared some time management tips for dealing with new items that come up in our work. The specific context was dealing with emails;

4 Ds & 1 F
Delete it - if it's an email that needs nothing further then delete.
Delegate it - if it's not your job pass it on.
Deal with it - if it's quicker to do something now then do it now.
Diary it - if you need to schedule more time make a specific diary entry.
or
File it - if you don't need to action, but feel you may need to refer to it in future.

The one that seems to get forgotten in networking is the Diary one. People enter networking events and One2One meetings in the diary, but not the time for follow up. So next time you are entering things into your calendar set aside time for following up as well. Also remember that you can make use of time that used to be non productive with the mobile devices that many people carry today.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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