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Networking
My own business always bores me to death; I prefer other people's. Oscar Wilde
Networking or the art of building relationships is not only valuable in business it is critical to your business. The ability to connect and collaborate with a wide variety of different people will offer you the opportunity to give and receive more than if you try to do everything by yourself.
The number one consideration in networking is to adopt the CARB© approach.
Connection, Attraction, Relationship Business is an approach which will offer you a journey of getting to know people and as you make that journey, you will find similarities, you will find knowledge and you will create opportunities for those who take the journey with you. If you rush to your journey's end, you will miss out and lose the chance to develop long term connections which are both enjoyable and valuable on a mutual basis. So for the sake of your basis become a CARB© addict!
Building a network starts with creating value for others. Give first, pay it forward be of use and support to other people. If you want to develop a network that truly works build a solid foundation of trust, rapport and giving.
Try not to become a man of success but rather to become a man of value. Albert Einstein
ARTICLES
Gain Maximum Value From Your Networking Time by Beverley Hamilton
One of the best ways to get business is through networking. That’s what the majority of people I speak to tell me. So what is networking, what makes it so invaluable to its supporters and how can you maximise your networking time.
My definition of networking is “Creating mutually beneficial relationships with like minded people with whom you can offer and receive value, knowledge and support over time” I remember when... Read More
Successful Networking by Marcus Kingswell www.pmpconsult.com
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NETWORKING ORGANISATIONS
Ecademy An online and offline global network where you can create connections, buy and sell products and services and gain knowledge. It is an interactive online community as well as an offline opportunity to connect with people in many areas local, national and international. To find out more click on the banner below.
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Missing Link - www.misslink.co.uk A UK national network where the emphasis is on building relationships over time and where giving and sharing with others is at the heart of all meetings.
TIPS AND PEARLS OF WISDOM
First the business side - our business relies heavily on building and maintaining trusted relationships with key people inside some pretty large businesses. The best relationships survive and prosper when people move companies and take us with them when they move. Keeping in touch with these people involves both 1-2-1 relationship building by our business development team and account managers AND 1-2-Many communications.
We have run very successful dinners to run alongside trade shows that include speakers that entice attendance. We send out a quarterly newsletter that is heavily content driven and offer people a variety of ways to consume that content. We speak at conferences to improve our brand image and enhance our reputation as a trusted source of information.
We participate in standards bodies and play a minor but important role in pushing these in a direction that helps our business (that one is pretty special to telecoms). We offer trade analysts the ability to speak with our experts for their studies, publications and consultancy. We also offer these analysts exposure in our newsletter with their content.
All of the things we do are largely investments of time by people in the business. We are exploring some of the new tools that might help build a community - blogs, closed user groups, chat rooms, instant messaging (IM). What holds us back at the moment is that we will need to invest in more people with expertise to be available to create, manage and moderate the online content. That means they have to be technical, but also good communicators.
On the personal side - like most people I probably don't do nearly enough of it. I do tend to rely on tools like Plaxo and Linked In to help manage the network of relationships that I have.
I do try and respond positively to any favours that get requested, even if I can't see an immediate benefit to me. Although the film Pay it Forward was a tear jerker, I do think that the fundamental idea that doing good will result in some future benefit does hold true.
I make resolutions from time to time to make more time for phone calls, casual drinks or other "social" contact with people in my network, but don't follow through as much as I should. I do find that email is a reasonable substitute, especially since my network is truly global. I have semi regular contact with personal friends in Australia, Canada, USA, Singapore, and other countries in Europe, and most are email friendly. What I haven't done as well is put my network to work for me. Ah well, another resolution….
Peter Davies, TTPCom Ltd |
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