Networking for Business - Part 6

Motivation & Confidence

One of the huge benefits of networking is the extra motivation and confidence you get.

Those people who know me, know that I don’t lack motivation. I’m quite an extrovert, I love life, I jump out of bed every morning with a smile on my face. One of my favourite sayings is "Life's too short not to live it up a little!"

Helps you Grow as a Person

But networking has given me even more motivation and it can for you too. Because I work from home a lot of the time, it was fantastic for me to be able to get out of the home office and actually start networking with people and again many who know me found it hard to believe that I was really scared of speaking in public. Having to do the 40 seconds or 1 minute rounds when I had to stand up and introduce myself and my business was terrifying at first. But having done so on a regular basis over the last year and a half I actually look forward to it and I now give regular talks to different groups and within 4Networking I am doing 4Sights all over the South West of England.

Help & Support

So the motivation and confidence I’ve got from networking has been great and part of that comes from all the help and support you get from the other members. Many of the people who come to these networking meetings have a lifetime of experience in business and so it’s a great place to come and get help and advice and to share and to learn from other business owners who have been in your situation. It’s also a great place to get support at times of trouble. I was feeling very down recently and I was amazed at how many new friends from networking called me up and made me feel so much better. I've also been for coffee with a couple of people who approached me asking for help on their business. I'm no expert, but they wanted someone to talk things through with and I was so pleased to be able to help.

If you've got a business issue or problem which you need help with, think about those who you know in your network and go to them. Ask them if they'll spare you some time. You'll be amazed at how happy most people will be to help. The "Can you help?" section on the 4Networking forum is a brilliant place to go to get help, advice and guidance. It's also a great place for you to offer your help to others who need it.

Testimonials

The other area where you can get renewed motivation is from doing a good job for a customer and getting a wonderful testimonial. This always sets me up for a great week. Remember this and please do give testimonials to anyone you do business with within your business network. It will absolutely make their week!

LinkedIn

Many of your contacts will be on LinkedIn so do ask any of them who you've done work for to give you a testimonial on LinkedIn. Once you've got some good ones, add them to your website too.

My next blog post will discuss one of THE most important aspects of networking - Follow Up!

Related posts:
In case you missed any of the other articles in the series just click the relevant link below:

Networking for Busines - Introduction
Networking for Busines - Part 1
Networking for Busines - Part 2
Networking for Busines - Part 3
Networking for Busines - Part 4
Networking for Busines - Part 5
Networking for Busines - Part 6
Networking for Busines - Part 7
How to Use LinkedIn Effectively for Your Business

Networking for Business - Part 5

Suppliers

Again I didn't envisage that there would be suppliers I'd use in the room when I started networking. After all, why would there be? I wasn't there to buy! I was there to market my business and products and services!

But I quickly realised that there were potential suppliers for my business in the room. For example I’m now using a call answering service called answer.co.uk . I’d never thought about a call answer service before. I’ve been in business for 28 years and you’d think I should know better but we were missing calls. So on the recommendation from Mr Kim Hambley and the lovely Katie Millman I tried the service. Now our calls are taken by a professional call answering team and our customers have been very impressed. So think about your own business. If you're a one-man or one-woman band who answers your call when you aren't able to? It sounds far more professional to have your calls answered in your company name. It can also make your business seem bigger than it really is and gives your customers and potential new customers a good first impression.

I got my business cards printed by a guy I met through networking. The coffee mug I take with me and I take to most meetings was supplied by a fellow networker. And all of this was a surprise to me. I went along looking to sell my business and services and tell people about what I did but I suddenly realised there were potential suppliers in the room. I used to get all my stationary from a stationary retail outlet in an industrial estate near my office – I don’t anymore. I use KN Office supplies because I like Nick Elston, their sales guy who I met through networking, and their service is excellent. All my websites are done and looked after by Jamie Forster the owner of www.motley.co.uk. When I meet anyone who needs help with their website design I always recommend Jamie - he's absolutely brilliant. I've now got my own "Cloud"! An intranet system supplied by Andrew Twigg from TWG Systems. It's great, I can connect anytime, from anywhere and have access to my important documents, contacts and so much more.

So I’ve been giving business to others and I will continue to do so. So think about suppliers which you might need. Do you need business cards, do you need help in your business, do you need graphic design, do you need web site design, do you need stationary, what do you need? Also think about others who you know who might need the products or services of the businesses of those people in the room. It's always a great feeling to refer business to your fellow networkers. So just be aware of this during the 40 seconds / 1 minute section and listen out for any potential suppliers that might be in the room.

My next post is all about the motivation and confidence you can get from business networking. 

Related posts:
In case you missed any of the other articles in the series just click the relevant link below:

Networking for Busines - Introduction
Networking for Busines - Part 1
Networking for Busines - Part 2
Networking for Busines - Part 3
Networking for Busines - Part 4
Networking for Busines - Part 5
Networking for Busines - Part 6
Networking for Busines - Part 7

Networking for Business - Part 4

Friends

This was a huge bonus for me. I didn't see the whole friend factor at all. I came along like most people do at the start and I came along to sell; to market my business and products and services.

Business still happens

But that’s not what happens. Yes, of course it does happen. I’ve done a lot of business through networking.  We do Twitter for Business workshops and Blogging workshops all under the umbrella of our brand www.learnsocialmedia.co.uk  and we haven’t done any advertising. It’s all been promoted via email marketing and networking. The last event we ran last a couple of weeks ago was a sell out and all as a direct result of networking. I've had 43 new customers as direct result of networking and I now look after all their domain name requirements via www.freeparking.co.uk. One of those is a business coach and they have transferred in 5 domain names but they have also bought 11 new domain names for their business.

Know - Like - Friends!

So networking can be incredibly powerful for your business. But it’s the whole friendship thing which I hadn’t imagined and because you are seeing the same people each time its natural that over time, you will get to know them and like them. And that's when the business starts to happen. As I say, I've had quite a few customers transfer their domain names over to us from our compettiors and all because they know they have a hot line into me! A face they know; like and trust. Much more preferable than doing busines with a faceless organisation where they don't know anyone personally.

Coffee Mornings!

I love the 21^st century! I now do coffee mornings!!

Normally the domain of women, us men – well me anyway! – are now doing coffee mornings too! I meet people regularly for coffee and this has really helped cement friendships and of course, over time business happens too.

So don’t just think of networking as a business tool. There will be new friends of yours in the room at the next meeting you attend! And that was a great added bonus for me.

In my next blog post we talk about another unseen gem - suppliers.

Related posts:
In case you missed any of the other articles in the series just click the relevant link below:

Networking for Busines - Introduction
Networking for Busines - Part 1
Networking for Busines - Part 2
Networking for Busines - Part 3
Networking for Busines - Part 4
Networking for Busines - Part 5
Networking for Busines - Part 6
Networking for Busines - Part 7

How To Get More Done - Concentrate!

I was driving back to the office the other day and noticed a general trend in people's driving habits which got me thinking about business.

I was driving along a dual carriageway approaching a set of traffic lights. Both lanes went straight on. The traffic in the left hand lane was backed up with about 12 cars sat in a line but the right hand lane was empty. So I moved into the right hand lane and instead of having to queue up behind the others, when the lights went green, I sailed on effortlessly.

This got me thinking, why do so many drivers just "happily" sit in queues instead of going in the other lane and making effortless progess. I thought at first that perhaps it was a British thing. We're well known as a nation who "like" to queue for everything!

But as I continued my journey I noticed other drivers dithering and not making progress; being slow to react to traffic lights changing and sitting behind slow vehicles like lorries and buses. Now please don't get me wrong; this isn't about speed or getting from A to B in record time. But it's about people being focused on the job in hand and doing it well. I realised that many of the drivers I journeyed with that morning were not at all focused on the job in hand. They weren't concentrating on driving. They were oblivious to the traffic. They seemed to be in their own little worlds.

And I think this is something we all do from time to time when we're driving. Overtime, driving becomes second nature. (If you're a learner driver, then I do feel your pain! I promise you it does get easier wth practice!) So we don't concentrate on driving as much as we should. Instead we sit in traffic thinking about our lives; the work we have to do; the problems we're currently having; dreaming about that special person we just met etc..

Get in the game!
Which is why we end up sitting behind the slow vehicles and sitting in a long line of other cars. It's not that we really like queuing! I just think we're "not in the game", as Billy Cox would say. We need to get in the game! We need to really focus on the job in hand. We need to concentrate! Can you imagine what better drivers we would be if we concentrated. If we lived and breathed everything about the car, the noise of the engine, all our surroundings, the traffic lights, the speed, the steering wheel, changing gear at the right time and if we remembered our Highway Code. "Mirror, signal, manoeuvre". How many times have you seen someone start to pull out into your lane before they have indicated? It happens all the time.

Start focusing
It's the same in business. We are not concentrating. We are getting distracted. We don't focus intently on each task as we set about them. We let other things get in the way and disturb us. It's understandable really. With so many applications open at one time on a PC or Mac how can expect not to be disturbed?! An email drops into your in box; a new tweet arrives in Tweetdeck; a phone call.

Wouldn't it be much better if we set out with the right intention? Close all the applications on your computer and just leave open the one you are using for that 20 - 30 minutes. If you are working on your next email marketing campaign and you're writing the content for one of the follow up emails. I would write it in Word first. Close all the other programs down and just leave Word open. Close all your browsers, close Outlook or whichever email client you use. Switch off your mobile phone and divert your phone. And then just focus - concentrate - on the task at hand.

You'll be amazed at how much more effective you will be. You might even stop sitting in traffic and start to pick the empty lanes at traffic lights! Please try it and let me know how you get on.

Networking for Business - Part 3

People Buy People

And over time as you get to know other people in the network business begins to happen because people buy people. It's the whole Know - Like - Trust.

The same people
One of the great things about networking is you get to know lots of people and it’s only over a period of time that you get to know each other. So you go along to these regular lunchtime meetings and the same people appear – now a lot of people moan and say oh it’s going to be all the same faces – but I think that’s BRILLIANT! I want to see the same faces because it’s only over the 3^rd or 4^th cup of coffee with someone that you actually start to strike a bond and start to create some rapport. You suddenly find that we’re both into motor racing, or we’re both into fishing or wow we both like knitting! Well, perhaps not knitting but you get my point!

Acquaintances
So it’s really important that you make those acquaintances over a regular period of time. If there’s 30 people at the event you won't get to meet them all properly. You'll get to chat with a few but there's never enough time to meet everyone. So you'll  want to go again and meet the others next time and get to know their businesses because you won't have spoken yet and chances are you won't fully know what they do.

Speaker Slot
I highly recommend putting yourself forward for one of the speaking slots. All networks usually offer a 10 minute section where one of the members can present to the group – everybody gets to know slightly better and that’s why I’d urge you to put yourself forward for the members’ section. Absolutely vital because then everybody in the room gets to know you and your business a little bit better. Not only do you get to tell your story in the 40 seconds or 1 minute round but you get an extra 10 minutes when people can listen to you and get more of a feel for what you’re like as a person. That would be good wouldn’t it?

People buy people so you’ve got to get to know each other. And there will be some people in the room that you won’t particularly get on with and that’s fine. But there will be some people that you really warm to and not only will you really warm to them, they’ll actually become friends.

And it's the whole freind factor I'm going to discuss in my next blog.

Related posts:
In case you missed any of the other articles in the series just click the relevant link below:

Networking for Busines - Introduction
Networking for Busines - Part 1
Networking for Busines - Part 2
Networking for Busines - Part 3
Networking for Busines - Part 4
Networking for Busines - Part 5
Networking for Busines - Part 6
Networking for Busines - Part 7

Networking for Business - Part 2

What's Your Story?

Last time I suggested that you should change your approach to networking and instead of going along to sell your products or your services you should go along to share your story. 

Is Your Story Clear?

And in order to share your story you need to know what your story is. So what is your story? Have you got your story clear? Most networking events give you between 40 seconds and 1 minute to stand up and tell people about you and your business. But in the past have you got your story clear? Was there something you meant to say but forget in the nervousness of it all! Of course some of us get nervous during the 40seconds / 1 minute round. It’s nerve racking standing up in front of other people.

Practice Your Story

Which is why you need to make sure you have your story completely clear and you must practice it prior to the meeting. If you practice it then when it comes to your turn, you can absolutely nail it, so that you let people know exactly what you do, so that they understand what it is you do what; what special offer you’re running; what event you’ve got coming up, when and where and what sort of referrals you’re looking for.

Make it Memorable

So make sure you spend some time getting your story right and try to make it memorable and exciting so that people want to know more about it. There's a guy called Jay Blake from Ichthus Video who does a brilliant 40 seconds. He holds up a tiny funnel and explains that this is what most small businesses are using as their sales funnel and then produces a huge blue funnel and asks if you want to know how to get a huge sales funnel full of leads have a chat with him. Jay runs a video business and helps companies film and add video content to their websites to help them generate a huge improvement in interest and therefore leads. The fact I'm writing about Jay here shows that it was memorable!

If people understand what it is that you do and what sort of customers you’re looking for, then if they know people who need the services or products which you sell, they will think of you rather than anyone else. And of course as you get to know each other more business starts to happen because people buy people.

My next blog post is all about how people have to get to know each other before the magic of business can happen.

Related posts:
In case you missed any of the other articles in the series just click the relevant link below:

Networking for Busines - Introduction
Networking for Busines - Part 1
Networking for Busines - Part 2
Networking for Busines - Part 3
Networking for Busines - Part 4
Networking for Busines - Part 5
Networking for Busines - Part 6
Networking for Busines - Part 7

Networking for Business - Part 1

Your Attitude & Your Approach

Your attitude and your approach both set you up for success in networking. Just think about it for a second. Why do you go networking? The reason we all go networking is to promote and market our business, our products and our services to other business people in our local area.

But nobody is there to buy anything. Let me repeat that – nobody is there to buy anything. You don’t go networking to buy anything do you? No! We all network for the same reasons – those same reasons all wrap up into one main reason – We all go networking to market our businesses, to let other people know about our business, to let people know about our products and services in the hope that they might buy from us. But nobody goes networking to buy from us! We’re there to let other people know about our businesses.

So approach networking with the right attitude and go along to listen and to find out about other people’s business. If people are only there to tell you about their business, their products and services; then go along and in a completely counter-intuitive way turn up to listen and find out more about the other people in the room. Don’t be the kind of person who comes along and just tells people all about what they do and how wonderful their business is. Don’t be one of those people who just hands out business cards to everyone. People aren’t interested! Stop selling because nobody's buying!

Listen to what other people do and think about how you might be able to help them; who you might be able to put them in touch with. And by being that kind of person, I promise you, you’ll be staggered at the serendipitous things that can happen.

That’s my word of the year by the way – Serendipity! I’ve had so many serendipitous moments on the back of networking – it’s been incredible.

So approach networking with the right attitude and don’t go along to sell anything. In my next blog post I'll be explaining about how and why you should share your story.

Related posts:
In case you missed any of the other articles in the series just click the relevant link below:

Networking for Busines - Introduction
Networking for Busines - Part 1
Networking for Busines - Part 2
Networking for Busines - Part 3
Networking for Busines - Part 4
Networking for Busines - Part 5
Networking for Busines - Part 6
Networking for Busines - Part 7

Beware when Christmas shopping Online!

My wife was recently shopping online for Ugg Boots and got very excited when she found the following website.

If you click the image to see the full size you'll see that it's a website called www.uggboots-xmas-sale.com and at first glance it does look like the real thing.

My wife called me in to have a look at how good their prices were and I too was amazed. But the old cliche; "if it looks too good to be true, it is too good to be true" got me wondering.

Using my Internet detective skills I did a WHOIS look up on the domain name. A WHOIS Look up is just a search which is generated at the central domain name Registry database and is available to the general public. It shows information like when a domain name was registered, when it's due to expire and who the Registrant (Legal owner) of the domain name is.

A quick look at the WHOIS record confirmed immediately that this was indeed too good to be true. It is registered to someone in China and is yet another of those Phishing type website where they are passing themselves off as the real Ugg Boots company.

There have been a lot of these sort of websites set up in China. Nominet, the .uk central Registry closed down just over 1,200 such websites last year working in conjunction with Scotland Yard's eCrime unit. Read the news article here:

Over a thousand scam websites targeting Christmas shoppers shut down after online raid by Scotland Yard's e-crime unit.

Much to my wife's relief she hadn't processed an order and we saved ourselves all the aggro that would have ensued in trying to chase our order. Now, perhaps we might have actually received the UGG Boots but it doesn't take a rocket scientist to work out that the boots wouldn't have been the real deal!

If you find a website like this one and you think the prices look really cheap; think twice. Do a WHOIS look up to see if the website is owned by the legitimate company and if in doubt DON'T buy from the website.

To do a WHOIS Look Up just go to the Domain Tools website  and enter the domain name of the website without the "www" and click the "lookup" button. See the image below for an example:

By all means drop me an email and I''l be pleased to do some Internet detective work for you. So please take care when shopping for your Christmas pressies online this year.

Networking for Business - Introduction

Over the next few weeks I'm going to share with you my experience of Business Networking and I hope this will help you become more effective with your Business Networking activity. I love people and helping people and I've been networking really effectively throughout 2010.

Now please don’t get me wrong – I am NOT an expert – I don’t profess to be an expert on Networking, but I’ve been doing it very effectively for the last year and a half and it has transformed my business; I’ve made an awful lot of friends, I’ve grown as a person and it’s been absolutely brilliant for me and my business.

I am a member of a nationwide business network called 4Networking and there are over 260 linked groups in the UK. So while my posts might be slightly more skewed around the way 4Networking is structured, I do believe and hope that my posts will be of help, benefit and interest to all people who go business networking. 

In fact I was pleased to see one of my mentors; Jeffrey Gitomer writing about Networking in his brilliant book - The Little Red Book of Selling. In Principle 5 of the book it's titled "It's Not Work - It's Net work" and Jeffrey makes 3 key points:

1. Get face to face first
Meeting someone on the phone is not the best way to start any relationship... when you meet someone face to face you can see them and hear them at the same time. This is 100 times more insightful.

2. Networking eliminates cold calling
Jeffrey considers cold calling to be a waste of time because when you cold call you are interrupting someone by trying to barge in and sell them something.

If you meet them first and they like you, you have a much better chance of doing business with them.

Imagine cold calling someone and then meeting them at a networking event. What would you say to them? "Hey remember me? I'm the guy who cold called you and you hung up om me!"

3. Networking leads to Referrals
By helping other people first you'll find that other people will help you. Not every person you meet whilst networking is a direct prospect but they may well know someone who is.

In this Blog series I'm going to share with you some ideas and some tips and some advice on how I’ve used Networking and I hope that this advice and tips and ideas will help you with your approach to networking.

In my next blog post I'll explain why your approach to networking is of the most importance.

Related posts:
In case you missed any of the other articles in the series just click the relevant link below:

Networking for Busines - Introduction
Networking for Busines - Part 1
Networking for Busines - Part 2
Networking for Busines - Part 3
Networking for Busines - Part 4
Networking for Busines - Part 5
Networking for Busines - Part 6
Networking for Busines - Part 7

My next 9 Blog Posts

As my subscribers slowly increase I thought it might be useful and interesting for you all to know what's coming up in the next few weeks on my blog.

I've decided to post a Blog Series on Networking for Business. It's going to run over a 3 week period from next week taking us into the 2nd week of December. There will be 9 posts in the series and I hope that you'll find it interesting and of use. The posts will go out 3 times a week on Monday, Wednesday & Friday.

Networking is a huge gold mine for people and business and there are lots of hidden benefits which people don't always realise they'll get from going networking on a regular basis.

If you currently go networking I hope my blog series will give you some new ideas and if you don't go to a regular network I would strongly encourage you to try. And I hope my Blog Series will be of use and inspire you to try it.

The first one in the series will be posted on Monday 15th November at 10:20am GMT. 

10 Brilliant Business Books I've Read This Year

I've always been an avid reader of business books and this year I've discovered quite a few gems which I thought I'd share with you.

Brad Sugars suggests that we should all be learning each and every day. I went to see Brad give a talk in the UK recently and he said "the more you learn; the more you earn." He also stated towards the end of his talk that "if we can out learn him, that will be the day we can out earn him!" There will be a few of Brad Sugars business books on my reading list for next year!

One of the best ways to learn business related advice and guidance and ideas is from buisness books written by business people who have been there, seen it, and done it!

In no particular order, listed below are ten of my favourite ones which I've read this year. I'm not doing a full review of each one but I've included a few words to summarise my thoughts.

• Crush It - Gary Vaynerchuk

I absolutely LOVE this book. Gary Vee explains how every single employee who is not happy should just leave and get on with following their passion in life. He says that if we follow our passion and build a business based on our passion then we can quite quickly monetise it.

Read Crush It and cash in on your passion.

• Trust Agents - Chris Brogan & Julien Smith

This book is awesome and very special to me. I went to Like Minds in Exeter in Feb 2010 and met Chris Brogan and he signed my copy of Trust Agents! He really is a very special guy and the stuff he and Julien have written in Trust Agents is brillaint and they show you how to use your influenece in the digital world in a way that remains honest, effective and profitable.

Simon Bunker has written a god review on his website http://bloggingbookworm.com/review-trust-agents/ and you'll see my comment where you can see a photo of Chris signing my book at Like Minds!

• SuperTrends of Future China - James K. Yuann & Jason Inch

This is the book I'm actually still reading right now. It is excellent. China without doubt are going to be a massive world leader and some of the business opportunities suggested in this book are absolutlely ready to jump on board right now.

The mobile phone market is going to be huge and the Internet is already helping China to be the world's largest online users with over 200 million online. Yet, this only equates to 17% penetration! Unreal!

• The Go Giver - Bob Burg & John David Mann

This is one of my favourite book of 2010 because I love and totally buy in to the Go Giver concept. There are too many people in business who are all about Me, Me Me and take, take, take.
It's the most amazing story of how the main character, Joe learns the 5 Laws of Stratospheric Success. The Go Giver was an absolutely serendipitous read for me as it reinforced so many of my own beliefs. Read my review here.
And how cool that Bob Burg took the time out to comment too! He and I are now connected via Twitter which just blows me away!

• Awaken the Entrepreneur Within - Michael E. Gerber

I have to just state here that I am a massive fan of Michael Gerber. He is truly a genius, a brilliant story teller and a mesmerising speaker. This book is all about Michael's Dreaming Room. A fantastic concept of going into the dreaming room to find your inner entrpreneur and to create the perfect business that fills your passion and a gap in the market.
Michael writes in such an easy to read style; it really flows and I couldn't put it down.

• Think and Grow Rich - Napoleon Hill

This book was written in the late 1920s and is just as relevant today and seems quite timely with us coming out of our recent major recession. It was written at the end of the great depression so there are many parallels.
The 13 steps to riches are incredible and I still find it staggering that Napoleon Hill came up with this stuff of brilliance all those years ago.
Get yourself a copy and read it again and again.

• The Luck Factor - Dr Richard Wiseman

This is a great book which explains that there really is no such thing as luck. We all make our own luck. It's a sort of scientific research piece based on interviewing loads of lucky and unlucky people to discover the difference. There are some great stories used as examples.
The good news is the unlucky people in life can improve their luck using 4 scientific principles of luck and these can significantly change your life.

• Get off Your Arse - Brad Burton

This is not your stereotypical business book but don't pre-judge it. GOYA is incredible and it's packed full of brillaint tips, advice and guidance for small businesses.
Brad Burton is the founder of 4Networking; the UK's fastest growing business network with over 250 joined up groups across the UK.
Brad's style is easy to read and doesn't pull any punches. It's refreshing to have a business book which tells it to you straight.

• Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me - Penny Power with Thomas Power

I've been an advocate of Penny and Thomas Power for many years and I was so thrilled when Penny released this book. It is packed with a wealth of her's and Thomas' business experience gained from founding and running the world's first social network - Ecademy.
The book explains some of the different platforms but more importantly it goes into the how and the why it's so important to connect and get to know people and have conversations.
Penny is passionate about Social Media and calls it the Individual Revolution.

• The Little Red Book of Selling - Jeffrey Gitomer

This is a beautifully produced book and one you feel like you want to take care of. It's a cloth bound hardback with lovely shiny pages and it's crammed packed full of sales wisdom.
The chapters are short and punchy with loads of great side notes and some brilliant quotes.
Each chapter is based on a principle and in each one there is a link back to Jeffrey's website where you can get all sorts of extra, valuable freebies.
All of us our sales people in one shape or another - this great book is like a sales person's bible. Grab your copy and take it with you everywhere!

I hope you too enjoy these as much as I have and I one quick declaration - the links to each book uses my Amazon affiliate code. I hope you don't mind. If you buy just a couple of them I'll get about 3p so thanks for assisting me in amassing my daughter's inheritance!

Please do comment and let me know what you thought of any of these books. Also, please do share any other business books you like that you recommend.