How many people will be there at your networking event?

People often ask me "How many people will be at the event?". I usually ask them what they consider to be a good number. That can prove to be a difficult question to answer. Many people will start with a fairly high number.

The question came up in a conversation yesterday so I asked the person for an example of an event with a good number. He mentioned an open Chamber of Commerce event with 150 people there. I asked him how many people he had really good conversations with during that evening and he said 2 or 3.

Then he said "I guess what I really mean is that I consider a great event to be where I can have good quality conversations with up to 6 people. More than that & I can't do the follow up".

My own experience is that the knowledge sharing and relationship building takes place much faster in a smaller group. I know from our own NRG groups that the format works very well for between 8 & 40 people. At the upper level the dynamics change and then it's probably time to open another group.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Are you an expert?

At a seminar this week before the NRG-networks Lunch in the City of London the speaker, Sue Richardson, was presenting 'Be seen as the expert, publish a book'.

She opened by asking if everyone considered themselves to be an expert. The dictionary definition of an expert is 'a person who has special skill or knowledge in some particular field'.

The learning that came out of the session for many people was that we actually know far more than we think we do. We have a tendency to assume that everyone else knows what we do. This can mean that we undervalue our knowledge and insights. These have great value to our respective networks. As we share them in conversations and by presenting we build our reputation as experts.

The help we give to those others motivates them to help and advocate us. So it is vital to communicate how they can do that whilst continuing to give generously.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs - The Story Lady Has A Story About You

In the beginning, you were not having the life you wanted, but in the end you lived happily ever after.

If you like that story, you want to read some of the work of The Story Lady.

Quoting from her bio on Amazon:

Ronda Del Boccio unknowingly began her path to becoming The Story Lady as a tot when she invented skits and stories with her stuffed toys. She was born with an eye conditions that mean she will never drive or see "normally," so she lives every day with added challenges that she calls "speed bumps."



All her life people have opened up to her and shared their lives in the safe space she innately offers. Recognized globally as The Story Lady, she teaches authors, business owners, entrepreneurs, and visionary individuals just like you to reach your ideal customers, readers, and associates through the power of your story.



Along with Bonnie Tesh, she co-authored the inspirational book I'll Push You Steer: The Definitive Guide to Stumbling Through Life with Blinders On.



Her new book The Geometry of Success comes out soon. She is an award-winning author, transformational speaker and mentor who teaches you how to connect with anyone through the power of storytelling and live from your power.



"When you share facts, you touch a mind, but when you share your story, you touch a life. And when you touch one life, you touch at least a thousand lives." -- Ronda Del Boccio, The Story Lady.

Ronda Del Boccio tells us to serve before we sell. And that is exactly what she does on her blog

http://profitablestorytelling.com/blog/2009/03/15/the-story-lady-shares-guarded-twitter-tactics-for-business-success/

Please check her out to get the story of your happy ending.

Follow her on twitter at http://twitter.com/thestorylady

Shallie Bey

Do you do much cold calling?

In a previous post, 'In a world of thousands of suppliers Word of Mouth is essential' I mentioned a recent NRG-networks seminar from author Grant Leboff on how sales & marketing have changed.

One of the things that Grant discussed was the value placed on a cold call by the recipient. Before the Internet a cold call could be a very useful way of gaining information on a subject as part of a purchasing process. A relationship would often be built in this way. A quick straw poll indicated that none of the seminar audience saw that value any more and did not take cold calls.

I mentioned this to a couple of people today. One said that networking was his best route to market, but he still had some success with cold calling. He has a very clear idea of his target market, his proposition and the value he adds. He demonstrates his expertise and value with great questions and the connections he makes. The kind of actions that show a genuine desire to help and not just the let me help you buy my stuff kind!

Great lessons for all kinds of business development activity.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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A great way to help the people you meet business networking

Whether you are at a structured or unstructured event you will often meet someone who presents their business and leaves you with no idea what they are talking about.

I recall meeting someone regularly and getting to know him quite well. Over time I got to like and trust him & would definitely have referred him if I knew what he did. At one event we were chatting over a coffee and someone else joined us. Neither of us knew the other and eventually she turned to my friend and said "so what do you do?".

"This will be interesting" I said.

He explained what he did very vaguely to start with and then in ever more complicated fashion! That's not unusual. To her credit our new acquaintance said.

"It's probably me, but I don't really understand what you mean".
He then tried to explain again, but what came out was even more complex. He noticed her puzzled expression and said

"That's meaningless to you isn't it?"

Her face said it all, and he said, "Have you ever experienced situations at work where people need the equivalent of their heads knocking together?"

"Yes" she said.

"Well, I help teams resolve those situations."

Crystal clear all around!

So the next time someone you like isn't explaining themselves very well could you ask some questions to help give them some clarity?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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Are you prepared to go out of your way for others?

At an NRG-networks lunch meeting yesterday someone asked me how you get others to advocate you.

Someone else shared his view and said "When I meet someone I try and find out as much as I can about them and their business. That allows me to connect them to the contacts and information they need. Recently I met someone from a fantastic conference venue. They were already doing some business with a top four accounting firm and I was able to put her in touch with someone very senior in the organisation to help cement the relationship and gain further opportunities. She subsequently gave me a great referral to a partner in another accountancy firm."

A great example of how you develop networking advocates. A networking advocate goes out of their way to recommend your goods and services without being asked or expecting anything in return. Take time to develop the relationships with key members of your network. Go out of your way to connect them to key members of your network and introduce them to people who might benefit from their services. Become an advocate for them. And, guess what? What goes round comes round. People will eventually become advocates for you – and this is where the networking dividend really pays out!

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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In a world of thousands of suppliers Word of Mouth is essential

At a recent seminar before a London NRG-networks lunch author Grant Leboff was explaining how sales & marketing have changed.

To illustrate the impact of the Internet he talked about how things were beforehand. In the world of business to business products & services if you needed something you probably had a choice of 2 or 3 local suppliers. You probably saw them all before making your purchase decision and relied on personal recommendations to help in your decision.

Now that you have a choice of thousands on the Internet how do you decide which one to use?

You cannot possibly see them all.

Are you like the seminar audience?

They said they rely more than ever on the recommendation of a trusted contact.

So in this world of enormous choice Word of Mouth is more important than ever.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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What does a company like that look like?

I received a message from a business contact last week advocating the services of one of her contacts. At the end she said would you be prepared to introduce him to any of your contacts that spend more than £20,000 per year on utilities?

Based on our relationship I said "Of course. If you are advocating him he must be good, but how would I know if a business was likely to be spending that amount?" Good question she said and put me in touch so that I could ask directly.

The person was able, very quickly, to paint a picture I could understand by describing how big the premises would be or how many offices they may have. Also how many people would be working in the organisation.

How good are the pictures you are giving to your advocates to promote you?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
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A great way of adding value to your network

The seminar before a recent NRG-networks Lunch in the City of London was presented by Mark Lee, Chairman of the Tax Advice Network, on 'How to Build Profitable Relationships with Accountants'. He explained what matters to accountants, how they work, and why they reject so many of the approaches they receive from third party service providers.

All of the things he said were great advice for building business relationships in general.

He told a great story about someone from a financial services provider when he had been an accountant in practice. This person had taken all the information they had on file from various sources and had organised it into a 'Lever Arch' file so that they could see where they were at any time. Including any gaps in their knowledge, where things were out of date and opportunities for new services.

Who do you think was referred when the opportunity arose?

Can you think of ways of adding value so you are the first person that comes to mind for an appropriate opportunity?

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
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Nothing compares to the power of trust

In 'Building trust with a new contact' I wrote about the first two steps in building a trusted business relationship in a networking context - make contact and follow up.

The four steps are:
1. Make contact
2. Follow up
3. Form relationships
4. Develop Advocates

Following on from that post my friend Frank Kanu emailed me to offer his article, 'Nothing compares to the power of trust'.

As Frank states in the article,

"There is nothing magical about trust and relationships—as long as one follows some simple rules".

The rules that Frank outlines in the article (available at this link) support the findings of our own research into the importance of developing trust in business relationships as part of networking.

Assuming you are still positive after the follow up stage you are ready for the 'Form Relationship' stage. By now you would probably be prepared to make a ‘qualified referral’ where you connect the person to another with the proviso that you have limited experience of their capability. As you get feedback you build further trust in them & their capability. The tactics you need to employ to form relationships as highlighted by our research into this stage include:

1. Making qualified referrals
1. Introducing to high value suppliers
2. Actively looking for potential clients/customers for them
3. Providing a testimonial
4. Arranging a business meeting to introduce 2 of your contacts to each other
5. Introducing them to a trusted contact at a networking event

As before you are being proactive and giving more trust as the the relationship develops.

If things progress well during this stage you are well on the way to the final stage, 'Develop Advocates'.

Good Networking
Dave Clarke
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