Do you meet the right people when you go networking?

In a conversation with the partner in a professional firm last week he said "I know networking is about building relationships and not selling directly, but I never meet the right people". I asked him who the right people were and he tried to explain. He found it difficult and rambled on a bit.

I suggested (gently) that he might like to give it some thought because then he would have an idea where he might find the 'right people'. He asked if I had any tips that might help and I said he could start with where his referrals came from today. He mentioned a couple of sources which was great because now he will be looking for networking groups with others like them.

I also suggested that when he finds that group he should invite his current referral sources too. That way he will be building his Inner Network* and strengthening the relationships with his current Advocates*.

*Explained in more detail in the NRG Advocate Marketing System.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

How to have a productive One2One Meeting

The key to building a successful relationship with someone in business networking is follow up. One2One interactions are an essential part of this follow up. It is the next step after you have invested time in getting to know someone at your regular networking group meetings. In this podcast I explain how to have a productive One2One Meeting.

Listen here:

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If you don't have a couple of minutes to listen then this image from the NRG Networking System covers the main points:



Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Do You Really Have To Pay To Play, Aspiring Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs?

In the old era, you had to pay to play. But today's aspiring baby boomer entrepreneur has a new edge. In the old model you had to buy attention. But today, corporations are discovering that big budgets don't produce results the way they once did.

So, if big companies are spending less on social media and getting better results, doesn't it make sense that you can make it on a low or perhaps no budget too?

You can't buy attention anymore.
Having a huge budget budget doesn't mean anything in Social Media.
The old media paradigm was PAY to PLAY.
Now you get back what you authentically put in.
You've got to be willing to PLAY to PLAY.
------- Alex Bogusky, Co-Chair, CP&B

The following video shares with you a glimpse of how Social Media is completely changing the nature of the game.





You can do market research on social media. You can serve your customers through social media. Social media is the doorway to your success as a baby boomer entrepreneur.



One very exciting example of market research is the new use of Twitter to predict customer response to a product.

Two researchers at HP Labs have established that they can use Tweets to predict how well a movie will do - research that can be applied to all manner of events including how well a product or ad campaign may perform.

Although the researchers, Sitaram Asur and Bernardo Huberman, have only applied their methodologies to Hollywood movies, the accuracy rate of their tests is startling - essentially it was more accurate than the current gold standard, the Hollywood Stock Exchange, which the industry uses, writes Fast Company.
You can click here to get the full story. http://www.marketingvox.com/twitter-as-a-predictive-tool-046619/?utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_source=mv&utm_medium=textlink

Fellow baby boomer, we are blessed to be living in the most exciting of times for entrepreneurs. If you know what business you want to be in and how you want to serve your customers, you can PLAY TODAY.

Shallie Bey

Using the Internet to get off the Internet

In 'Using online to get offline' I briefly mentioned Meetup.com Founder, Scott Heiferman, and his talk in London about the importance of meeting offline.

Scott shared that he really began to experience the power of community in post 9/11 New York when people began again to rediscover the importance of looking out for each other. I was in London during the bombs on the underground and on a bus on 7 July 2005 and saw many people going out of their way for others in a similar way.

Scott shared that the idea for Meetup came from that time and he wanted to create a site to help strengthen community. To give people the opportunity to use the Internet to get together in local communities each day with the goal of improving themselves or their communities. Their mission today is to revitalize local community and help people around the world self-organize. Meetup believes that people can change their personal world, or the whole world, by organizing themselves into groups that are powerful enough to make a difference.

As Scott said it's about "Using the Internet to get off the Internet!"

A great insight into how to use Online Social Media and Networks in your Business Networking, a subject I addressed more fully in this article:

'10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks'

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Baby Boomer Entrepreneurs Gary Vaynerchuk Explains The New Opportunity

Gary Vaynerchuk explains what he sees as the new opportunity for entrepreneurs. It is the ability to build a business focused upon your personal happiness and your personal range of opportunities. This is wonderful news for everyone, but especially for aspiring baby boomer entrepreneurs.

He explains that we are in a sea of culture shifts. These shifts create opportunities that did not exist: five years ago, a year ago, even days ago.

Gary Vee believes that the Internet is the single most under-rated aspect of society today. It is the open door to the "Thank You Economy" that places word of mouth on steroids. It is the opportunity to create real relationships in new ways.




Winning this battle requires living in a world where content is King and marketing is Queen. It opens the opportunity for "Tag Team Partners" where a content producer can partner with a marketing partner. The team can produce results that neither could produce alone.

Now, in the spirit of disclosure, Gary is about passion. In the midst of his excitement, that passion shows up in the form of a word that you might not use in polite company. But, if you can overcome that, Gary Vee has a word for you about becoming a baby boomer entrepreneur.

Shallie

Shallie Bey
Smarter Small Business Blog

Note: The video is about an hour and eighteen minutes long. The first thirty minutes are presentation with the balance being Q & A. You can find the direct link at:

Crush It.

Should you lead your networking group?

In the NRG Linkedin Group last week there was a discussion about 'Making a Business out of Networking'. Some of the discussion was about leading a networking group as a way of growing your existing business.

Last month Sarah Owen of the Referral Institute presented a Networking Masterclass before the NRG Charing Cross lunch in London. One of the things she want through was their VCP Process™. This stands for Visibility, Credibility and Profitability*. A good networking group provides the platform for people to go through this relationship building process.

Leading a group can move your relationships through to Profitability when done in the right way with the right people. Sarah shared with us the experience of her and her clients who see a seven fold increase in the profitability of their networking for their existing business when they lead groups. Too often, however, people think about running a group in the wrong context. Some think it is about a new revenue stream. Others that it is just about lead generation and concentrate exclusively on the Visibility bit.

Many networking organisations have positions for people to lead groups (including ours). These positions are not usually about creating an additional revenue stream. I would treat anyone that claims that for leading a group with suspicion. Leading a group is really about increasing the overall return on investment in your networking for your main business. As Sarah said "it is about increasing the profitability of the business relationships you build through networking". A good rule of thumb is that any income generated just for running a group should pay for your networking activity.

There are some business opportunities with networking organisations that are genuinely about creating a revenue stream. These are usually a networking franchise of some description where you are investing equity to build a business. In this scenario you will building a business with the primary revenue being from the activity of networking itself.

Leading a group could be right for you if it makes sense for your business to be at the hub of the business community in that group. That could be an existing group or using a networking organisation's existing infrastructure to get a group together of the people you want to have around you in the group.

*VCP Process™ copyright Referral Institute 2010, all rights reserved.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

A simple equation for networking successfully

'Can you make networking really simple?' was the headline last week when I wrote about making networking simple. Someone asked me if I could give them a simple equation for successful networkng. Here is what I gave them:

plan + structured approach = successful networking

First of all you need to know what you actually want from your networking. Then you can do the things that will ensure you achieve your goals.

At NRG-networks we encourage people to use the NRG Advocate Marketing System. The 5 simple steps include the essential components in this equation - your plan and a structured approach;

1. Set your networking objectives
2. Identify your target market
3. Develop your proposition
4. Define your inner network
5. Build your advocates

Read more about this business networking system here.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Can you make networking really simple?

'Networking made Simple' is the title of a blog posted yesterday by Andy Lopata. In it Andy wrote;

"Think of networking groups as a way of meeting people who can help you achieve your goals. Now you should ask yourself:

- What am I trying to achieve?
- How can other people help me?
- Who is best placed to help me?
- What do they need to know and do?"

This is good advice and they are indeed great questions to help you clarify whether a networking group could be right for you and your business. I would add one more question:

- Who do they need to know?

Just joining the group, though, will not be enough. You have to be proactive!

The way that networking in such a group will work for you is by helping those people achieve their goals. To make sure it will work for you there are a few more questions you should ask yourself:

- Do I like the people in the group?
- Are they people that could add value to my existing client & trusted relationships?
- Am I able to give the group meetings priority over other things in my schedule?
- Am I willing to invest time outside the group meetings to really get to know them and build profitable relationships?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Is networking a bit woolly?

In a workshop before a recent Networking Lunch a conversation took place between a couple of the attendees. Let's call them A and B.

A said "I am not really sure about this networking stuff".

B replied "It's about getting to know, like and trust people. You build relationships and as you help and refer others then others do the same for you".

A then said "That all sounds a bit woolly to me. I prefer things I can predict my cash flow with".

I described how I have a number of regular meetings with people in my network where we share an agreed number of referrals so we can predict cash flow. These are people for whom networking is not woolly, but a proven and reliable method of business development. We have invested time in building relationships and are happy to share our contacts with each other openly so as to maximise our referral opportunities.

Last week Sarah Owen of the Referral Institute presented a Networking Masterclass before the NRG Charing Cross networking lunch in London. One of the things she want through was their VCP Process™. This stands for Visibility, Credibility and Profitability*. People can believe the activity of attending networking events is enough. It is not as that can only really build your Visibility. Good networking groups provide the environment for you to build on this and create profitable relationships with people you know and others you want to know.

One of the elements of their Referrals for Life Programme is the Referral Pipeline where you get to spend a day with a trusted contact and execute a process that will efficiently generate enough referrals to completely fill up your sales pipeline!

Networking is only woolly if you are!

*VCP Process™ copyright Referral Institute 2010, all rights reserved.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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business networking | business networking events | business networking tips

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Week 5: Ethics and Information Security

1. Explain the ethical issues surrounding information technology.

The ethical issues surrounding information technology include:

• Intellectual property: the collection of rights that protect creative and intellectual effort. An organisation must protect the knowledge it forms and maintain trade secrets.
• Copyright: the exclusive right to do do certain acts with intangible property, e.g. the use of unlicensed software.
• Fair use doctrine: the circumstances in which a business is able to use copyrighted material.
• Pirated software: the unauthorised use of software.
• Counterfeit software: software that is manufactured to look like the real thing and is sold as such.

2. Describe the relationship between an 'email privacy policy' and an 'internet use policy'.

An email privacy policy guides the use if a business's email system by employees and establishes the privacy they have over their emails.

An internet use policy is a more general document which outlines the acceptable use of the internet by employees (e.g. banned sites).

These policies govern the way in which an employee uses a business's IT systems.

3. Summarise the five steps to creating an information security plan.

The five steps to creating an information security plan are:

1. Develop IT security policies.
2. Communicate policies with staff.
3. Identify crucial assets at risk., e
4. Test and re-evaluate risks.
5. Obtain stakeholder support.

4. What do the terms; authentication and authorisation mean, how do they differ, provide some examples of each term.

Authentication refers to the means by which an employee is given access t0 a system; it may be something the user is (e.g. a fingerprint or retina scan, face recognition), something the user has (e.g. a smart card, token) and something the user knows (e.g. password).

Authorisation refers to the information an employee is permitted to access once they have gained authentication to use a system.

5. What are the five main types of security risks? Suggest one method to prevent the severity of risk.

1. Human error: such as severity can be minimised by proper training of employees.
2. Technical failure: severity can be minimised by having backup infrastructure ready to go.
3. Natural disaster: severity can be minimised by a disaster recovery plan, e.g. a hot site.
4. Deliberate acts (e.g. virus, spam, malware): severity can be minimised by virus protection software.
5. Management failure: severity can be minimised by having high procedural standards and an effective backup policy.