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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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.

Networking and the 4 Ps of Marketing

In a presentation last week from Gill Hunt of Skillfair I was reminded of the 4 Ps of Marketing - product, price, placement, promotion. In traditional marketing these are taught as the four elements essential to get right in any marketing. The world has changed with the Internet, but they can provide a useful checklist to help in our networking.

Promotion is often the initial driver for a business owner or professional to start 'formal networking'. This can lead to too much emphasis initially on trying to sell to the people you meet. You quickly learn that networking is about building relationships with others in similar markets to you - your 'Inner Network'. The best way to get your network to promote or advocate you is to get in the habit of advocating them first.

The other 3 Ps are useful in working out where to network and who with. Where to find the people who will become part of your Inner Network. If your product is providing a solution to a business problem then you can work out the places you should be networking. It is in those groups where the other members provide similar value (price) services to yours. They should be working regularly with the types of businesses you work with.

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

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Week 4: eBusiness

1. What is an IP address? What is its main function?

An IP address is the way in which computers communicate with one another, through the assignment of a unique number to every computer in the world.

2. What is Web 2.0, how does it differ from 1.0?

Web 2.0 is the current stage of the internet's development as a 'read/write' web. It is characterised by technologies such as social networking, wikis, blogs and RSS. It differs from Web 1.0 (characterised by the one-way publishing of information by a webmaster) in that the user is more involved in the creation of content.

3. What is Web 3.0?

Web 3.0 refers to the transformation of the internet into a database through the use of metadata. It is considered the evolutionary path to artificial intelligence.

4. Describe the different methods an organisation can use to access information.

The different methods an organisation can use to access information include:

• Intranet: is best described as a 'private section' of the internet used by companies internally, featuring components such as collaboration tools.
• Extranet: similar to an intranet, however the scope is extended to include other parties such as fellow firms, strategic partners and suppliers. It also for easier sharing of data between businesses.
• Portal: is a website that combines many systems on the one page, for example, a university website which has links to email, academic information and so on. Each session should be tailored to the needs of the user accessing the portal.

5. What is eBusiness, how does it differ from eCommerce?

eBusiness is a broad term that refers to all electronic business (including eCommerce, marketing etc), whilst eCommerce is the more specific function of buying and selling products on the internet.

6. List and describe the various eBusiness models.

The various eBusiness models are:

• B2B (business to business): businesses buying and selling to each other over the internet.
• B2C (business to consumer): a business selling its products or services to consumers over the internet.
• C2C (consumer to consumer): applies to sites, such as eBay, that allow consumers to sell goods and services to one another over the internet.
• C2B (consumer to business): a consumer that sells a product or service to business over the internet.

7. List 3 metrics you would use if you were hired to assess the effectiveness and efficiency of an eBusiness website.

The three metrics I would use to measure the effectiveness and efficiency of an eBusiness website include:

1. The number of page views, indicating popularity of site.
2. The type of visitors, e.g. unidentified, unique, session, tracked or identified.
3. The number of abandoned shopping carts, indicating the quality of the shopping experience.

8. Outline 2 opportunities and 2 challenges faced by companies doing business online.

Two opportunities of doing business online are:

1. Accessibility: eBusiness allows a business to operate around the clock, 24/7 for 365 days a year, on a global scale.
2. Increase customer loyalty: eBusiness offers additional channels for contacting, responding to and accessing customers, increasing customer loyalty.

Two challenges of doing business online are:

1. Disintermediation: the removal of intermediaries in a business's supply change may discourage other businesses from stocking its products, for example, a surf wear brand would be reluctant to sell directly to the consumer online as they rely heavily on a strong network of surf-wear retailers.
2. Protecting customer's security: customers must be protected from online threats such as spam, illegal or harmful goods, invasion of privacy and fraud.

Using online to get offline

At a networking lunch last week someone asked about how you get to meet up offline with some of the people you connect with online. Networking online & offline are about about building relationships. You can strengthen existing connections online and make good new connections. Build relationships by contributing to online conversations and sharing your knowledge and connections. At some point you will probably need to meet up to really build trust. You may not be quite ready to meet One2One so consider inviting them along to a networking group you belong to.

Last week I attended an Event on 'How real time web is facilitating offline interactivity'. One of the speakers Meetup Founder, Scott Heiferman, was talking about the importance of meeting offline and said Meetup itself was all about:

"Using the Internet to get off the Internet!"

A pretty good approach to keep in mind with your online networking.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks

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How to decide where to spend time online networking

At a couple of meetings last week people asked me which online networks they should use. People tend to read the buzz about Facebook, Linkedin, Twitter etc & assume they need to be on them all. They can often feel daunted at the prospect of somehow incorporating all these into their networking.

I replied that the approach to networking is the same as offline. It is all about building relationships where people get to know, like and trust you. The important consideration for business networking is that the people you build those relationships with are in a position to refer you in the course of their everyday experiences. You should be networking online and offline in the networks where those people are members.

As I wrote in 10 top networking tips to increase business with the effective use of offline & online networks:

"Business Networking is about finding other business people who operate in similar markets to you. Then helping them and building relationships to earn that trust so don’t expect instant results. Like anything worthwhile, networking takes time and application. Take the time to develop relationships and create a network. Don’t expect to walk into a room of strangers or simply post a profile online and come away with business – it just doesn’t work like that!"

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

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Week 3: Strategic Decision Making

1. Define TPS & DSS, and explain how an organisation can use these systems to make decisions and gain competitive advantages.

A transaction processing process (TPS) is a system that serves a business on an operational level by recording each and every transaction within a business. There is a trend for TPS to move online.

A decision support system (DSS) is a system that allows managers to make decisions based on data through the creation of models. It supports managers in their decision making. .

These systems allow businesses provide an organisation with the necessary information to make more effective decisions more efficiently, thus allowing it to gain a competitive advantage.

2. Describe the three quantitive models typically used by decision support systems.

1. Sensitivity analysis: the study of the impact that changes in one or more parts of a model have on other parts of the model. Essentially, it asks what will happen to the overall result if you change one or more parts of your systems.
2. What-if analysis: checks the impact of a change in an assumption on the proposed solution. It is used to understand the effects of certain situations on a business.
3. Goal-seeking analysis: finds the inputs necessary to achieve a goal such as a desired level of output. For example, how many units have to be sold to make a certain profit.

3. Describe a business process and their importance to an organisation.

A business process is a standardised set of steps to achieve a certain output or goal, such as processing a customer order. It allows a business to achieve its goals by turning an input into an output. Their importance to a business is it's ability to efficiently and effectively achieve its goals through optimising its business processes.

4. Compare business process improvement and business process re-engineering.

Business process improvement is the examination and mapping out of current business processes with the aim of continual improvement of business processes.

Business re-engineering differs in that it assumes the business needs to be overhauled in order to improve, for example, following a merger.

5. Describe the importance of business process modelling (or mapping) and business process models.

Business process modelling refers to the creation of a detailed flowchart or process map of a work process. Business process models are graphic descriptions of a process, showing the sequence of process tasks, which is developed of a specific purpose and from a selected viewpoint. They are important as they allow an organisation to analyse whether its processes are effective, for the purpose of improving them (and thus becoming more efficient).

References

Image: http://timoelliott.com/blog/2007/06/intestine_based_decision_makin.htm