by Ewan Sturman on December 27, 2012 · 1 comment
“Networking – that’s not for me. Cheesy American rubbish! You can’t get business just by chatting to people, besides I’ve got better things to do with my time. Trust me; it will never catch on…”
I’ve had all these thrown at me in the past and I still probably hear one similar phrase a week dismissing networking as new age nonsense.
But let’s look at this a bit closer and see whether networking is new or American, or whether it even works. [click to continue…]
How many times have you come home from a networking event with piles of business cards? Where do they go? On the desk, in a drawer or maybe they end up in the bin? A few minutes spent debriefing after an event will mean a lot for your effectiveness when networking. It is said that “time is money” but really productive time is money, and being productive means having some decent business systems to handle your networking activity.
There are lots of gadgets for you gadget lovers out there, you can scan cards with all sorts of apps which will put the person in your contacts on your computer or on your phone. Maybe you file the cards alphabetically or by event you attended. I know a few people who put the cards into a freezer bag marked with the date and the name of the event. [click to continue…]
by Sandra Hart on August 31, 2012 · 1 comment
So you’ve been to a networking event you’ve met some great contacts, you have got lots of business cards, you had some fantastic conversations. What now?
Are you sitting in the office the next day just waiting for that phone to ring, the inbox to fill up, and people to call you with orders? I hope not because you may be disappointed. Networking is about building relationships with people, and a critical element is reconnecting with people in an appropriate way, a lot depends on the quality of the follow up. [click to continue…]
How do you engage people at an event? How to people remember you rather than your competitor or other people at an event.
There are a few easy ways to engage people in conversation and to be memorable and they all involve a little thought and preparation.
The easiest way to start to engage people is to ask open ended questions, prepare four or five questions which you can use depending on the situation that you can engage people in conversation. Most people are reciprocal and therefore will ask you back the same question that you asked them. So let’s say you asked them “how did you get into that business?” when they are finished telling you their story about how they got involved in their business they will often ask “what about you”? or a similar question. Now this is where your preparation comes in! Any question you ever ask at a networking event or in a networking situation, make sure you have a good answer to the same question. [click to continue…]