Developing a networking plan

"It pays to plan ahead it wasn't raining when Noah built the ark"

Somewhere in your office you may well have a business plan.
Even better, you may have a marketing plan!
If you do does it include your networking activity?
If you don’t know where you are going with your networking how can others help you?

The second of our '10 tips for building business with the effective use of offline & online networks' is develop a plan.

Answer the following:
- what is your target market?
- what are the problems you solve for them?
- how much business are you looking to generate via word of mouth?
- how much time can you devote to your networking activities?

Identify others likely to have access to your target market
- how do you get to know them?
- how can you help them achieve their goals?

When you can answer these questions you are have the basis of a networking plan which you can begin acting on right away.

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

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Getting comfortable with how networking works

I had a One2One meeting with an NRG-networks member earlier this week. He wanted to update me on a new business he was involved in and get my views. When I first met him four years ago he had just bought a franchise. That was his first foray into the small business or SME world. He explained that in his first year he had beaten the previous best first year by more than double.

We explored how he had managed to do that. He explained that NRG-networks were the first network he joined and then others followed. He attended regularly and helped everyone he met by offering them some valuable input in their marketing communications. He didn't sell to anyone, but referrals and business flowed his way.

In yesterday's post, 'The same networking rules apply in the real world & the online world', I featured Seth Godin talking about networking and explaining that "Networking is all about helping people achieve their goals reliably and repeatedly then guess what? They start to do the same for you!"

Tip 1 in my '10 tips for building business with the effective use of offline & online networks' is get comfortable with how networking works. It's not about meeting people once and moving on. It is all about building relationships first and may require a different approach to the one you are used to.

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

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business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast

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The same networking rules apply in the real world & the online world

I just watched this great video posted by Debbie Weill on Youtube. In it Seth Godin answers the question "Is Social Networking important for small business?" and provides some great insight into how to network.



Thanks to Nicholas Braak for signposting this on Twitter & Ecademy.

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

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business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast

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10 tips for building business with the effective use of offline & online networks

You could be forgiven for thinking there was a battle being fought between offline & online networks with some of the messages from organisations in both camps. The reality is that the online networks give us a really effective tool for supporting our offline business networking activities. They only do that, however, if we go about both activities strategically.

I have been an active member of online networks since I discovered them in 2003. In an article on the NRG-networks website I share my top 10 tips for building business with the effective use of offline & online networks:

1. Get comfortable with how networking works
2. Develop a plan
3. Identify the people you already know, like & trust
4. Identify the offline networks to join
5. Show a genuine interest in other people
6. Always follow up contacts
7. Identify the online networks to join and start a blog
8. Make online contacts and build relationships first
9. Arrange contact meetings
10. Develop Networking Advocates

More on each point in the article, top 10 tips for building business with the effective use of offline & online networks

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

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business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast

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The power of leverage in business networking

One dictionary definition of leverage is "the mechanical advantage or power gained by using a lever". To illustrate the idea I remember using a small lever in a school physics lesson to easily move a large rock.

In business networking you can use the equivalent when a trusted contact of yours has influence with someone in your target market with a problem that you can solve. This can be a great way to get in front of much larger organisation than yours. If you build a relationship with someone that regularly deals with these larger businesses then you can use your relationship as the lever for the introduction.

Let me share a story. A few years ago I was running a business where one of our largest suppliers was one of the big mobile phone operators. We got to know some people there and found that we could help with a problem they had. They had insufficient resources to deal with many of the requests they got regarding potential new applications. We offered to help with some of these. Later on they advocated our services as a 'must have' to a couple of large media companies which led to some very lucrative contracts.

We would never have been able to even speak to these media companies without the leverage that was created by someone within another large business introducing us. That leverage was possible as a result of the help we first provided in building the relationship first.

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

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business networking | business networking events | business networking podcast

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