Successful Networking in 7 simple steps

It’s likely that asking yourself the first question will have revealed some unsettling home truths. By asking just one more tough question, you will find out who your real friends are. Imagine yourself in an awful situation. You’ve lost your job, your business is failing, or you’re going through a gruelling period of stress at work. Who, in reality, would you turn to? Without analysing too much, quickly write down a list of the people you would turn to first for advice and help. You may be surprised by what you see. If some of the entries on that list are people that you would never have counted as strong ties – are not family, and whom you see rarely, it may be time to sort that out. These people are clearly important to you on many levels: make it a priority to invest some time in them now. If you ever are to be faced with that worst-case scenario, you want them wholly on your side.

By asking two simple questions, you are likely to have a much clearer idea about who you want ‘on your team’. Some people are just plain good for us – they are supportive, trustworthy, positive and inspiring – in their company we aspire to greater things. Some people are not so good for us and can seriously limit what we can achieve. The trick is identifying who is who, and we’ll find out more later.

A big reason for many people beginning to network seriously is that they want ‘change’. Well, you can start the process of change, and build your confidence too, just from the people you already know.

Build bridges to other networks

One very simple way to give your network’s breadth an immediate boost is to hold your own event. Make it an ‘open house’ and ask your friends to bring a few of their friends. This is a simple way to stretch the edges of your network and open pathways to new ones. Be attentive to the new faces amongst your guests – they will remember a good listener and may end up being valuable contacts or friends.

Surround yourself with those that bring out your best

Ever noticed that you always look better in photos taken with your best friends? It doesn’t apply to just our looks; people that are ‘good’ for us bring out the best in us – our best work, ideas and attitude. If you want positive change, start spending most time with the people in your network that make you feel good. This simple tactic can have a positive effect on your outlook and self-confidence.

So, you are mining all the value of your existing network by rediscovering the people in it and making new mutual acquaintances. Now add some new faces by breaking out of your existing network entirely. But how?

Visit your library: Your local library holds information on business and social events in your area, and many of these will be free.

Business support organizations: Organizations like Business Link in England and Business Gateway in Scotland offer free and impartial advice to people in business or starting their own. Many run free workshops so you can learn new skills and meet like-minded people at the same time.

Research online: Type in the keywords of your field of interest or business and search for upcoming events. You’ll soon find something within feasible travelling distance that suits your budget.

Night classes and courses: If you are planning to change careers or are coming back to work you may need to acquire a new set of skills. Short courses refresh your CV and your network too.

Volunteering: Want to learn new skills, meet new people and on a tight budget? Find your nearest volunteering centre and ask them about opportunities.

It’s generally believed that a person can only sustain around 150 meaningful social relationships; all those people you see on Facebook with 350+ friends don’t really have 350 lifelong buddies; they’ll have a few, the rest are acquaintances.

Ensure that your growing network has ‘balance’ too. Is it made up of both strong ties (people you can rely on) and weak ties (acquaintances who may present an opportunity in the future)? If one group dominates, then it may be time to redress the balance. Reid Hoffman, Co-Founder and Chairman of LinkedIn

, makes a helpful analogy to explain this process of finding ‘balance’: you have one memory card for your digital camera on a six-month trip. Because the capacity is finite, you must choose whether you want to store a few great photos at hi-res, store hundreds at lo-res, or a mixture of both. So it is with your network – you cannot maintain all your relationships at ‘hi-res’, but a huge, ‘lo-res’ network will not provide you with the support you need when times are hard. You need a mixture of both: strong ties to help and guide you on your career journey, and weak ties to refresh your network, provide new information and offer opportunities.

You may not yet be convinced by the idea of networking. Many people still have a suspicion of networking, associating it with dishonesty and aggressive deal-making. For some misguided souls, that’s what networking is: only coming out of the office when you need something, working the event to get the introduction you want, or squeezing your new contact till you get the deal you want. Effective in the short term, but you’ll make no lasting relationships.

Contemporary approaches to networking turn this short-sighted tactic on its head. It’s all about building lasting relationships first, and, crucially, offering upfront value to your new contact in the hope that someday you may reap reward in return. This kind of networker (‘go-givers’ in networking terminology) will meet new people and attempt to see the world from their eyes, listening to their needs and aspirations. He or she will then consider whether they might be of help to the other person to fulfil those needs. Could they introduce someone useful? Do they have some information they could share? This ‘help’ just has to be timely, appropriate, and of value to the other. Establishing relationships on these grounds will gain you lifelong allies.

Now let’s check that we are ‘event-ready’ from an entirely practical perspective. You may have the best attitude in the world but to be a successful networker you will also have to prepare in other ways: what do you need to take with you? Do you need a business card? Do you really need to finish your website before you tell people about it? What practical preparations do we need to make to network at events effectively? In the coming pages we consider some useful practical preparations.

Get business cards printed

Although we live in a hi-tech, increasingly paperless age, it’s a surprising fact that the business card is still a must-have item in the world of networking. The act of exchanging them is a rite of passage in itself, a sort of low-level ‘trade and contract’ between you and the person you’ve just met. The reciprocal movement of exchange also provides a physical ice-breaker and puts the two of you on a level playing field.

If you are networking on behalf of your employer, it’s likely you already have a business card. If you don’t, you need to get some, for without business cards, all your networking efforts will be for naught. If you are starting your own business then ensure you have business cards printed before you start networking. You may think that’s a start-up expense you could do without, but it’s imperative to have some and they needn’t cost much – the web is full of sites printing business cards at very little cost. If you are hoping to switch careers, you may want to consider printing a personal business card, so that you can prevent a job offer being sent to a work email. What’s on your business card? Remember, you may need more information for use internationally than you need in your own country. And you may need information in the language of the country in which you plan to network.

Petersfield Projects

Tony Fawkes M.A. Managing Director

Petersfield Projects

6 Manor Drive, Petersfield, Sussex P03 2PZ

T 01377 201564

M 097015 400400

E tony.fawkes@petersfieldprojects.co.uk

W www.petersfieldprojects.co.uk

Check your ‘back office’

Before you finalize your business cards, ensure that everything you say on the card holds true. There is nothing more infuriating than typing in a web address from a business card and finding that the website is a work in progress, or (much worse) cannot be found. Such a faux pas will speak undesirable volumes about your organizational skills, so before you give out business cards, literally do what a new contact would do. Get someone to ring your phone number and ensure that it comes directly to you, send a test email to the address printed (especially if it’s new), and double-check that the web address printed is operational. It’s amazing how many people get this terribly wrong – with permanent and disastrous results.

Do you have the appropriate kit?

Networking relies mostly on your ability to listen and converse. However, if you are in a particularly visual field of business, you may want to use equipment to help illustrate what you do. The key here is making the technology work for you, not against you. It’s going to be easier to talk over a tablet than waiting for a laptop to boot up (and necessitate sitting). Do you have comfortable and professional-looking means of carrying whatever equipment you need? Can you get it in and out of its bag easily without interrupting conversation? Think about the reality of bringing hardware into a networking situation with you. It has to look good, look easy and appropriate.

What should be on your business card?

If you have a choice about what goes on your business card, you can make it say a lot about you, or the nature of your business. Be creative, but remember that the business card is an important document:

Provide your contact details: Provide your name and your job title. Then provide your (or your company’s) address, telephone number, email address and web address.

Use a horizontal orientation: Using a landscape rather than a portrait orientation will ensure you will have space to enter your full contact details.

Use a standard size: The standard A8 or 74 × 52 mm is the desired size. Annoying business cards that won’t fit neatly in a standard wallet or card holder will not be filed properly by recipients and could get lost.

Left align all text for maximum readability: Centred text can look naïve and unprofessional, and it obstructs readability.

Use one font: Stick to one font (and its related italic/bold if necessary) to prevent your business card from looking disorganized.

Check and double-check: Proofread your business card thoroughly, and ask a friend to do the same, before you send it to print. One typo in your phone number can result in a very quiet business year if you don’t notice it.

Less is more: Don’t aim to provide any in-depth company or personal information. At the very most, you could include a strapline. You will be doing the talking, not the business card. Look again at the business card here (#u93527593-d608-43a3-b665-3c46b7c252c6) as an example.

You must put effort into planning your networking. Like any other project, you need to plan it, schedule it and monitor success. That way, you’ll spot blind alleys before time and effort is wasted, freeing you up to follow more promising leads. How you plan such a personal thing as networking is up to you. You might create a spreadsheet and enter in your goals, activities, and resulting business in it, with scheduled alerts to meet new contacts regularly. You might create a mind map connecting people and ideas in a more organic way. The choice is yours, but a few key questions will shape that plan:

What do I want to achieve for myself and my business in the long term?

Who do I want to meet to help me achieve that?

How much time/money can I spend per month?

What are my immediate networking goals at each event?

How do I measure my networking success?

Do I need different tactics for different groups?