Networking

Gosh, these networking days are coming fast and furious. I attended two last week and one this week. They were all completely different.

The first one was at Eastwood Hall and had two seminars and 40 exhibition stands. I was very pleased with myself for making the first move and talking to lots of people - something which doesn't come naturally. The talk I attended was given by Rob Brown and entitled 'The 10 worst things you can do or say at a networking event' - very apt, and very helpful. I was very glad to discover that I do not commit the worst two mistakes, which are (a) to try and be something you're not and (b) not to follow through after the meeting. I always write to anyone whom I think might be a good business contact and I never put on airs and graces, so people know whom they're dealing with. But I did take note of a couple of other points Rob made, one of which is when people ask what you do, don't tell them the company name or your job title - tell them what you DO, i.e. break it down so that it's more understandable. At that event I made the acquaintance of Jason Smith who in turn introduced me to Rob Brown (which just goes to show that it's not what you know, but whom you know). Jason is an area contact for BNI and reminded me that my local group were meeting the following lunchtime, which leads me onto the next meeting.

At the women's networking meeting last week, Kim Kimberly had invited me along to BNI at Junction 25, which is a lunchtime meeting, as opposed to many of the other BNI meetings that are held at breakfast time. After I talked with Jason, I thought I'd go along and find out if it would be suitable for me. I emailed Kim and she phoned me with details. Along I went and paid my £10 to cover the room cost and the meal. A BNI meeting is a very structured affair. They tend to restrict membership to one representative from each work area - so I'd be OK as there aren't that many proofreaders around wanting to joing these things. However, at a cost of £400 per year plus £100 down payment, I felt that it was too costly for my small enterprise. They are very good, though, at making referrals.

Yesterday's meeting was more of a tutorial. It was run by Business Link and labelled a masterclass and restricted to 25 attendees (some of whom didn't manage to get there). Our speaker was Jonathan Nunn, who was very good. The subject of the class came under the umbrella title 'Build a Better Business' and addressed the generation of new sales and customer retention. I suppose I learned something, but I felt that it was for larger businesses than mine. However, I took the opportunity to approach the conference office to make them aware of my presence and to ask for information about the hotel as a venue.

My intention is to create a directory about local conference facilities as there doesn't seem to be one at the moment. Watch this space ...