International Networking Week 2010 - Let's see the networks start to network with each other

Next week, February 1-5, is International Networking Week. A BNI initiative, the aim of International Networking Week is to 'celebrate the key role that networking plays in the development and success of businesses across the world'. It's a noble initiative and one that deserves to gain some support and a greater profile in the UK.

I went along to the BNI Big Breakfast in London in 2007 to mark that year's International Networking Week. They are holding a similar event this year, with 400 people expected, and it certainly was a good event when I attended.

What is disappointing is that the concept doesn't seem to have taken off in the UK in the way it has elsewhere. There are three UK events listed on the official site, all of which are hosted by BNI.

The profile of networking, and its credibility as an important business strategy, have certainly grown over the years and I have been delighted to see more companies take networking seriously. However, there still seems to be more competitiveness than collaboration between the different networking organisations, a problem we often ran into (with a few notable exceptions) when I was involved in networking groups.

I'd love to see International Networking Week embraced by networking organisations across the UK, as well as by schools and in corporates, in the same way as Global Entrepreneurship Week. Let's see the networks do some networking of their own and use their combined resources and influence to really raise the bar next year.

The Road Ahead : Networking at the beginning of a new Decade

In an article at the end of 2008 I talked about how we were on the verge of a new age of networking in the UK, with the move away from referral networks, a more considered approach to networking by businesses and in particular, the growth of choice for businesses using social networks. Little did I know the extent of the changes to come so quickly.

Just one month after writing the article I joined Twitter. Founded in 2006, 2009 really has been the year of Twitter. According to Jason Keath of socialfresh.com, Twitter membership has grown from between two and four million users at the beginning of the year to forty million now. With the increased popularity of Blackberries, iPhones and other Smartphone technology, people can ‘tweet’ on the move…and they like it.

Although I could see big changes in networking to come at the beginning of 2009, the popularity of Twitter and other online networks has moved networking on at a pace I certainly didn’t predict. The worldwide economic climate has also had a big impact on the way businesses and individuals network and its importance to them.

So what can we expect in the year ahead? I want to look at the impact the recession has had and continues to have, on business networking; what we can expect from both online and face to face networks and also the changing importance networking will have for larger businesses.

Social Media

Given the impact that Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn have had on business networking this year, the online world seems the obvious place to start.

The most popular social networks, such as Facebook, MySpace and Twitter, are not ‘business networks’ in the true sense of the term, having been created for social use. However businesses are increasingly embracing all of them.

MySpace is the home for bands, artists and others in the entertainment industry. Other businesses have been more comfortable using Facebook and Twitter, but many of them slowly and reluctantly. I still find that most of my clients, particularly those working for larger organisations, are unsure about using Facebook despite the growth of business pages, ‘fan’ pages and pay per click advertising. Those that do use it prefer to focus purely on using it for social purposes.

There are, however, a growing number of people using Facebook for business. The big brands are making sure they have a presence on the site but it’s mainly smaller businesses, particularly micro-businesses, who use it actively.

In my previous article I said that we needed to move away from people simply looking to connect with as many people as possible across all social networks. This is still a problem. It seems to me that many of the people using Facebook for business still try to build as big a network as possible without worrying about building the relationships. That goes for both large and small businesses. People need to start realizing that networking is about engagement not numbers.

If we can get back to real engagement across Facebook and people become comfortable with who they allow to cross the ‘business/friends’ threshold and what they share with them, we may well see more people working in larger businesses open up their Facebook network to work contacts. There is still a lot of understandable nervousness about doing this so it will be a gradual process.

The growth of Twitter has had an impact on Facebook however.

Twitter has an unfair reputation of being a waste of time, with the common put down being “why would you be interested if someone’s having a coffee?” Many businesses are using Twitter very effectively though, with Dell Computers attributing $3 million worth of revenue to their Dell Outlet Twitter account*.

Savvy business people are raising their profile through Twitter, using the network to share their blogs, build their reputation, ask key questions and more. It’s a great way of keeping your finger on the pulse of business and world affairs and to continually engage with your network. Not only that, it’s also incredibly viral, with your followers happy to share your wisdom with their network with just the click of a button.

The quick hit of a 140 character Tweet makes the site more appealing to many time-poor business networkers than other social networks and this is perhaps where Facebook has taken a hit. Maintaining interest and engagement in a Facebook Group set up for your business can be quite time consuming, while you can dip in and out of Twitter quite quickly and painlessly. Some people who have started to develop a Facebook strategy have quickly left it behind and focused their attention on Twitter.

I anticipate that Facebook will continue to grow over the coming year and I do think that there will be more business use. Twitter’s popularity will, however, restrict that use and many people will prefer to simply post on Twitter and let that feed through to their Facebook page.

I believe that simply feeding one social network with your content from another is a mistake. Wherever possible we should treat each social network individually, based on what we are looking to achieve from it. Why use multiple networks for one purpose?

The language used on Twitter looks out of place on a Facebook page and automated feeding of updates doesn’t discriminate. As a result, some people’s Facebook pages have become meaningless lists of one side of various conversations and couldn’t be less likely to engage visitors. I’d love to see this habit die out. Yet we will still see more applications making it easy for us to update multiple social networks at one time, leaving less differentiation between networks and less reason for people to visit each one of the networks of which they are a member.

Many major marketing agencies now have specialists focusing on social media strategy. I do have a concern that the more the bigger brands embrace Facebook and Twitter, the more smaller businesses could disengage from the sites. Whatever size the business, we need to use these sites to speak with our networks, our customers and our prospects. It’s important to have a two-way process and listen as much as broadcast if the networks are going to maintain their popularity.

As well as the social networks, there are specific business online networks, with LinkedIn enjoying the most successful 2009. Based on the principle of six degrees of separation, LinkedIn is, in my opinion, the site that offers the clearest and potentially best rewards from online networking sites. The trouble is that most people don’t know how to use it effectively.

An article in the Wall Street Journal on December 30th reported how LinkedIn have been opening up to third party developers who want to create applications for the site, much as Facebook have. This is on the basis that LinkedIn users spend much less time on the site than users of other social networks, such as Facebook. (Visitors spent about 13 minutes on average at LinkedIn during October, while Facebook users logged about 213 minutes and MySpace users spent 87 minutes.)

While the right third party applications will help to enhance the LinkedIn experience for some, I think that the focus is in the wrong place. Offering users more applications risks confusing many members, as other sites have found. LinkedIn should focus instead on educating their members on how to make the most of the site. The fact is that you should be able to spend less time on LinkedIn than on other sites and still get greater rewards if you use the site effectively and target the right return.

Now more people have become aware of the potential of LinkedIn, I’d like to see it coming into its own as a referral generation site over the next year and I’m already seeing signs of that happening, I’ve certainly received more requests for connections through LinkedIn in the last few months than ever before.


Face to face networks

So where does this leave the face-to-face networks? There have been fears expressed that the growth of online networks and their convenience will make people less likely to want to attend physical events. Although some people have taken that approach, I think the opposite is true.

While online networks help to broaden our connections and raise our profile, I remain a great believer that you cannot build the same depth of relationship online that you can when you see the whites of people’s eyes. The growth in popularity certainly affects the development of face-to-face networking though.

There has already been a move by a number of face-to-face networks to develop a strong online arm to complement their offering. From alliances with existing social networks to the development of their own online networks (as demonstrated by 4Networking’s 4Community in the UK), traditional networks recognise that they can’t be left behind by the online revolution.

The challenge for them is the reticence of some members of traditional networks to get involved online, together with the growth in the number of social networks. People don’t want to be members of too many. With that in mind, they need to get enough members involved to develop a strong enough discussion to make it worth people’s time visiting and to keep them there. If they can achieve that, they can offer their members a much deeper service, connecting them with each other in person and online and bringing groups around the country, or the World, together.

The growth of online networking has also impacted on face to face networking through more meetings stemming from online groups. The Meetup site has spawned a number of such groups, many stemming from LinkedIn, while Tweetups have grown in popularity too.

This has led to a greater diversity of choice of events; with the growth of niche networks predicted in my previous article. There are networking events for people looking for investment, those interested in property, people in fashion, the arts, the media, bloggers, politics, women’s networks… the list is endless.

The choice of events available to businesses wanting to network means that traditional groups, from Chambers of Commerce to referral networks such as BNI, will have to keep on their toes, keep thinking creatively and perhaps look for ways to enhance their offering and continue to innovate if they are to maintain their relevance to their existing membership and attract new members.

The abundance of networking options also affects the membership fees traditionally charged by networking organisations. With a host of events available for free, members of networking groups will want to see higher fees fully justified. The upside of this is that more businesses are looking to see what the return on their networking investment is, and thinking through how they spend their time. It will be a struggle for some larger organisations though, who rely on such fees to stay in business.

The Wider World

The economic crisis over the last two years will provide one source of consolation to traditional networks. While there is far greater choice than ever for people looking to network, there are also many more people who want and need to do so. The sheer number of redundancies will have led to a surge in consultants and micro businesses, people choosing to take their chances and go it alone rather than risk trying to find another job in a tough and uncertain market. The first piece of advice they are likely to have received when setting up their business in many cases will have been, “go out and network”.

Additionally, I expect to see more networking activity from corporate sales teams in the coming years. The budget cuts forced by the recession, together with the rise in popularity of LinkedIn among staff nervous about their jobs, has raised the profile of networking as a route to market. Sales teams are beginning to recognise the need to work smarter and attend more events. Budget holders are also demanding greater results from staff who previously just ticked the box by attending events. Now they feel more pressure to show a return on the investment.

My only concern is the perceived need to show short-term results. Traditionally sales people from large organisations have followed their instincts and looked to sell at events. When they have inevitably failed, they’ve written off networking as a route to market. For corporates to realise the potential from networks, they have to take a much more strategic, long-term view and give their teams the confidence and freedom to build relationships, help others in their network and generate referrals over time.

Similarly, away from networking events, sales teams have a wealth of potential new business introducers within their existing networks if they embrace a strong referral strategy. It’s time for them to move away from looking at referrals as an afterthought at the end of a client meeting and hone a more focused approach. Marketing teams have shown that they recognise the power of word of mouth marketing through viral and buzz marketing, as well as social media. The next step is to develop this into the referral arena. This will take time and I’m not sure that we will see this on a wide scale in the immediate future.


Networking Internally

Of course, networking is not just about sales and perhaps its key role currently in corporate life is in personal career development. This is a trend that I expect to see continuing and perhaps even accelerating.

With less job security and flatter management structures providing fewer opportunities to progress, people need to network to develop their career. There is less of a culture of ‘a job for life’ than even ten years ago and people’s networks both internally and externally play an ever-stronger role in their career planning.

If you work in a large organisation you need to have a strong profile across departments if you want to progress your career. Internal networks play an important part in helping people make the connections and have the conversations they need. Most major organisations have women’s networks and an increasing number of similar opportunities will present themselves. I believe that the ability to network effectively will increasingly become a skill that employers look for when recruiting for new positions.


The Future of Networking

Relationship-building and strong networks are becoming more vital as the nature of business and employment changes. These qualities have grown in importance over the last decade but the combination of social media technology and the economic climate over recent years has accelerated that growth.

We are entering a period where those with weak networks and poor interpersonal skills will find life increasingly difficult. And it will be the same whether you run your own business, are employed by someone else or you are a student looking at your plans for the future.

In a connected society, those people who have the wherewithal to build and leverage a strong and diverse network are going to have the advantage. We now hear more talk about ‘relationship capital’ and ‘social capital’, further evidence that human connections are becoming recognised for their role in business and career building.

The tools are now in place to help people who want to take their relationships to another level. A clear strategy for doing so, together with a strong focus on why, will help make the difference.




*Direct2Dell blog June 2009

CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: Busting the Myth

This article originally appeared in The National Networker



It’s time to shatter a few illusions now. I’m sorry but networking groups do not produce referrals.

That may disappoint a few people who have spent a lot of time and money joining groups in the hope of generating new business. Hours spent at breakfast meetings, lunches and chatting over canapés when you could have been watching The Apprentice…..all wasted.

Before you panic and start cancelling all of your memberships, bear with me. I didn’t say it’s all a waste of time!

The myth is that new business comes directly from networking groups. Because of that myth, it is common practice to join a group, turn up for a while and then question why you have seen no results. The fact that many miss is that networking groups are merely the starting point; most of the business done and most of the relationships built are based on understanding developed outside of the meetings.

This fact stands whether you are looking at an online networking group or one where the members meet face to face. In both cases you still need to develop strong relationships with fellow members and that means spending some quality time with them.

I write and speak a lot about the importance of the depth of relationships developed through networking. Yes, it is important to build a wide and diverse network, but the real power comes from people who know, like and trust you. That’s when people will go out of their way to support you, when people will genuinely want to refer you, when people will seek out the appropriate opportunities.

Referrals and support come not from networking groups but from your network. They are two distinct entities. Your network comprises people you have relationships with, whether they are personal contacts or people you know through business. Your network includes your friends and family, social contacts, people you have met because your children go to the same school. It includes clients, suppliers, business associates and people you have met at networking groups.

Depending on the strength of your relationship, it is these people who want to support you the most, and networking groups are simply a way of feeding that network.

If you can focus on this, you can approach your membership of networking groups in a different way. Instead of looking for one off ‘hits’, people who you immediately see an opportunity to work with or sell to, find people who you’d like to get to know better. Spend time talking with them, meeting outside of the network and developing a real friendship. Through doing so, you will soon count them as a key part of your network, rather than simply being members of the same group.



For someone to refer you effectively, two key elements need to be in place. They need to both trust you enough to effectively put their reputation on the line every time they introduce you to one of their contacts, and they need to understand your business in enough depth to be able to recognise and convert opportunities to refer you.

The limitation with relying on networking groups, or online networks for that matter, is the number of people present. Unless you are in a small Mastermind-style group, there is little opportunity to have in-depth conversations with fellow members and get to know them better. This makes it very difficult to build anything other than a superficial relationship and unlikely that you will develop the levels of trust and understanding that enable mutual referrals and support.

It’s no surprise, therefore, that people who focus their networking purely within the meetings struggle to achieve the potential from their membership. If you take a typical BNI-style meeting for example, if there are 40 members up to one hour of a meeting will typically be taken up with presentations. There are opportunities for brief conversations before and over breakfast.

Yet there are always members who leave the meeting as soon as the formal section has finished. Typically, they then won’t be seen again until the following week.

It’s not much different at larger and less frequent events such as Chambers of Commerce. Many people spend time looking to meet as many new people as possible, collecting business cards. Conversations are fleeting, handshakes rushed and elevator pitches exchanged. They then move onto their next contact.

The only way those connections can work is if you develop them over time. That means taking time out of meetings to have better conversations. I often use that time initially just to get to know each other socially. After all, you want people you like and have something in common with in your network. Over time you can then find out more about each other’s business, the challenges you face and the introductions you seek.

Networking groups often impress on their members the need to have regular 1-2-1 meetings with each other away from their events. It’s not enough just to meet once and tick that person off your list, remember that you are looking to develop a relationship and that means regular conversations and staying in touch. It doesn’t just have to be two of you, meet in small groups socially as well.

Twitter and LinkedIn users are now holding regular ‘Meet Ups’ (or ‘Tweetups for Twitter fans!) so that they can meet face to face. In the UK, Ecademy have been doing this for years.

You will struggle to achieve anything near the potential from your networking if you focus your efforts purely on the events or forums provided by the organisation. Identify people who can justify a place within your network and build the relationship with them.

Networking groups don’t provide referrals. They can, however, introduce you to the people who, over time, will.

CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: The Top Ten Ways to Ensure Your Networks are More Effective and Produce Results

This article originally appeared in The National Networker


Last month I wrote in my blog about a friend of mine who struggles to get any return from his networking despite always being generous with his time, his contacts and his support.

I got a lot of feedback on the piece, with many people either recognizing themselves, or people they know well, in the description of my friend.

So why do so many people struggle to attain a real return from their networking? There are a host of possible reasons but I thought this might be a good time to share some ways in which you can get more of a return from your networking.


ONE
Take a long-term view

When I was MD of Business Referral Exchange someone came to us wanting to open a group in his local area. At the time we insisted that a group needed fifteen members to start meeting. It took him time to recruit and when he had eight he came to us to beg to be able to open the group.

“I need business NOW”, he said.

My advice was to pick up the phone and cold call. If you need an immediate return, networking is not the tool for you. Networks are built over time, trust is a key factor in people recommending and referring you, and it does not appear over night. Patience is a key factor, as is a long-term view.

Long-termism in networking also allows you to think on a grander scale. As you develop and build your network, investing into the ‘emotional bank account’, you are creating a stronger bank of support to withdraw from when you need to. If you take from the very beginning, people will soon stop networking with you.


TWO
Define success

Are you clear in your mind what success looks like from your networking?

It is vital that you understand exactly what new business you want to generate, which introductions you need, what support you are looking for. Once you are completely focused on this in your mind, you will find it much easier to determine which events you should attend, recognise opportunities when they come along and to clearly communicate to others how they can help you.


THREE
Hone your message

If you’re not getting support and referrals from people in your network, stop blaming them and look at yourself.

How well are you expressing yourself? How easy do you make it for people to support you?

We all lead very busy lives. As much as we want to support those closest to us, the harder it is to do so, the more likely we will move on and do other things. Make it simple for people. Communicate the support you need, be very specific and, above anything else, when someone is in a position to help you, ask them. Don’t simply assume that they will recognise the opportunity to help you if you don’t point it out.

Of course, this step only works if you have built the relationship with them first and they want to help you.



FOUR
Stay with it

A short-term view in networking unfortunately leads to people writing off various groups and networking sites before giving them a chance to produce a return. Although things are improving, there are still people who attend groups seeking a set number of leads, rather than treating each event as a step in the right direction. As a result, they end up visiting lots of different meetings, collecting bundles of business cards and never building relationships.

If you have taken the advice above and set longer term objectives, you can join the right networks to take you there, with a clear idea of the commitment needed from you to achieve those goals. It is rare that a network will produce to its full potential in the first few months of membership.



FIVE
Engage, don’t broadcast

The growth of sites like Twitter has shown both the best and worst of networking. At its worst, there are people who use sites like this to simply broadcast their message, without listening.

Just as with event sponsors who expect people to buy from them just because they have a stand and a couple of minutes to plug their product at an event, they will be disappointed when the results aren’t quite what they had hoped for.

Networks have moved us towards a society where communication is two-way rather than one. Companies have to listen to their customers now, rather than just sell to them. Similarly, we need to engage with people in our networks, listen to them and join in conversations.

As people find out more about us and as we help them more, they then let us know when they are ready to listen to us and possibly buy from us or pass our message onto our target market.


SIX
Give and take

‘Givers Gain’ is the mantra of members of Business Network International (BNI) and both sides of that equation are equally important.

Thanks to BNI’s motto, it is now commonly recognised that you need to give to your network before you can expect to receive. And those gifts you offer should be without expectation of return; networks don’t always deliver your reward from the same direction in which you gave.

Where many networkers fall down however, is in being ready to take in return. We can be in so much danger of not being seen to ‘hunt’ that we are frightened to ask for help when people are ready and willing to offer it.

Know who wants to support you in your network and understand how they can. Then help them to do so and accept their help without guilt.


SEVEN
A wider perspective

The power of networks lies not in the people in our immediate vicinity but in those they know. And that power is exponential. If we have a strong relationship with 150 people, who each know 150 people well, that means we are within one strong introduction of 22,500 people.

Yet so many people can’t see beyond the person in front of them. They go to events and target ‘low hanging fruit’, talking about products in the lower range of their offering because they think those are more relevant to the attendees at those events, or turning down invitations because they won’t meet prospective clients.

Build relationships with people you get on with and don’t ever worry about selling to them. Instead, develop their trust and they will introduce you to the people they know.

If they are ever in a position to buy from you themselves, if you have developed the right levels of trust and understanding they will do so. In the meantime, they could be referring you to a number of their contacts, which could be a lot more valuable to your business.


EIGHT
Everyone’s an individual

Just because you have built your network to large numbers, it doesn’t mean that they will all act in the same way and respond to the same requests.

I received some national press coverage last year because someone in my network asked how he could help me. Instead of reeling off a list of prospects I’d like to meet, I mentioned that I’d like to build my media coverage. Why? Because he was the former executive editor of a national newspaper. I knew he would be comfortable referring me to someone else from the media.

Get to know your network as individuals. Offer support based on their specific needs; ask for support based on their individual ability to help or their circle of influence.


NINE
It’s not about YOU

“I want to talk to xxx because we want to work with that sector more”.

I have heard so many requests for introductions over the years which focus on why the person wants the introduction, not on the value they offer to the person they are asking to be introduced to. Remember the all important words, ‘What’s in it for them?’

When someone agrees to introduce you, they are going to enter into a conversation where you are not present. They need to be able to answer the questions that they will face confidently and leave the other person interested in speaking to you and eagerly waiting for your call. That means that they see your relevance to them, how you are going to solve their problem.

Focus on communicating that relevance effectively and people will find it so much easier to refer you.



TEN
Take risks

‘You can’t make an omelette without breaking some eggs’, as the old saying goes. If you are going to maximize your return from networking, you are going to have to get out of your comfort zone and take some risks.

These include:

- Approaching people you don’t know at networking events
- Risking losing referrals by being specific, rather than covering everything when explaining what you do
- Passing up a quick sale to build a long-term relationship
- Using social networks occasionally to tell people about your successes or ask for help

Whatever the risk may be, look at what you want to achieve and ask yourself a simple question.

Which approach is going to take you closer to your goal?

http://help.tweetmeme.com/2009/04/06/tweetmeme-button/

The Need for Greed

One of the key underlying principles of networking is the mantra introduced by Dr. Ivan Misner across BNI Groups worldwide. The principle of 'Givers Gain' dictates that you must be focused on giving to your network first and the rewards will follow and it is one that I agree with.

Sometimes, however, it's possible to go too far.

A good friend of mine is a case in point. He has a tremendous reputation for his generosity. He is always looking to help others and goes out of his way to be amenable. This is despite the fact that his own business is struggling and he really needs to focus on his needs first. He said to me recently that if he doesn't win more business in the next month he may have to find employment and shelve his company.

It is possible that his amenability is a actually a cause of his own struggle. My friend is so focused on seeking opportunities to help other people he forgets to ask for help for himself, or doesn't recognise opportunities for himself when they come along.

Last week I said to him that I was going to introduce someone who could be very helpful in opening some important doors for his business. As soon as I described some of the projects this contact was working on, my friend began to list who he knew who could help on those projects.

"That's tremendous", I said. "But this is a connection for you and your business. You need to focus on that initially, don't lose the opportunity.

"I know you're right", he said. "But I'm not greedy."

"You've spend the last twelve years not being greedy. Maybe that's one reason you're so needy".

My friend has been so focused over the years on helping other people, not only has he not asked for the help he needs, when a new introduction has come his way he has been more focused on who else could benefit from the new contact than focus on his own needs.

He has a bank of people who he has helped and who would love to help him, but he doesn't feel comfortable asking for their help. As a result, they cannot recognise the right opportunities for him and he is struggling.

Givers Gain works on the understanding that your network will want to help you if you continue to help them. That only works, however, if they understand how to help you and if you accept that help when it comes your way.

It's fine not to be greedy, but not to the extent it leaves you needy.

CONNECTING IS NOT ENOUGH: Ten Years Later

This article originally appeared in The National Networker

Last month saw me celebrate a ten-year anniversary. On 11th May 1999 I started work for Business Referral Exchange, then a new networking organisation founded six months previously and with just four groups running in London, Hertfordshire and Essex. At the time networking as a formal activity was little known in the UK, with a few independent groups supplementing the networking offered by Chambers of Commerce and community groups such as Rotary.

How times have changed! Networking is now a key activity for millions of small business owners across the World and, with the rise of social online networks, is being recognised as a key skill for everyone, from jobseekers to global corporates.

Last month’s personal anniversary started me thinking about the changes I have seen in networking in that time, how the popularity of networking has grown and what we can expect over the next decade. Approaches to networking, behaviour within networks and even where we network and with whom have all changed. I still think there is a long journey to travel before everyone who needs to network recognises its true importance and does so effectively and efficiently.

That, I suppose, is why I write this column every month!

Why have we seen such a rapid growth in networking over the last decade? There have been a number of influences on its increased popularity, and our approach to it. These influences have certainly been strong in the UK, although I think similar patterns have explained the same developments in other countries.

The first influence is the growth of micro and small businesses. Large organisations have been downsizing their workforce for some years, predating the current recession. In fact the move away from relying on employees to bringing in contractors has been growing over the last decade. Many people have been encouraged to leave the security of employment in exchange for the greater rewards of contract work, leading to the establishment of thousands of small businesses.

The current economic crisis has accelerated this trend as hundreds of thousands of people have been made redundant. I believe that one of the long-term results of the credit crunch will be a second surge in numbers of small businesses. It is widely recognised that job security no longer exists in the way it has previously and the ability to be responsible for one’s own future has become more attractive.

The upshot of a growth of small businesses is an increase in networking. One man bands and micro businesses do not have the budget for advertising, PR and sales teams that larger organisations have traditionally relied upon. Instead they quickly realise that they have to grow and reach out to a network of others to find clients and develop their business.

Moving away from working within a large team, surrounded by people to turn to when answers are needed, and towards working in their own homes, feeling isolated from the World, also compels people to look towards networks. Networking groups have been increasingly seen not just as a source of new business, but as a replacement for the ‘water cooler moments’ and support systems that a large office provides.

Another key influence on the direction networking has taken has been the increase in social networking technology. Ten years ago there was little to no online networking, other than groups and forums on sites such as Yahoo. Today you get an invitation to a new site almost every day.

The popularity of predominantly social sites such as Facebook and Twitter has brought the benefits of networking into the wider public consciousness and has been reflected in an increased awareness of professional sites such as LinkedIn. You can now find people on LinkedIn who would not have been found on any other network as recently as last year.

The growth of such technology has made networking accessible to many more people. A decade ago networking was purely for business and took place either at breakfast or early evening, excluding many people, predominantly women, with childcare responsibilities. Now you can network at your convenience, at any time of day or night, through online networks.

The growth of online networks will also impact on the willingness of people to network and their behaviour in networks over the coming years. The ‘Millennial’ Generation, or ‘Gen Y’ have grown up with social networks as the norm. They will expect networking as part of their career and job development and more companies will recognise the benefit of collaboration and networks as this generation reaches senior management levels.

What will be interesting will be the impact of new technologies and new generations on behaviour within networks. When I started work in networking many people were driven by short-term sales targets and brief, transactional, interactions. Over the years the importance of relationship building became a higher priority for many and people began to recognise the futility of trying to sell in an environment where people haven’t come to buy, and realise that referrals carry more weight than individual sales.

With the growth of online networks, however, there has been a backward step. Many people treat networks such as Twitter and LinkedIn purely as broadcast tools. They don’t seek to engage people in conversation or build quality relationships. Instead they focus on getting as many connections, friends or followers as possible and rattle out broadcast messages to them.

The more ‘sophisticated’ among the new networkers boast of a strategy where they drive people to their own website and then to ‘squeeze’ pages where they can encourage a transaction. There is little attempt at conversation or education, once more it is all about the sale.

This approach lacks any sustainability. While some people might thrive, as they have done with other related forms of internet marketing, if too many people follow this approach it will turn away newer converts to networking and those who seek relationships. Very few people join networks to be a notch on the bedpost or to be sold to, therefore any network where everyone seeks just to build huge numbers of connections or sell without looking to help others first will lose members rapidly.

Also people will soon become disaffected with the pursuit of numbers as they realise that numbers alone don’t produce benefits, and find how difficult it is to maintain relationships in a network that has grown too large. I have already seen a number of people shelve Facebook and LinkedIn contacts publicly as they attempt to rationalize their networks and more people will begin to do this.

Moving forward, I expect to see a number of changes in networking behaviour over coming years.

The most important change will be a more strategic approach to networking activity. There needs to be a shift from networking as an afterthought, or as a response to invitations, to a goals-oriented networking strategy. People won’t be able to cope with the number of choices available, both online and in person, and will select which networks suit their personal and business goals. They will be happier to commit to those networks which make sense for them and spurn other invitations.

Such an approach will see a growth in niche and peer-group support networks. There has been a growing understanding of the role networking has beyond sales, and how strong that value is. Mastermind groups will grow in popularity and there will be a shift in the ‘numbers’ game, with people preferring smaller networks of like-minded people to getting as many people together as possible.

We will also see more engagement in networking by individuals and large organisations. Women’s groups have led the field in both areas, striving to even out inequalities in business and in the workplace by encouraging women to work together and support each others’ development. Their successes will encourage others to explore the benefits that networking can bring and evidence of someone’s networking activity may soon take pride of place on CVs as people look for their next career move.

Times may have changed over the last decade but there are still many changes to come. Networking has grown in respectability and popularity over that time, the next step is for an increased understanding of the ‘right’ way to network. A move from quantity to quality and from activity-driven to goal-driven networking is the next natural step.

We’re heading in the right direction but there’s still a long way to go.

GUEST BLOGGER: How to Become a Master Networker by Dr. Ivan Misner

Dr. Ivan Misner, Founder of Business Network International, recently conducted a survey of networkers and, from that survey, ranked the top ten traits of Master Networkers. I asked Ivan to share those findings with readers of this blog.

How do you rank on this list? Are there any traits of networkers you feel are missing?

Networking is more than just shaking hands and passing out business cards. Based on a survey I conducted of more than 2,000 people throughout the United States, the United Kingdom, Canada and Australia, it's about building your "social capital." The highest-rated traits in the survey were the ones related to developing and maintaining good relationships. For years I've been teaching people that this process is more about "farming" than it is about "hunting." It's about cultivating relationships with other business professionals. It's about realizing the capital that comes from building social relationships.

The following traits were ranked in order of their perceived importance to networking. They're the traits that will make you a "master networker."

1. Follows up on referrals. This was ranked as the No. 1 trait of successful networkers. If you present an opportunity, whether it's a simple piece of information, a special contact or a qualified business referral, to someone who consistently fails to follow up successfully, it's no secret that you'll eventually stop wasting your time with this person.

2. Positive attitude. A consistently negative attitude makes people dislike being around you and drives away referrals; a positive attitude makes people want to associate and cooperate with you. Positive business professionals are like magnets. Others want to be around them and will send their friends, family and associates to them.

3. Enthusiastic/motivated. Think about the people you know. Who gets the most referrals? People who show the most motivation, right? It's been said that the best sales characteristic is enthusiasm. To be respected within our networks, we at least need to sell ourselves with enthusiasm. Once we've done an effective job of selling ourselves, we'll be able to reap the reward of seeing our contacts sell us to others! That's motivation in and of itself!

4. Trustworthy. When you refer one person to another, you're putting your reputation on the line. You have to be able to trust your referral partner and be trusted in return. Neither you nor anyone else will refer a contact or valuable information to someone who can't be trusted to handle it well.

5. Good listening skills. Our success as networkers depends on how well we can listen and learn. The faster you and your networking partner learn what you need to know about each other, the faster you'll establish a valuable relationship. Communicate well, and listen well.

6. Networks always. Master networkers are never off duty. Networking is so natural to them that they can be found networking in the grocery store line, at the doctor's office and while picking the kids up from school, as well as at the chamber mixers and networking meetings.

7. Thanks people. Gratitude is sorely lacking in today's business world. Expressing gratitude to business associates and clients is just another building block in the cultivation of relationships that will lead to increased referrals. People like to refer others to business professionals that go above and beyond. Thanking others at every opportunity will help you stand out from the crowd.

8. Enjoys helping. Helping others can be done in a variety of ways, from literally showing up to help with an office move to clipping a helpful and interesting article and mailing it to an associate or client. Master networkers keep their eyes and ears open for opportunities to advance other people's interests whenever they can.

9. Sincere. Insincerity is like a cake without frosting! You can offer the help, the thanks, the listening ear, but if you aren't sincerely interested in the other person, they'll know it! Those who have developed successful networking skills convey their sincerity at every turn. One of the best ways to develop this trait is to give the individual with whom you're developing a referral relationship your undivided attention.

10. Works their network. It's not net-sit or net-eat, it's net-work, and master networkers don't let any opportunity to work their networks pass them by. They manage their contacts with contact management software, organize their e-mail address files and carry their referral partners' business cards as well as their own. They set up appointments to get better acquainted with new contacts so that they can learn as much about them as possible so that they can truly become part of each other's networks.

Do you see the trend with these ten points? They all tie in to long-term relationship building, not to stalking the prey for the big kill. People who take the time to build their social capital are the ones who will have new business referred to them over and over. The key is to build mutually beneficial business relationships. Only then will you succeed as a master networker.
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Called the "Father of Modern Networking" by CNN, Ivan Misner, Ph.D., is a New York Times bestselling author. He is the founder and chairman of BNI, the world's largest business networking organization. His latest No. 1 bestseller, The 29% Solution, can be viewed at www.29PercentSolution.com. Dr. Misner is also the Sr. Partner for the Referral Institute, an international referral training company.

International Networking Week 2009

February 2-6th sees the third annual International Networking Week. Sponsored by BNI, the last two years have seen the majority of events in the UK taking place in BNI Chapters.

With concerns of businesses focusing on a year of economic gloom and doom, events like this which promote networking as the way forward provide us with the shot in the arm many of us need.

In this video, Ivan Misner, founder of BNI, talks about how businesses approaching the recession positively can achieve so much more.



"If you want to do well in business, you must understand that it does absolutely no good to complain to people about tough times. While you cannot control the economy or your competition, you can control your response", says Dr. Misner, talking about the role of networking in fighting a recession.

It would be great to see International Networking Week expand to other organisations in the UK and become more widespread. If you have an event, feel free to post it as a comment on this blog.

2008 - Was this the dawn of a new age of networking?

This article was originally published in The National Networker

Has this been the year networking has grown up in the UK? There certainly seem to have been more changes in the last 12 months than any comparable period in the last decade.

Before 2000, very few businesses were aware of networking as a formal way of developing a business. A few Chambers of Commerce ran popular events; meanwhile, Business Network International (BNI) and Business Referral Exchange (BRX) were in their infancy in this country, encouraging people of the virtues of getting out of bed for 7am to do business. Beyond that and a few independent groups, networking had a very low profile.

The landscape has now changed dramatically. Almost every Chamber of Commerce will provide opportunities through breakfast meetings, networking lunches and early evening cocktails. Breakfast meetings come in all shapes and sizes to satisfy different appetites, with a vast array of groups meeting weekly, fortnightly and monthly. You pay your money, you take your choice!

4Networking offer a ‘passport membership’ allowing their members to pick and choose local groups and go to five meetings a week if they choose to. Meanwhile, there is a wide menu of lunch groups and evening networks to go if the other options are not to your taste.

The online revolution has been even more dramatic. While networking groups have been around for years, if not widespread, a decade ago online networks were almost non-existent. Ecademy celebrated its tenth birthday earlier this year, Xing came along even later and in Facebook didn’t see the light of day until just four years ago. Now there are countless social and online business networks, with more and more being created daily thanks to platforms such as Ning, which allow individuals to create their own social network with the minimum of fuss.

So, there are a lot more opportunities to network and a greater range of choice as to how to do so. How has this affected people’s behaviour when they do network?

Mindy Gibbins-Klein, a former Area Director for BNI in East London, believes that the growth of online networks has led to a drop off in the amount of structured face to face networking.

“I have seen many business people think twice about attending "expensive" face-to-face networking meetings lately”, said Mindy. “I've been getting a lot more emails and networking messages from people I've not been in touch with for a long time, which leads me to believe they are spending more time networking at their desks and less time out and about.

“I've also noticed that the networks that seem to be gaining ground are less strict about attendance and giving referrals, more open in terms of allowing people to attend different meetings.”

It has been apparent that a common theme among the recent ‘competitors’ to the weekly breakfast meetings has been the removal of the emphasis on a weekly commitment. Starting with BoBs (Business over Breakfast) Clubs a few years ago, who offered their groups the choice of meeting weekly or fortnightly, more groups have chosen a less frequent meeting pattern. One of the major reasons people have chosen not to join BNI or BRX in the past has been the weekly commitment, but does this change the focus of the network?

“We don’t call ourselves a referral network”, says 4Networking Managing Director Brad Burton. “In fact, we have a relationship with BNI and many of our members belong to both organisations.

“We found that our members don’t want to be tied to a set time and place every week, indeed many simply can’t commit on that scale. So we allow people to network at frequencies to suit them, some will come once or twice a month but many actually go to more than one meeting a week. It just may not always be the same meeting.”

The cost and commitment of the traditional referral networks has put off a number of people who are new to networking, and those who have been members in the past. The new networks offer an alternative and encourage people to network who might not do so otherwise, but it is important that people understand the difference.

The new types of network are far more focused on sales than referrals. Brad Burton calls 4Networking’s approach ‘Appointment Networking’, with members and guests spending ten minutes with each of three different people during the course of a meeting, while The Business Club (fortnightly in the evenings) make a strong pitch on selling to other members and guests at their launch events.

With new networks focusing much more on immediate response, where are the opportunities to build deep relationships? There has been a clear growth in the numbers of leadership and mastermind groups available, with a number of competitors to Vistage and ACE emerging in the CEO group market, and people becoming more aware of Mastermind groups. Formal leadership and mastermind groups are still, on the whole, a more costly option, although their members would argue the value provided is much higher than less focused networks.

With mastermind groups fairly simple for individuals to put together and more networks incorporating Masterminding techniques in their meeting formats, I think that we will see a growth in small groups focused around business challenges in the next couple of years and less focus on the need for large numbers in face to face networking meetings. The focus on strong relationships and trust will, by their very nature, lie at the core of these groups.

In the meantime, more people are turning to online networks to meet new people. Ecademy have seen a 142% increase in traffic on last year and LinkedIn is becoming a recognised business tool across the UK, and not just among small business. The interesting change in behaviour is on Facebook as an increasing number of people are comfortable using the network to promote their business and events rather than simply to communicate with friends.

Business Matters, the leading magazine for small businesses in the UK, have set up their own Facebook group. Editor Richard Alvin believes that the medium allows him to show the ‘personal’ side of the magazine to its readers, as well as increasing their exposure to a wider audience.

Richard explained, “Facebook has a far more friendly 'personal brand' and graphical approach compared to Linked in and even Ecademy. The style of communication is different, with normal language used, rather than ‘business speak’. I feel that this gives us a closer bond with both our readers and other Facebook members. We feel as though we know each other personally, and that makes a huge difference.

The advent of online networks has had other benefits for Business Matters. “We are more online focused now,” he said, “I can network nationally from my office, rather than just London wide.

“As we are a national publication that is essential, and there are obvious cost efficiencies we can take advantage of by networking online. Additionally, building a relationship online first can make a lot of difference when you have a meeting with someone elsewhere in the UK.”

Despite the growth of online networks, relationships still need to take place offline. People are starting to understand this and there have been signs that activity is being increasingly split between virtual connections and real-time relationship building.

Many of the people I have spoken to and network with talk about the vital role 1-2-1s play, even in their online networks. Many online business networks have had meetings as part of their offering for some time. Now, however, those who don’t still find their members arranging their own events, with LinkedIn user groups a good example of this.

Some online networks, such as Angels Den, have recognised the importance of this by focusing even more on offline events. Angels Den found that their results improved when they introduced Speed Funding for members.

Bill Morrow, the owner of Angels Den, said, “Online is groovy for making connections, finding out who walks the walk ... but nothing can surpass meeting face-to-face for serious meetings.”

“Our online community works well at finding investors, but only one deal in over 100 has been done purely online”

With people in the UK joining local networks and global ones such as Perfect Networker and Fast Pitch, Twittering with each other and Poking on Facebook, a saturation point is fast approaching. Most of the connection requests I receive on the multiple networks that come across my computer are from the same people. There has to be a point where you question the purpose of connecting with the same person in a different place. Particularly when that new connection point offers nothing new.

In the meantime, new contacts increasingly come from further and further afield and many seem only interested in either notching another connection on their social networking bedpost or sending a lot of spam once the connection has been made.

We are already seeing signs of people being turned away from social networks by these issues. Many business people don’t want to trade globally and are purely focused on building their profile and their networks locally. As the novelty wears off, I believe the behaviour of many networkers will change and they will focus on networks closer to home.

Some of those will be online, others face to face. Some face to face networks have recognised this and many now offer social networking software as part of their membership package. People recognise the benefits online networks offer them as they look for tools to initiate new relationships and stay in touch with people they have met. They recognise, however, that they don’t provide all of the answers on their own.

There have been a lot of changes in the way people network in the UK over the last twelve months. The profile of networking has grown, more businesses of all sizes recognise its importance and the variety of alternatives on offer is greater than ever before.

Businesses are just starting to make sense of the opportunities available to them and how they fit into their business. 2009 is going to be an interesting year, particularly with a recession in full flow.

Networking is more important than ever before, and it’s just starting to reach maturity.

Business, Networking.....and Sex!

Ivan Misner, the Founder of BNI, together with two associates, Hazel Walker and Frank De Raffele, are currently conducting some research for a book on the difference between men and women when networking.

Ivan says, "Sex is about how your body is put together. Gender is about the role you engage in daily. Male and female brains are hardwired differently. According to some experts, the male tends to be about taking action as related to goals (called instrumental functions by the scholars) and the female for the talking or for nurture that is related to relationships (called agency or interpersonal functions). Studies in 39 different countries highlight these differences.

"Well, we want to see if this is true and how it plays out relating to the way that men and women network."

Please take a few minutes to help Ivan and his colleagues out. So far, 5,000 people who have already answered their survey on this subject.

Take the networking gender survey here.