Last Thursday I attended a networking lunch event as a guest - and before I go any further I must say that it was an extremely well organised event with excellent host, lunch and venue. What struck me the most however, was throughout the 3 hours (and more if you wanted and could spare the time!), that there were two types of attendees:

• Those with a purpose
• Those without

Those with a purpose were obvious to spot - they worked the room, they had a clear agenda of the purpose of the event and took every opportunity to generate business wherever possible

Those without a purpose clearly felt uneasy in this environment - regardless of how welcoming the host was. Faced with a room full of people, not knowing anyone, having to enter into pre-formed cliques to introduce yourself…. it is hardly surprising that some felt shell-shocked!

So…. it made me question whether Networking should be seen as a “nicety or necessity” in today’s business world?

Networking should be treated the same way as every tactic within your arsenal of Marketing tools. You need to start with the end in mind…….. What do you want to achieve by attending a particular event? As with all Marketing Objectives the aim needs to be SMART - Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Timely…..

You may not expect results during the first visit - but at least set yourself a date to review what you have achieved by attending an event for say 3 or even 6 months - if you haven’t achieved your objectives, then you should really consider whether this particular networking event is a “nicety or a necessity” for your business.

At all times you must represent your business and portray to others the values of your business.  I really recommend you have a look at (www.walkingtall.org).    Lesley Everett and her book demonstrate how important personal branding is and it is a MUST HAVE read for everyone representing their business in today’s market place.

1. Be prepared before you go to any Networking Event - be ready to deliver a 1 minute elevator pitch which makes you stand-out versus everyone else - it needs to represent your business and what you offer.

2. As with all Marketing Tactics - monitor and review the competition and be prepared to obtain the greatest “Share of Voice”  possible by being better than the competition.

3. If attending a Networking event is not helping you to achieve your original objective - don’t be reluctant to review/revise your message to get results and ultimately be prepared to walk away. Your time is valuable.

Make Networking a “necessity - not a nicety”….

I was recently invited to visit my son’s school to look at his work and was most surprised and delighted to see a lesson on his timetable titled “Plan, Do , Review”……   I asked what this actually entailed – and apparently all the children have to individually plan to do or make something or achieve something during the forthcoming week.    Once they have made a plan, they then have to actually do what they have intended to do.     Once they have actually done it -  they have to talk about it with the teacher and they discuss how it has been done and what they would do differently next time.

I was, as you can imagine, extremely impressed – particularly considering he is still only in Reception Class and he only started school in September!

If only such lessons were on the timetable when we were at school 20 years ago - think of the impact on our lives!

Are you a Planner, a Doer and or a Reviewer?

I expect all of us can tick some of the boxes but how many of can honestly say that in every business situation we actually do all three:
* Yes – most of us actually DO something
* Maybe – some of us actually PLAN and then DO something
* Some of us probably PLAN to do lots of things and DON’T DO anything
* And others, probably DO something and then occasionally REVIEW IT
* How often do you really PLAN, DO and then REVIEW?

It is essential that during these economic times that we PLAN our next moves, IMPLEMENT them in a considered fashion and take time to ASSESS their impact and whether they achieved what we set out to achieve - we need to hold ourselves accountable for all of our decisions.
It struck me that we should all approach our lives through the eyes of a 5 year old and return to basics – if my 5 year old son can adopt such a simplistic approach – then so should we.

1. Planning is a necessity and if you want success you can’t afford to ignore it
2. Reactive and unplanned marketing is opportunistic and haphazard (and costly too!) – take time to prepare a plan which ensures you analyse the competition, review your offering, identify your audience and allocate resources to bring maximum return
3. Continuous review and assessment across all areas of your business are essential – remember every situation is a learning situation even if you learn what NOT to do.