Dont go to networking events, if you want to build a great network

The two weeks or so ago I took part in a panel session on Networking for CIOs. It was an interesting conversation although it pretty much centred around event attendance and using social networking tools like LinkedIn. At the end of the session, as I reflected on what  had come out of it, [...]

Alternate Resume

I have this idea I like to play with which I call the “Alternative Resume”.
Everyone we meet in business has a resume. Its normally a very dry, 3-6 page document that lists your contact details and all your achievements, in chronological order. Every item on it has been phrased to make you [...]

6 tips for “un-networking”

Imagine this scenario….

You go to a networking event, hovering at the edges of the crowd , desperately searching for someone you know, so you can chat and relax.
Succumbing to the pressure to “network” you give up and introduce yourself to a nearby stranger, who is also standing by themselves.
To your disappointment your realise that they [...]

Networking Up

Yesterday I had a cuppa with a good friend of mine where she chatted about some issues at her workplace. She works for a not-for-profit with national reach and a couple of thousand employees. Although the discussion covered a variety of topics, an issue she mentioned was  the all to common problem of  [...]

Networking and Manners

Last week I met with a woman who facilitates cultural change within large enterprises.  The discussion was around business development for sole practitioners, plus a small Joomla based website that we were deploying for her to manage some communications issues.  She had realised that her client base was starting to thin out a little whilst [...]

Networking and Names

When I gave up the darts after 15 or so years as a smoker, it was really hard for me. I tried a whole lot of systems but they all failed. Then it occurred to me that the only thing the systems had in common were that they were systems, and hence I had something [...]

Expanding your Network

Last blog I talked about the best Business Development people I know being great networkers, so I thought I’d talk a bit more this week about expanding your network.
Despite Social Networking being all the rage :  LinkedIn, Twitter,  Facebook.  I am not very keen on connecting to people I haven’t met.  There is a concept [...]

Networking Numbers

I was thinking the other day about two guys I knew that were really good at generating new business.  Earlier in the day I had dismissed both of them with the comment – “they are only selling into their existing networks”.  but at my afternoon coffee, I wondered whether I had thrown the “baby out [...]