How To Network Effectively

Sitting in a prospect reception earlier I thumbed through a broadsheet business section.  It’s always struck me as strange that the “Qualities” do not leverage their journalism more.  Articles in these sections are pretty much one of three types:  fresh company news, economic comment/analysis, or general business-life advice.

It is this third category they could do more with.  Y’know the thing?  An interview with a famous industrialist, a ‘how-to’ guide on a business topic, taking advantage of a trend, the list goes on.  They all lend themselves sweetly to being both educational and entertaining, so why not bunch them all together once a month and put out a magazine based on them.  Perfect – they’d make a right few quid, and the Observer’s done it with their Sunday Monthlies successfully for ages now…..

Anyhow, two such pieces by/about successful female networkers caught my mind.  The first was on how to network effectively.  Among the many friendly kicks up the backside provided is that “you should never sit next to anyone you know at a networking event”.  The second toolkit, came from Carole Stone, famous for having 17,000 friends.  This included how to ensure contacts became re-contact-able, which is interesting as how many people do you meet, yet never really pave the way for bumping into and gaining mutual benefit from again?  I for one am pretty useless at keeping in touch and have certainly found it hard to keep track of who’s bought from me in the past, let alone those that didn’t!