Networking in Surrey News – week beginning 30 May 2011

‘For sale – Networking in Surrey/Berkshire/Bucks. Offers in excess of $100,000’ 

OK, so the NetworkingIn sites are not really on the market – but if LinkedIn is worth $9bn with 100m Members, and our three sites now total well over 1200 Members, we might just be tempted should Google come knocking with a hundred grand to spend!

Back to reality... Newly-wed Chris (congrats, mate!) and myself will have to soldier on with the day jobs for a little while longer. I was even working on Bank Holiday Monday at 8am, interviewing a client in South Africa for a newsletter article before he swanned off to the beach in Durban, and I got on with the gardening here in windy Weybridge! It’s going to get windier this evening as Arnie Fabius and I are co-presenting at Weybridge Ecademy on the role of online and offline networking in the marketing mix, and what’s available in Surrey... come on down and join in the fun.

There are scores of networking events on the site as usual, including freebies like First Friday in Guildford and Croydon and Business Intros Cashback in Guildford. There are still more new groups launching, including Mark Wallman’s Young Professional Networking, the Surrey Mums in Addlestone, and Laurence Lowne’s NABO Networking in Croydon. NABO now have 39 new groups lined up for launch, mostly in the southeast, as predicted in previous editions of NiS News. Dan Smale is launching 4Networking in Richmond next week – and here’s a big NiS tip for anybody thinking of joining. First-time visitors are always offered 6 months 4N Passport membership at a bargain price – but that price is often halved, saving £100, at launch meetings (which sell out really fast – wonder why? :0)

You’ll find the usual varied mix of events from all the Regular Groups – over sixty events a week – and some unusual events too, like the Business @ Brooklands bash, and First Friday Badminton at Lightwater. Remember, you can raise your online and offline profile on the site by posting blogs (take a leaf out of Mark Wiliiams’ book!) and post Offers & Freebies (like Marcia Jobling’s free networking room hire offer).  Get noticed!

Talking of which, we’re introducing another ad slot on the site, taking us to seven in all – and it goes on last-minute sale today for June, featuring on all pages of the site with over 10,000 page views by over 1,000 unique visitors each month. The regular price is £60 per month - but we’re offering the new slot for just £45 (first come, first served as always, and the price includes artwork, a link to your site, and mentions in our regular emails). If you’d like to grab it, please don’t try to reply to this ‘no-reply’ news email – call me on 01932 845814, or message me on the site now....

On which note, here are our current ‘savvy advertisers’:

Howard Nichols Surrey Copywriters - words that sell for you websites, brochures, sales leters, newsletters

Jane Hardy One Stop Financial Security - helping individuals and businesses with their money worries

Sean Usher Usher Media - producing great value professional videos as a marketing and a promotional tool for business owners 

Tessa Hood  My Video Talk - helping businesses of all sizes to use video online to enhance their brand

Becky Patmore - Cashback Networking: a new networking format where you get paid for referrals 

Sarah Martin Ladies At Eleven - networking for women who are serious about their business

Diary of a Networker...

As I said in the latest NiS Bulletin, I very much enjoyed the Pimm’s, champagne and yummy canapés at Elaine Hickmott’s free Business Bedfellows event, and the buzz at the Guildford Means Business Expo, where I met dozens of NiS Members. The latter event prompted interesting discussions on the Linked In Surrey Networkers group involving Nick Taimitarha and Marian de Kretser, to which I added my thoughts about exhibitions and how they work (also posted in a blog here on NiS). Last Monday I attended Mike Loughton’s very successful Entrepreneur’s Circle launch meeting along with Ian Jackman, and afterwards relaxed over a game of pool at the Extreme Networking evening in Sutton. I ran the Business Intro session in Guildford last Tuesday, with Richard Golding attending.

This week looks less hectic, although I’m triple-booked on Thursday evening, torn between Horsham Business Intros, the Richmond Chamber Summer Party and the book launch for Steve Bridger’s ‘Success Before Start-up’. As I’m one of the example entrepreneurs featured, I think the latter may win out – but I still need to get back to Weybridge in time for Angela’s David Lloyd Quiz Night, or I’ll lose serious brownie points for ‘excessive networking’ (moi?) On which score, as my sister-in-law helpfully pointed out at the weekend, it’s not nagging – it’s ‘repetitive reinforcement’...
Happy networking!