Networking in Surrey News - week beginning 18 April

Oh boy! There’s so much going on out there in Networkland at the moment, I hardly know where to start... Thank goodness we have a raft of Bank Holidays in store, so I’ll have a chance to catch up with myself.

You may have noticed there’s been no edition of NiS News for the past couple of weeks (no cheering at the back, please :0) I’ve just been too darn busy to get it together - soz!  So, I’ll try to make it up to you with this ‘Bumper Bundle’.

Our numbers are still rising, teetering tantalisingly on the brink of 500 Members on NiS (600 over at NiB) – meet the new NiS Members here... We had over 2,200 unique visitors to the two sites during March - that’s 26,000 page views for our switched on advertisers... We’re listing hundreds of local business events every month, including at least a couple of free ones each week – fantastic! **STOP PRESS – whilst I’ve been drafting this, Peter West became our 500th Member – welcome, Peter!!

Who do you know who’s yet to discover the power of ‘Networking in’ sites? Get some good karma by giving them a great business-boosting free gift for Easter just by sharing the link (or use the easy ‘Invite’ facility – the tab next to ‘Home’ in the menus navigation bar). Simples!

I’ve just made a short video - watch it here in the ‘Blogs & Videos’ section = with NiS Member Sean of Usher Media, where we talk about networking trends (guess who does most of the talking :0) TIP: Get yourself a video presence online – it’s this year’s thing (ask Sean)!

Also very much this year’s thing is free networking – witness the rise and rise of Business Biscotti with new groups launching all over the place (seven in Surrey in less than a year - phenomenal!) Woking launched on Thursday, and the new Esher & Cobham Biscotti is looking to hit the ground running by targeting 100 attendees at its May 3 launch, straight after the last of the Bank Holidays (for now!)

New networking organisations are springing up like crazy too (Trizz, anyone?)  You’ll remember I’ve been mentioning Jonathan Jay’s NABO groups project, and the newly launched Cashback Networking concept is coming to Guildford on 10 May.  Keep an eye on our listings for all these, and more.

Time for a quick plug for our lovely advertisers, who help us keep this site free for all (heroes every one!):

Karen Purves PowerHouse Boards- a powerful concept, where business owners work as a board on each others business, and learn Non-executive Director skills

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

Our ad slots for May are nearly all gone already, and some canny Members are block-booking quarterly slots at a discount, and locking in a great price. We’re getting enquiries from non-Members too, but we’ll always give Members first refusal, so please let me know asap if you’d like to promote your business locally at a bargain rate on NiS next month.

Diary of a Networker...

As I say, it’s been a hectic but fun couple of weeks on the networking scene, and since I last caught up with you I’ve been all over the place! Chris’s joint Networking in Berkshire/Click Berkshire event in Wokingham was a great success, and I met Sue Reeves, Biscotti's Founder, and several other new chums.

Not to be outdone, I’ve teamed up with a few pals to organise a joint event here in Surrey. It’s a Friday 13th Netwalk in May, and we’re calling it ‘Be Lucky’ in the spirit of Serendipity (no, I’m not too sure what it actually means either, but luckily my collaborators Tom Evans, Jenny Littlejohn and Penny Power have got it covered :0)

I made it along to the NSBA Open evening in Chertsey, together with NiS Members Steve Bridger (whose new book for business start-ups is just out), Jake Liddell, Adrian Bohanna, and Deepa Veneik, and the next day I was  at the Spectrum in Guildford at lunchtime at a preview session run by Paul Webster and Fiona Humberstone for the upcoming Guildford Means Business Expo.

That same evening I headed south across the border to Horsham for the launch of Becky Patmore’s Cashback Networking, and the following morning it was 4Networking Walton on Thames for Prabha Shiyani’s revealing 4sight presentation, with John Edward, Uzma Afzal and Charlotte Grant.

Last Monday I dropped into the Wentworth Biscotti where I met up with Martin Keates. Jane Hardy, Daphne Diluce, Christine Chalklin, Mark Wallman, Martin Horswood, Tina Williams, Martin Wallman and Ian Jackman, before heading back to Weybridge to 'pow-wow' with Arnie Fabius and David Nunn about (you guessed it) another networking-related new business venture.

Tuesday was Nick Taimitarha’s thebestof Richmond Expo at Twickenham Stadium where I caught up with Tessa Hood, John Udal, and my old sparring partner, keynote speaker Nigel Botterill for a quick chat, before taking in the very well-attended exhibition, and making some great new contacts, one of which has already spawned a new joint-venture opportunity.

On Thursday I made it to the Woking Biscotti with Jo Underhill, Dan Smale (and Tina W and Martin H again) and that evening I was down in Crawley for Stuart Ritchie’s Cashback Networking group launch. On Friday I took a day off from networking out in the real world and got down to some long overdue admin on the site... This evening I’ll be at the Woodlands Park with Trafford Enterprises - and guess what?  Jason Trafford is launching a new networking group format (they’re all at it!!)

Happy networking...