Networking in Surrey News - week beginning 13 December 2010

OK - we're onto the last lap before the Christmas break - and if you're anything like me, it's one of the busiest (and probably least commercially productive) periods of the year! Organising cards (personal and business), and presents (ditto), planning visits and social occasions with family and friends, and trying to keep all the plates spinning on the business front can be exhausting! Add in the traffic (and the snow - brr!) and I'm longing for the green shoots of spring already...

Green shoots in the economic sense would be nice too - but it seems the downturn is still a major concern for most businesses I talk to. Limited budgets mean networking is still one of the few growing marketing activities for most of us, and as Networking in Surrey shows, there's certainly a lot of it about. We've listed over 100 free events this year so far - and lots of one-off 'specials' too in addition to more than 100 each month in the Regular Group Meetings section.

If you've posted an event or a blog on NiS this week you'll have seen the fab new software update that gives you a WYSIWYG editor, making it much easier to insert pictures, and format your text.

TIP: You should still write your basic text in Word or Notepad - it's too easy to go off the webpage and lose your work when you enter copy online (I've lost count of how many times I've done that :0)

Our community continues to grow, with over 300 Members now on NiS and over 400 on Networking in Berkshire- and the two sites had well over 2,000 unique visitors in November, more than 97% of them from the UK. So, it's a warm NiS welcome to all our new Members, including Jason Roberts, Beth Fox, Avril Jones, Nicola McDonnell, Simon Edge, Nicky Fisher, Gary Streets, Andrew Browne, Kevin Bishop, Lian Smallman, Rob Williams, Simon Longman and Stuart Hutchinson.

And of course a big 'thank you' to our Sponsors for helping us keep the sites free for all...

John Udal's Big Billboard - need we say more?!

John Edward's BestMortgage4U - using sophisticated computer software to find the best mortgage for your circumstances

Sarah Martin's Ladies at Eleven - networking for women who are serious about their business

Mike Rutherford's Ignite at Danson Digital- the first system born to run online businesses

Martyn Robinson - the Debt Doctor helping businsees and individuals through the credit squeeze

Simon Longman at Totum Managed Print Solutions

We have just two ad slots left for January! Berkshire is full until February (when the price rises to £75 per month) but we're still charging just £50 here to feature throughout the site and be viewed over 10,000 times a month. Call Keith on 01932 845814 if you'd like to kickstart your business in 2011...

Diary of a Networker...

I'm not making it to quite as many events as usual at tne moment as my partner Angela is on crutches after a foot op, so I'm providing tea and sympathy and running around like a BAF! However I did enjoy the fab Surrey Business Club Christmas Dinner and Quiz Night at The Barn, Newlands Corner last week, with NiS Members Deryck Svensson, Phil Arnett and Derek Williamson, and the Trafford Enterprises Elmbrdge Group dinner yesterday swapping gifts with David Denovan-Smithand Derek Hawkins. I've been 'attending' a couple of teleseminars (webinars) lately too, and fully expect this way of 'meeting' will become more prevalent in the future - watch this space...

Happy Networking!

BRs

K

PS Please remember - if you don't have a photo on your NiS profile, you are missing out on a great opportunity to raise your profile for free... Without it, I can't make you a Featured Member, so you'll never appear on the picture grid on our Home Page for your 15 minutes of fame! Any questions about how to post a pic, please message me.