Networking in Surrey News – week beginning 21 May 2012

Phew! Now it’s too darn hot to work (any old excuse will do...:0) But work we must, alas, and networking is an increasingly important part of that for any business person today.

People often ask me ‘What’s the best business network, Keith? You go to so many networking events, you must know...’

The short answer is: (drum roll) ‘Your own personal network, of course.’ With so many events to choose from (more than a hundred every month listed on Networking in Surrey) you can easily meet dozens of local business people every week if you want to. But the key to making a success of your networking is to manage the connections you make for maximum effect. Business cards are NOT new business!

With that in mind, I’m running a series of low-cost workshops (free to NiS+ Members) to help every networker become more effective, and get a better return on the investment of time and money involved. One of the key aims of most networkers is to get more customers – and I’m running workshops on that subject too.

My first ‘Get More Customers’ workshop is scheduled for next Thursday afternoon at 4.30pm in Cobham, and the first ‘Networking Skills Masterclass’ will be on Tuesday 6 June at 2pm – so you can hit the ground running after the Jubilee Weekend!

Of course, a great new way to network more effectively is to upgrade to our Networker plus! Membership (NiS+). This inner circle group gets you personal mentoring from me to help with your networking, and a whole raft of networking-related benefits, including free workshops and regular board meetings – again, making sure you get maximum ROI on the time and money you spend on networking. It’s currently on offer (until the end of May – that’s next week!) for under £10 a month (less than the cost of a single networking breakfast!) and will never be sold at a lower price than this. Don’t miss out... get it here now!

Diary of a Networker...

Since my last newsmail, at the beginning of the month, I’ve been 'out and about in Networkland' as usual . The Guildford Means Business Expo was like a Networking in Surrey party, with so many NiS Members attending and exhibiting that it would be impossible to list you all! I enjoyed meeting the impressive Vanessa Lanham-Day and helping her to run the lunchtime speed networking session with my stopwatch, big hooter and whistle – never happier than when blowing my own klaxon!

I presented a 4Sight at 4Networking Kingston on ‘Networking Skills’ (a condensed 'sampler' version of my workshops) and met several NiS Members at the Surrey Chambers Meet the Team evening at the Holiday Inn Guildford. A ‘delish’ Chinese meal with Surrey Business Club in Dorking, and the delightful Commercial Connections evening at Gorse Hill Woking, completed the programme!