Networking TIP: Badgers Unite!

Just posting a reply to a Discussion in the Business Scene LinkedIn Group and thought I'd share it here too...

It's often advised that as we shake hands with the right hand, we should wear our networking name badges on the right lapel rather than in the traditional 'buttonhole' position of the left lapel.

Guys can wear a tie so we have the option of having our badge smack dab in the middle in case we meet any former Boy Scouts (kind of an in joke - they are left-hand shakers!) Please don't pin through that silk tie though (see the magnet trick below).

A VERY IMPORTANT TIP for me is to be 'own label' - always, always, always carry your own badge with you.

Most people probably won't remember your name. You told them, and it's on the card you gave them, but they are embarrassed because they forgot it and they don't want to admit it by retrieving and peering at your card. If you're the forgetful one being embarrassed, retrieve the card anyway, peer at it, then exclaim "Ah, I see you're a chartered accountant / are based in Sidcup then, Nigel..." (crisis averted).

Now, I've lost count of the number of networking events where the organisers simply do not supply badges (including, understandably, most of the free events), so I'm often one of fewer than 10% of those present wearing my own badge (distinct advantage, as people think you must be really popular, because everybody seems to know your name - funny, that :0)

Re-use a badge from another networking group (thus making a subtle point to the non-badger organiser) especially if it's one of those smart magnetic ones - or take a badge holder you've been given at a previous event and make an insert badge for yourself. TIP: put a magnetic badge in the back of the plastic pin-on badge holder, discard the pin, and you have a big magnetic badge (with interchangeable inserts in case, like me, you have more than one business hat).

Here's my NiS badge - note the LARGE easy-to-read First Name, the mugshot subliminally tying face to name, unusual Title (Business Connector? What's that then Keith?) rather than 'CEO' or 'Managing Director'... at best dull,dull, dull, and at worst a bit ridiculous (so Chief Executive Officer of your one-person company are we, Billy No-Mates?), business name and descriptive strapline, logo and email. All round, a bit more interesting and conversation-provoking than your average name badge, I'd suggest....

Common badge bugbears:
1.The organiser doesn't provide badges OR hasn't got you on the list OR has your name spelt wrongly OR gets your company name wrong.
2. They ask you to put a business card into a badge holder, but of course you have one of those conventional business cards where your name is so small that only people under 18 or birds of prey can read it at more than two feet away (cue some potentially gender-dependent embarrassing peering at the chestal area).
3. They use a sticky label and a marker pen - takes the surface off your smart leather jacket and can lead to ink smears - and they curl up and fall off anyway - best avoided ("No thanks, I'm own-label").

Of course, if the organiser provides a badge, I graciously accept it and thank them, and then wear both badges. This can be a good icebreaker - "How come you get two badges?" Answer : " Like New York, I'm so good they named me twice" or the old favourite "I always go own label, Dahling" (citing the reasons above) and you've shared a useful networking tip with them (brownie points).

Oh dear - I'm in danger of becoming a 'badge-bore'... really must get out more! Or should that be less?