Author: Steve Bicknell

Business Networking could be your key to success and it can be fun too.

But many business owners find it scary, especially in the beginning, it just doesn’t feel natural to walk into a room full of strangers and then randomly choose someone to talk to and give them your elevator pitch.

Personally I think that’s the wrong approach, no one likes being sold to, the right approach is to ask people about their business, everyone feels much happier talking about themselves.

So with that in mind, here are my 10 Golden Rules for networking:

1. Choose the right events – There are so many events in Bournemouth that you could fill your week with them, so be selective, which events are you most likely to meet people that you can collaborate with or do business with
2. Attend regularly – People do business with people they know, like and trust, if you don’t attend regularly how can people get to know, like and trust you?
3. Mingle – It’s no good just talking to people you already know, go and talk to people you don’t know
4. Bring Business Cards – Business Cards are very important but don’t get carried away, it’s not a challenge to see how many you can give out, relax and give them to people that want them
5. Switch Off Your Phone – Treat networking as if it were a business meeting and give your full attention to the person you are speaking to
6. Don’t Be Late – It’s actually a good idea to be early so that you can network before the event starts
7. Be Nice – Even if you end up talking to someone that can’t add any value to your business, always be nice and be interested, people remember how you make them feel far more than they remember what you actually said, you never who people know and being nice costs nothing
8. Follow up – If you meet someone you can do business with, follow up with them after the event, link up on Social Media
9. Refer Business – Try to help people by using your contacts to help them and refer work between business contacts that your trust
10. Be Yourself – Don’t put on an act it’s much better to be yourself, relax and enjoy the event

At our BH Banter evening networking events we are introducing the 10 second pitch.

I know that many groups have longer pitches but equally we know that some people find it hard to know what to say and it can be a source of worry and make people feel anxious, we want our members and guests to feel relaxed.

The purpose of networking is to generate business and grow your network, so what can you say in 10 seconds?

1. Tell the group who you are – for example – Hi, I am Steve and my company is Bicknell Business Advisers
2. What do you do, sell or promote? for example you might say something like… we help businesses to reduce costs, increase profit and minimise tax
3. Why did you come to BH Banter? for example you could say – to learn new skills, make new connections, solve or get support with a business issue – try to be specific – I am looking for ways to grow my social media or I want to find better ways to market my business

The purpose of the pitch is that once the presentations are over and open networking starts you can quickly identity who you want to speak to.

The key to networking is to:

• Attend regularly – so that you can build relationships
• Help others – what goes around comes around
• Keep your promises and do a good job
• Build trust