Practical Networking
Advice From The Experts

The advice here has been taken from an event which took place on October 29th 2002 at The New Media Centre, London.

The Panel was made up of:
- Carole Stone, journalist, and author of 'Networking - the art of making friends'
- Thomas Power, Chairman of Ecademy
- Judith Perle, networking trainer, Management Advantage

Chair: Kathryn Bullock, e-womenforum and Customer Solutions
Toby Stone – founder of Wave 2

Carole Stone
Bringing people together is her business, friendships make people happy. You never know what will happen when you put people together. Things to remember when at networking events:

-Grab all opportunities
-Give yourself an hour – never leave until you have 2 new business cards
-If you go with a friend, separate or you will stand talking
-Get the host to introduce you to people
-Don’t try and tell people about your idea there and then, say “I have a great idea, that I want to share with you, can I ring you” (get business card)
-PA’s are gatekeepers so get their names and get them on-side
-Get an attendees list

In today’s world, it is the company we keep that defines us – not our social class. We choose friends because they have different “personal bests”. Life is all about referrals, and delivering on your promises. Make rough notes straight after the event and then write them up as soon as you can.

Get a good database.

Write on the back of business cards what you agreed to do, talk about etc.

Judith Perle
Through her work she has met many people who perceive networking as manipulative. This is a big barrier to many in terms of being able to “network” effectively. This she counters with the notion of reciprocity, give and you shall receive. It is not exclusive, but inclusive and positive. She feels that networking does not come naturally to the English.

Uses the analogy of hunters and gatherers:
Hunters are looking specifically for jobs and clients, whereas gatherers are searching, looking for food, open to what they might find. They are more sensitive to their environment.

Networking is powerful because opportunities arise through meetings. Referrals are a powerful business tool, with tangible outcomes.

Weak ties are powerful. Therefore we need access to different people. Friends have similar jobs, backgrounds therefore the same ideas. Often they don’t offer anything new. The power of networking is openness to what you will get out of it

For more information go to http://www.manadvan.com

Thomas Power
Set up Ecademy in 1998 when Amazon wouldn’t tell him who was buying his books. They now have over 13,500 members around the world. They hold meetings across the globe, there is one held in London every month. About 200 people usually attend. Wanted to build a place where people could go to read about his books. Also published his books digitally on Xerox’s Docutech system in 1998.

What do people want out of networking?

1) Knowledge
2) Contacts
3) Transactions / deals

1 and 2 are open, whereas 3 is closed.

You have to come to a networking event with any of these three, knowledge, contacts or just money. Your face is your brand – make the most of it.

He sets himself strict networking targets:

Meet 20 people every week
Reads a book every week
Visits 10 new websites a week
Make details notes
Keep a good database

The Ecademy software and database is based on the premise that you can know anyone, in one minute, and 50 words. That person has to give you those 50 words. We all need to start by recognising that we all have a network, whether we believe it or not. He believes, like Carole, that it is the circles he mixes in which defines his class. I have an international network, every city in the world has an ecademy member in it. His mantra is the more knowledge you give, the more you get back

Many people ask, where is the money? For Thomas the money is in the links not the nodes.

“The winner of the game is the one with all the names”

“The strength is often in the weak ties in your network”

For more information go to http://www.ecademy.com