When the going gets tough

There is an old saying "When the going gets tough the tough get going". I think it would probably be more accurate to say "When the going gets tough the tough keep going". If you are already proactive then you will be ready.

I was talking with a couple of NRG-networks members after a networking lunch earlier this week. You will no doubt have heard the words 'credit crunch' bandied around and we were talking about the domestic property market. This week the UK Government scrapped Stamp Duty on some properties to try and stimulate movement amongst first time buyers in particular. One of the members mentioned two similar sized and neighbouring estate agency firms. In the previous month one had sold four properties and the other over 30! Both operate from similar High Street properties. Both have a similar web presence. Both have similar local advertising. What are they doing differently? He had seen activity reports from both.

The one who sold four was pretty much waiting for business to walk in as it obviously did during the boom years. They are sending out property details, but they are not following up. They are busy filing, keeping the desks tidy, having another coffee, making sure the computers and phones are clean. All important, but not likely to produce business without other productive activity.

The other is doing all these and also proactively building relationships with more potential buyers. They are actively networking in local groups. They are keeping in regular contact with their existing network, people on their database, old clients etc. As they receive new instructions they are also sending out details. They are also contacting prospective buyers by phone, email, letter, newsletters, etc. They are actively arranging meetings and trying new activities. They are keeping up and even increasing their productive activity. They have captured nearly all of the local market.

Are you concentrating on keeping busy or on your productive activity especially the following up?

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

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business networking | business networking events | virtual board

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Effective Networking

I found this step by step diagram demonstrating some great tips for attending networking events at the Effective Networking Inc. site:
http://old.xplane.com/explains/effectivenetworking/

What a great idea for explaining stuff.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke
Get 7 networking secrets for business success

Making notes of meetings

I went to a presentation some time ago when the presenter shared a method that he used for taking notes. I've combined his advice for using colours with mind mapping so that I can instantly look at my notes and see what actions I have agreed to take. I find this essential in that all important business networking follow up.

Sine then I make notes with mind maps using a four coloured pen with blue for data, red for action, green if something needs fixing & black if there is real drama present.


If I'm writing on someone's business card I generally use red & blue. It's easy then to identify the actions I have agreed.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

It's who you know!

I am writing this after just collecting my laptop from a friend...

I live about 80 miles West of London and often get the train to attend meetings and events there. Yesterday morning I attended the launch of a new business in Central London. I had a meeting arranged in Reading (Berkshire) at lunchtime so I parked in Reading and got the train to and from London. On the return journey I left my bag on the train.

I called the train company with no luck. I called their lost property company and then the station with the final destination (Bristol). I learned that I wouldn't be able to find out until at least 6 hours later whether the bag had been handed in or not. I called my wife to get the number of a friend of ours who is a train driver with the train company concerned. By coincidence he was on his way to Bristol to start work and got there as my bag was being delivered to the lost property office. Panic over. A couple of weeks ago I helped him with a problem with a new computer and the beers were on him. The beers are definitely on me this time :-)

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Corporate Networking

In this post here >>> Andy Lopata shares some insights into current Networking thinking in Corporates. He interviewed Jeff Schick, the vice president of social computing software for IBM Corporation in New York, who described a software initiative, 'Lotus Connections' based on their own internal systems.

There appear to be 2 strands when referring to Corporates & Networking - internal & external networking.

1. Internal networking
Perhaps the IBM inititative suggests they know that networking is the way it all works anyway so why not make it more efficient. I remember talking to Keith Willett of Sanderson & Neale about some software tools that they use with Corporates. They have a product called networker to establish the real lines of communication and influence within a business. Definitely not the world according to the org chart.

2. External networking
I often get asked why Corporates don't attend networking events. Often the question is asked by someone who wants to sell to larger companies and this reveals some confusion about what networking really is. Networking is not selling and you are not going to get Corporate representatives flocking to somewhere to be sold too. On the other hand Corporates (banks, insurance, telecoms etc) often see the small business networks as places where their customers congregate and send their salespeople (to sell!) or sponsor their own or other events.

My experience is that Corporates do network externally. Mainly with their peers, and in places where they see it as appropriate to engage. An example of this is with Industry specific networks. When I was in the Telecoms Industry I belonged to the UK based Telecommunications Executive Network. Three quarters of that community are CEO/Director/VP.

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

The importance of PR

I saw Marketing Expert Nigel Temple deliver a great session on Internet Marketing last night. He gave some highly practical advice including the growing importance of blogging. See Nigel's blog here >>>.

We spoke beforehand when Nigel shared some advice on PR in building your brand. Coincidentally we had a piece in the local paper, the Swindon Advertiser today. See this link:
Networking lunch club is spreading net far and wide

Good Networking!
Dave Clarke

Does technology rule you...

...or do you use it to support your business development activities? This is a great cartoon:

Go BIG for comic relief

How To Educate a Community

Great quote from Frank Kanu's blog from an African proverb:

"When you educate a boy,
you educate an individual,
but when you educate a girl,
you educate a community."

Let's all learn from the girls.

Big opportunities for audio & video professionals

How many audio & video professionals do you currently have in your business networking groups? NRG Business Networks member Chris Bose reports in his blog that Google is testing radio advertising which will be available at a fraction of normal radio advertising costs. Read more here >>>>.

How to profit from the internet

A friend of mine, Graham Jones, has some great information and advice on how to make money on the internet at his blog, www.grahamjones.co.uk.
Why not take a look.

How to promote rapport with prospects

Why should anyone pay attention to what you have to say? Just because you write a press release, an advert or create a brochure, it doesn't necessarily follow that anyone will want to read it. So how do you hook your reader? The answer is surprisingly simple!

Ask questions! Questions, by their very nature, involve people. A good rhetorical question immediately involves the reader. By asking the reader to consider a short, punchy sentence and its relevance to them, you immediately focus their interest on what you have to say.

What to do

Keep it simple. For an example of how to get it wrong, just look at the following question:

'How can you keep up with the latest development trends - games development, leveraging XYZ controls, extending existing applications to the Intranet and Internet - when it all changes so quickly?'

It's far too long and convoluted and probably lost your attention. Don't make your readers work harder than they have to.

A progressive series of shorter questions framed in simpler language is more likely to catch their interest. Thus 'How can you keep up with the latest developments?' 'Do you understand computer jargon?' 'Would your business benefit from a website?

Using questions not only demands a reader response. In transforming a command into a question, you transform aggressive antagonism into a rapport-building exercise. For example: 'This is you!' becomes 'Is this you?' The tone is far less aggressive, and consequently is more likely to win the reader over.

Vary your style. As well as asking questions, use bold statements in your copy. If you've got the balance right, this will stop a single technique becoming overused and losing its effect. A bold statement such as 'Your company is headed for ecological disaster!' can be as attention-grabbing as a question, if not more so, particularly when it is not just one statement among many others.

Having raised the key issue in the headline, or shortly after, don't then stray from what initially involved the reader. Keep on relating the rest of the copy to the question. Otherwise the reader will quickly lose interest.

Pitfalls to avoid

Although questions involve the reader, you want to be sure of their response. Avoid posing questions where their answer is in doubt. If people respond the wrong way, you've lost them. In this case you might want to use a statement.

Thus instead of asking, 'Can you rely on your computer back-up systems?', you might say, 'When your computer lets you down, your customers go elsewhere!' which grabs the attention in a different way.

Don't ask questions that seem unanswerable. Just as they should be short, they should be reasonably specific. For example: 'What's the real story on the Internet?' is a non-question. It's too general and, as such, has little meaning. Instead, a question focusing on one aspect of the Internet would be more personal and relevant - for instance: 'How can the Internet benefit your business?' The more specific the question, the more powerful it is.

Beware of boring your reader. Questions don't have to be brutally terse but they must intrigue the reader. A dull question will provoke the response 'Don't know, don't care!'

Strengthen your questions

A good question can hook a reader. But some questions fail to throw down the gauntlet. For example, 'Is your mail delivered?' looks good enough on the face of it. You, however, would probably have asked, 'How much of your mail is delivered?'

The former invites a yes/no response. The latter triggers worry... about disgruntled customers... payments being delayed... customers switching to your rivals...

That emotional response will help you carry the reader forward and will help make them more receptive to the rest of your message.


This article was first published in Synergy, the free email newsletter from NRG.

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Dave Clarke