Do any of the following sound familiar?

1. Do you seize up when entering a room full of strangers?
2. When people ask what you do, do you find it difficult to offer a coherent answer?
3. Do you struggle when comes to articulating who your target clients are?
4. Are your colleagues struggling to generate referrals for you?

Don’t worry if you said yes to any of the above, you are no different from most people. Networking is not a skill you simply pick up, it’s something you need to learn.

On 31st August, I participated in a radio discussion on WhosTheBossFM on what’s the most effective way to network when you are trying to market yourself to other businesses. Surely by actively talking to new contacts on Twitter and LinkedIn groups you can save yourself the tedious effort and time spent attending face-to-face networking meetings?

In fact, to be a successful networker, you need to combine both. And if you’re starting out with a new business, you really need to start with face-to-face first.

Do you go to networking meetings but find it all a waste of time?

1. Are the meetings full of people trying to sell you stuff?
2. Are the people in the room in the wrong business for you?
3. Unsure what to say when people ask what you do?
4. Do you find that nothing comes out of any of the people you meet?

Before you give up on it all, here are a few things you should know….

1. Networking doesn’t have to mean "networking events". At its most basic level it can simply be a group of like-minded people getting together to discuss the day-to-day issues of running a business. For example, it can be an informal group of like minded friends. You don’t have to write a big cheque for a years membership.
2. The real networking happens outside of networking events. If you meet someone you’d like to connect with, swap business cards and be sure to set a date to meet up for a coffee. And be patient! If you’ve only met once before, it may take several months till business follows. Make sure you follow up!
3. There are networking meetings specific to every industry and every size of business. Ask yourself whether you are meeting with the right kind of people. If you’re a management consultant to large businesses, a group comprising of builders, plumbers and other tradesmen may not be right for you. 
4. Networking should online as well as offline. You could be continuing your conversation with the people you meet on Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.
5. To become a successful networker is a skill in itself. Sign up to a networking skills course (something we offer), where you can learn how to identify the right networking events, the right people to talk to, and how best to converse with people you’ve never met before.

I’ve just thrown yet another letter inviting me to a networking meeting in the bin. 

Not a week goes by where I don’t get a phone call, an email or a client inviting me to join a networking group.

Several of the groups that have sent an invite assure me that I will be the group’s sole "social media consultant" thereby "locking out" my competitors. But here’s the thing, I don’t want to lock out my competitors, I want to work with them!

Take my industry for example.  You can be a social media consultant, but you may specialise in either consumer or B2B, you may do training but not implementation, you may deal with small large businesses or you may be focused on the third sector, your expertise may focus on LinkedIn or it might be on business blogs.