Business Networking Strategy

This was the question just asked at the end of a BBC London news report into a new marketing initiative in the Capital City. London taxi drivers, famed for their ability to chat throughout your journey on any subject under the sun, are now talking about the sun. Around 60 Black Cab drivers are being flown out on all-expense paid holidays and then asked to come back and wax lyrical about the destinations to their captive audience. Others are being briefed on the companies behind the adverts carried outside their cabs so that they can promote their products.

I recently met a very interesting woman, Servane Mouazan, who describes herself as a social entrepreneur and social innovation coach. Servane has a theory about networking which she calls 'The 51-51 Equation'. Servane describes this as a way to measure and value your connections and your networking standards. Relationships which follow Servane's equation should result in benefits for both parties.

I have been tagged by Jason Jacobsohn, US blogger of 'Networking Insight' to tell readers of this blog eight random things about myself. Now here's your chance to find out more about me. 1 - A keen child actor, I auditioned for the Royal Shakespeare Company when I was at school. 2 - I am a big fan of Charlton Athletic but can't let my support rest at just going to games.

When someone asks me what I do at a networking event, I always respond "I network", "I'm a networker" or something similar. I do this because I want to intrigue people and get them to ask me what I mean, and listen to the answer. After all, when someone asks you what you do in that situation, it is no more than the networking equivalent of "Do you come here often?"!

We're constantly told how important personal connections are when taking the next step on the career ladder. It is said that 70% of all vacancies are filled by personal recommendations and connections. Last month I had the pleasure of meeting with Lori Friedman. Lori is the former COO of AOL UK. Lori's story underlines the importance of personal connections. Back in 2000, Lori was looking for her next career move. She saw the post of COO of AOL UK advertised and felt that it would be the ideal next step for her.

Networking can sometimes bring unexpected bonuses. A few weeks ago I was at the London meeting of the Professional Speakers Association, when I met Tony Westwood. Tony is a golfing coach who has developed a very different approach to teaching his students. Whereas most golf pros will focus on a golfer's stance, grip and swing, Tony, an NLP (Neuro Linguistic Programming) practitioner, gets his wards to focus on the ball, where they want it to go and where they need to hit it to get that result. Today I had a very good 'meeting' with Tony.

Many thanks to Alan Stevens, the Media Coach, for highlighting this in his excellent newsletter. Life After Death by PowerPoint

After seven and a half years at Business Referral Exchange, a new chapter opens... Earlier this week, Harvey Lopata and I sold our shares in BRE and resigned as directors of the company. We are very excited about our future plans, which we will let everyone know about at a later date. I also plan to further develop a networking speaking, training and consultancy business. Watch this space for more news....

It's been a busy start to the year and as a result I've been neglecting my blog, for which I apologise. I will be looking to remedy that over the coming months and sharing with you a range of thoughts, tips and articles to help you network. To start off with, I have just written the following tips for a marketing forum and would like to share it with you. It reiterates some points I've made in the past... but it never hurts to re-emphasise how important it is to have a strategic approach to your networking.

I'm always encouraging people to take every appropriate opportunity to ask for what they want. After all, if you don't share your needs with people who can help, how will they know how to?