Business Cards are essential to networking

I cannot get over the amount of times that I have met someone at a networking event or any other type of meeting and they have no business cards.

The story normally is that they are being printed or they've been forgotten, either is a strong signal that this person is nor serious about their business or are just ineffective.

For what they cost a set of business cards are the most important and cost effective part of your marketing.

You may have a sparkling personality and people may remember your face, but they won't be able to remember your name, address, telephone and fax numbers.

Networking is a contact sport!

This week I went to networking meeting in the town where I live and work. It was organised by a group that have taken the bold step of starting a form of chamber of commerce. The group is called the Irthlingborough Business Forum. Whilst a lot of hard work went into getting people to this event and also organising some excellent speakers, a big opportunity was missed. There was no part of the agenda designed to make attendees introduce themselves to the meeting or exchange business cards with other delegates. I left the meeting not knowing 50% of the people who attended. I think that a meeting should give everybody a chance to get to their feet and state their name and very briefly the nature of the their business. BNI gives everyone attending a meeting a chance to give a 'sixty second commercial'. Another good idea is to have a credit card scramble, where everyone has 5 minutes to circulate the room and exchange cards. The after 5 minutes the person with the most cards wins a bottle of wine. These are just two ideas that will ensure that people will get more out of a meeting - remember, networking is a contact sport.

A new leadership team

I attend weekly networking meetings at the Columbia Hotel in Wellingborough, Northants, UK. These are origanised by BNI.

The meeting is chaired and managed by a leadership team of 4 who are changed by rotation every 6 months.

This was the first week of the new team, to whom I wish the best of luck for the coming months.
For me this has been a quiet week with few networking opportunities. Most of my time has been spent at my offices which are being refurbished.

I now want to concentrate on developing this blog to be a useful resource for any BNI member, especially those who undertake the role of eductational co-ordinator.

So keep coming back!