A few people have asked me what the motivation was behind me writing my recent E Book: Networking Bible: How to Network Authentically and Well.
I have been networking for over ten years for my previous businesses, a magazine company and a massage therapy business and I tried a large number of groups from the relaxed meet for a coffee, turn up if you fancy it that day to the much more structured formal and more referral based groups, and everything in between!
Whilst I could see the numerous benefits of networking I didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the networking that I attended. I found the groups I joined too formal, too restrictive, not supportive enough and the format often didn’t feel right. Time was often wasted on a sit down lunch. I felt that there was a certain bossiness to many of the groups and much of the content was quite condescending. The groups that were structured tended to be fairly formal and those without enough structure didn’t work that well at all.
I launched my first Pop Connect group in 2015 and haven’t looked back. The community is very strong and incredibly supportive. The meetings are lively, open and friendly. We don’t push members to give referrals, these come naturally once they have got to know each other. We believe in building relationships, getting to know and understand each other’s businesses so that referrals are authentic and natural. We suggest that members might want to have 121s together, to understand each other’s businesses and how to help each other.
In view of this and with ScreenPop (our online networking company) also thriving, I was inspired to write an inexpensive e-book to make sure everyone who is out there networking is doing it as well and authentically as they can.
I believe that the brand of networking that I run, the relaxed, very friendly and welcoming, but structured and productive variety, with a strong sense of community and support, is the way to go. I wanted to write something to help others, and to explain why I think this works better for our members than other types of networking might and by that I mean the very strict rigid types or the non-membership, turn up when you like types.
But it’s more than this. I have heard people saying networking doesn’t work and for almost all business types I know it does work. It works really well but you have to do it right. I wanted to help people who might not be making full use of the time and money they are investing.
I believe that my e-book will be incredibly useful for new networkers (I would have gained so much from reading this when I started) but also for people who have networked for a long time. It’s a reminder of everything you can do to get the most out of networking and may make you re-evaluate any bad habits you may have got into. It’s priced quite low to be available to everyone. Whichever network you are in I think you will benefit, it isn’t just for Pop Connect or ScreenPop members. But you are always welcome to visit, we would love to meet you!
