Beats working?

Gets me out of the house and I work from home?

Closest thing to a social life if you are a one-man band?

Sneaky cooked breakfast instead of the granola yet again?

None of the above?

I’m old enough to remember when networking was endless lunches and trips to the golf course and young enough to never have been in a position of seniority until those days were gone. Sigh! Life is not fair, is it? Most of them now are breakfasts with the majority being with 07.00 starts with a view (frequently not adhered to) of finishing by 09.00 and straight into work. I’m not a fan of early mornings even now, the only things that’s really changed over the years is what I consider early. Uni days and lunchtime was pushing it but 08.00 weekends when we don’t have to get up feels about right so 07.00-07.30 is not exceptionally challenging, which means 06.00 get up is not frighteningly earlier than normal. But – don’t know about you but as the wake ups have got earlier, the bedtimes have not (actually, compared with Uni days, they have – don’t pull many getting home at sunrise days any more!) so, in the main, you just reduce the proportion of your day you spend horizontal in bed. So yes, 06.00 does feel a lot more “challenging” but once the first tea or coffee is ingested the adrenaline kicks in and off the mouth goes without (seemingly) the need for intervention. You’re still not saying WHY you go even now, I hear you cry… Don’t worry, a few minor diversions add to the experience… I’m “lucky” – a business needs to be at the right point in its journey to want my services. It can be a year or even two years from starting to talk to someone to them being in just the “right” place, the sweet spot. It was a right pain until I realised this. You end up racked with doubts and fears about your ability until you understand. You then start wondering whether networking is good for you. I get a lot of introduction from other professionals so networking enables me to keep up friendships with existing introducers and meet potential new ones. Being a business owner also helps. I think in a markedly different way to an employee, let alone a sales person or marketer. Networking events are good places to meet potential suppliers as well as customers for me, which is not the case if you are with a major corporate. Then you’re going along to sell your organisation as I discovered this lunchtime at a do (there are one or two, just not many and no longer boozy). Speaking as an SME, I want the ability to both buy from you and your network as well as sell back. Otherwise it’s a one way street and I’m halving my reasons to talk. I think I’ve already mentioned this but for new readers, my supplier gains from networking have been – life coach, two business coaches, PR, copywriter, bookkeeper, printer ink supplier, window cleaner – all of whom can do their bit much better than I could and leave me time to do what I want to do! All of whom I both like and trust, not sure I could get that from Google or Facebook… And it’s a bit of a social. And the cooked breakfast is nice (unless it’s your third of the week when it starts to get a little hard going). And I meet some very nice people, some of whom will become clients – when it’s the right time – and some of whom will introduce me to THEIR clients because they’ve grow to like and trust me. Networking 101. ]]>