Gary Blonder (pictured above), the chair at our Bradford Group’s breakfast networking meetings, shares with us his top seven principles of effective business networking.

Many professionals have a difficult time meeting people and building relationships because they don’t know the basics of networking. These are:

1) Set Goals

Who do I want to meet? Why do I want to meet these people? Where will I meet these people?

2) Carry Business Cards at All Times

Your cards should always be to hand everywhere.

3) Take Good Notes on Business Cards

When you meet people, it’s important to remember what has been said. Take notes on the back of their business cards to remember your conversation when you follow up.

4) Be Genuine

Always listen , giving eye contact, asking questions and not interrupting. Build trust and a good relationship, and don’t actively sell.

5) Offer to Help Others

Offering to help others before you ask for help is a networking must. Offer to share resources, make introductions, gather data and perform consulting. By extending yourself to others, you will build a reputation as a giver rather than a taker.

6) Follow Up

Without follow up, you won’t be able to build relationships and your network. Follow up with people the next day so you’re still fresh in their minds.

If you offer to help someone – no matter how big or small – you need to follow up. Otherwise you won’t be taken seriously and your networking efforts won’t be very effective.

7) Build Relationships

You need to continue to build your relationship with people, otherwise your network won’t be very valuable and attentive to your needs. By reaching out to them, you will come across as genuine and someone who values your relationships.

Final Thought

By incorporating some or all of the above networking principles, you will be more prepared for events and a truly effective networker! Enjoy yourself and don’t forget that networking is a continual process with each person you meet.

Put Them Into Practice

Having read Gary’s priciples, if you’d like to share your own, please contribute with a comment below and if you’d like to put these priciples into practice at one of Gary’s meetings, give him a call on 07837 970745 or drop him an email on bradford@joinpronet.com

More details about proNet’s Bradford meetings including forthcoming meeting dates and directions to the venue, may be found on the Group’s profile page.

One or two members, keen to develop our groups, have asked me about which categories of business providers are we looking for at each group?

proNet limits membership to just one business type or ‘category’ for any particular group.

This idea isn’t a new idea in the world of business networking groups we do admit, but it’s a popular concept that our members wanted to adopted as it allows a representative from a particular business sector to network at our meetings without having to worry about their competitors’ stealing their thunder.

One Category, One Group

So for example, the IFA at our Spen Valley meetings has exclusivity of his business type within the group. No other IFA is allowed to join that group. This gives him a competitive advantage over his competitors, particularly when the building blocks of trust and familiarity associated with business networking groups like proNet’s, are thrown into the mix.

It works well in small networking groups.

Category List

The category vacancies at any one of proNet’s groups varies from time to time as members come and go, however for now, you may download a list of available categories that are vacant at both our Spen Valley and Bradford groups by clicking this link [PDF document that opens in a new browser window]

Who Do You Know?

Do you know anyone in these categories? There’s a place waiting for them at our next business networking meeting.

Did you know that Google offers a free local business listing service which works a bit like a business directory but is linked to their maps feature?

Here’s How It Works

In Google, try a search for “networking groups in west yorkshire“.

Up comes a list of search results that point you through to what Google perceives to be, relevant web pages to that search term.

At the top of these listings is proNet’s entry on the Local Business Center. You can see it’s associated with a map to our address in Bradford.

Try it with another keyword search, say “florists in Leeds”; to understand further how Google Local Listings work. Get your business placed on a Google Map is easy, all you need to do is sign-up for a free Google Account and then once you’ve done that, sign-in at their Local Business Center page and follow the process to create your own free business listing.

As an example, here’s a link to proNet’s Local Business Center listing.

This is Where You Come In

Here’s where you can help us.

On our listings page, if you scroll down the page, near the bottom you’ll see a number of reviews. Help us give credibility to this listing by offering a positive review of our meetings for all the world to see on the page.

You do this by simply clicking the “Write a review” link on the right hand side of the page column. You’ll be prompted to login with your Google account details, but otherwise it’s that easy and quick.

Many thanks in advance.

The Knowledge Transfer Presentation is a 20 min slot within the agenda of proNet’s regular breakfast networking meetings where our members and guest presenters, have the opportunity to demonstrate their skills or knowledge about a
particularly subject to other business owners.

In doing so the presenters credibility in their field of business will be enhanced
amongst the audience which in turn; puts them in a stronger position in the
minds’ of that audience should they have a future need for their services.

All members of proNet have the opportunity to present in the Knowledge Transfer Slot and we welcome guest presenters.

If you would like to present at one of our meetings, first take a look at our guidance document above and then drop us an email at membership@joinpronet.com