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Why Networking Is Not Working For You

Most businesses at some time have dabbled with networking but how is it possible that some businesses love it and think it is the key to growing and sustaining their business. When others find it a waste of their time, a drain on their resources and worse still dipping into their profits!

If you’re not getting the results you want, here’s our guide to getting it right and why you could be getting it wrong…

First of all you need to know why you are networking. If your plan was to run in a room and run out again with 30 sales, then first of all you need a reality check. Unless you’re selling designer shoes or 5 star holidays for £5 its unlikely the sales are going to be pouring in. For networking to work it needs to factor as part of a structured focussed marketing strategy.

It is important to understand that networking enables you to;

• Get known as the thought leader in your field.
• Raises your profile above your competitors.
• Re-engages with past and current customers.
• Reminds people “Why you.”
• Ensures people know all that your company can do for them. (So often you will hear someone say “I didn’t know you did that too”.
• Remember this key phrase “You can’t not dictate when people buy however you can have a say in who they choose to buy from.”
• Build and protect your reputation and credibility. Valuable for creating a loyal client base.

To enable the above to happen you need to;

• Know what outcome you want from networking. Remember the reality check? The goal is not to walk out of the door with 30 sales (although if you get your marketing and networking right, over time that is more than achievable!)
• Do you want people to sign up to your newsletter, follow you on social media, know about an event you are going to be exhibiting at, refer you to certain trades, help with solutions in your own business, know about special offers you have. Go with a clear idea of what you would ideally be speaking about if you get the right opportunity.
• Be interested in the other people in the room. We often tell shy people that you are in actual fact perfect people to network, because you are so scared to say the wrong thing you create a natural environment that enables the other party to share all about their business and why they love what they do. All networkers would love the chance to tell everyone why their business is awesome. The key is to build good relationships and by showing a genuine interest in other people you are helping that happen.
• In advance prepare some questions that you could ask people, such as; Who could the ideal person be for me to be looking to connect you with? Are you based locally? Do you trade nationally or just locally? Is it okay to connect with you on Facebook and LinkedIn? Do you have any suggestions on how I could handle X within my business? Questions that are open ended that allow the other person to feel respected and listened to. (Genuinely listened to.
• Know the answers for yourself to the above questions. Who would your ideal client be?
• Prepare a 60 seconds. Okay so not all events create the opportunity for an elevator pitch however practicing on the journey there what you could concentrate is a good idea. Aim to be less than 60 seconds, include statistics & facts and don’t try to cover too much. You can access more ideas on your 60 seconds success here.
• Don’t apologise for having no business cards, take theirs gracefully and say that you have just run out and will email them as a one off (you don’t want to look like a spammer) so that you have each others details.
• Don’t add people to your data base. Yes Business to Business you are allowed, however what does that say about your level of respect for that busy business owner?
• Do find people on social media and say “Hi.”
• Don’t find people on social media and start selling at them. Networking is about building a good reputation.
• Know in advance the follow up strategy you will have. If you don’t follow up effectively then in theory you have wasted the time you networked, the time you travelled to and from the event and the time you could have been doing something that actually would have put money in your bank account.
• And lastly if you don’t get a reply to an email, pick up that phone thing you carry around and talk to people.

After all great networking results are about communicating effectively to get connected.

And the bigger your network the more benefits you could be getting!

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Essex Business Woman Helping Change Lives In Africa

It is great to be a member of The BWN and its great to be back at all the events. I work for FSB and I look forward to telling you more about how it could be good for your business and save you money on the every day business essential but for now I want to say “I’m off to South Africa!”

No, not another holiday (courtesy of Half Moon Travel!) I’m afraid. I have invested both time and money in order to take part in a charity expedition in May with the Wilderness Foundation. The charity focuses on protecting the world’s last remaining wild areas and it’s wildlife, whilst making a difference to local communities

As part of the Wild Swans project I will be working with a community in Sedgefield supporting and engaging with young women in order to explore aspirations, build confidence, education and skills and ways to deal with the negative influences they face – We will also be helping with the development of their website, social media, and helping them produce marketing materials so they can encourage support.

The next part of the expedition will be backpacking and spending time with the anti-poaching White Rhino project to save this iconic species which is near to extinction…so an amazing, humbling and challenging experience all round!

I have funded the expedition expenses myself though I’m reaching out  to see if people would kindly sponsor me for taking part as I have pledged to raise £2000 of which 100% of monies received will go to the Wilderness Foundation and helping the Community project too.

If you would like to find out more about the expedition I’ve set up a Virgin Money Giving page; http://uk.virginmoneygiving.com/AngelaLock2

I of course will also be at The Essex BWN events, so I look forward to seeing you there!

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The Price is Right

Here Joanne Stevens from Business Growth Academy shares a top tip to helping you grow your business and a pet hate when it comes to people setting their prices.

One of the most powerful exercise we do on our introductory workshop is to look at what you want your business to do for you and work out what your price needs to be based on this. It’s the biggest AH-HA moment for so many. And I cannot help but be frustrated when I see so many people set prices by looking at what their competitors charge, then knock a bit off!

Virgin takes a tried and tested product or service, finds out how to do it better than anyone else then works out what the price point needs to be to make this work for the company. Take Virgin Airlines – they select only certain routes, they negotiate good contracts with the airports and then they stamp their brand all over it, advertising to their target market in the right way. Far more focussed than a budget airline selling tickets low cost to anyone that will put up with a less than satisfying experience.

So how do Virgin charge a price that suits them rather than the price their competitors dictate?

• First they know their ideal customer inside out. They know what appeals to them, set their expectations and over perform every time (well enough times to have a built a great reputation).
• They offer alternatives – economy, premium and first class. Most people will go for economy but they have enough choice to satisfy everyone in their target audience.
• They up sell – even to those buying economy they give the customer plenty of opportunity to upgrade if they want to. They use discounts and other incentives to make this look really attractive.
• They deliver on their promises and ensure they provide a great customer experience.
• They follow up – using loyalty cards and relevant offers that match the customer experience.

To apply this to your business and ensure you are in control of your business rather than it controlling you:

1. Work out what you need to earn to fund your lifestyle – pre tax. Look at how many hours you want to earn and price your service or product to match these 2.
2. Based on where you are pricing yourself, decide who is your ideal client and work out what the benefits are TO THEM of you product or service
3. Get these benefits in front of them in the right way – making sure your promotion matches their profile
4. Convert them into paying customers. Engage them in conversation, give them the opportunity to buy and when they show they want to make it easy for them to do so.
5. Deliver on the products or services at a level that exceeds expectation
6. Follow up – for another le, a recommendation, or just simply a thank you. Show your customers you appreciate them too.

To explore this and other ideas to grow and control your business join me at my last Free workshop on Saturday 26^th March – for full details and to book click here: How to hit your100000 fast – not Turnover, Profit

Jo attends our North Essex events. You can learn more about Jo and here business here;

TEL:       08456 788 825

EMAIL:  joanne@business-growth-academy.co.uk

WEB:     www.business-growth-academy.co.uk

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Free Seminars – Workplace Pensions for Small Businesses

Here BWN member Fiona Cowie from Essential HR speaks about some opportunities to understand the legislation and how it could impact you and your business. We hear many business women say they are not willing to employ staff because they “can’t face all that” however with the right staff and the right support your business will be able to grow in ways that are not easily accessible for the sole trader.

Free Breakfast Seminars – Workplace Pensions for Small Businesses

Workplace Pensions for small businesses is about to become a reality as the staging dates (the date on which the new laws must be met) for those businesses with less than 50 employees begin from 1st March.  If you are a business with one or more employees, you will have a staging date already allocated to.  Workplace pensions will have an impact on your business in the shape of extra administration, data processing, payroll and compliance which all mean additional cost.

We are running two FREE breakfast seminars in March to inform small businesses about workplace pensions and what it means for them.  To learn the key facts about workplace pensions please come along and hear Fiona Cowie, your local Workplace Pensions Specialist.

4th March – 8am – 9.30am at Ivy Hill Hotel, Margaretting.  In partnership with Sound Financial Planning and Consort Insurance.  Email fiona@essentialhr.co.uk to book a place.

17th March – 8.30am – 10.30am at The Bay Horse, Moulsham Street, Chelmsford.  In partnership with Success Recruit.  Visit Eventbrite at https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/unlocking-the-myths-about-auto-enrolment-tickets-15811414366 to book your place.

Don’t leave your planning too late.  Come along now to find out what’s involved in Workplace Pensions.

To learn more about Fiona Cowie and Essential HR visit – www.essentialhr.co.uk

Connect with Fiona on Twitter – http://twitter.com/HRandReward

Telephone – 01245 349492
Email – fiona@essentialhr.co.uk

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Free Event With Intel For Women-owned Businesses & Business Opportunities

Thanks to our great relationship with WE Connect International we are able to put you in front of fabulous opportunities to work with some of the leading corporations in the world. Please read below for some great opportunities in certain sectors and a very exclusive free event being hosted by Intel. We hope this proves very useful to you.

WEConnect International is a corporate-led non-profit, and their goal is to connect more majority women owned businesses (those that are at least 51% owned, managed and controlled by one or more women) into the corporate supply chain. Their corporate members represent $700 billion in annual purchasing power and are true pioneers in inclusive sourcing and global supplier development. More information can be found on their website: http://weconnectinternational.org/en/

1. There is currently limited information regarding the following information, however if you fit the above critieria and would like the opportunity to work on contracts and business opportunities in these industries please contact Maggie Berry from WEConnect International as detailed below;

• Air conditioning units.
• Audio visual equipment and maintenance – this includes any AV equipment that would be used in meeting rooms such projectors, screen etc. The requirement is for a firm who can supply and maintain equipment.
• Car valeting.
• Car washing supplies.
• Cartographer – the need is for someone who can create city and country maps for multiple locations in the EU (France, Spain, Germany, Ireland and UK) – they can consider separate cartographers for each country if there is not one firm that can cover the EU. The corporate member needs their own maps and images that can be re-used.
• Corporate work wear (uniforms).
• Couriers – this is an on-going requirement.
• Drains – the requirement is for a firm that can empty and clean drains (via interceptor tanks).
• Electrical/lighting – there is specific interest in firms who can provide energy saving lighting solutions.
• Feminine hygiene disposal services.
• General tradesman – this includes firms who can provides services in any of the following areas: plumbing, carpentry, painting, decorating, roofing.
• Grounds maintenance.
• Hand dyers for toilet facilities.
• Laminated and aluminium tubes provider.
• Mobile accessories: the requirements is for a firm who can supply and maintain tablets / wifi enabled devices that would be rented out to customers.
• Office stationary supplies – paper, pens, coffee, teas, white boards etc.
• Security companies to provide alarms and bollards to secure offices and car parking areas.
• Transport Including taxis, minibuses. Locations are varied and include London and Aldershot.

 

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2. Are you interested in doing business with Intel and participating in a social media master class?

Then join Intel Supply Connections – Promoting Women at the Heart of Economic Growth on Thursday 12th March 2015 at Bletchley Park.

To celebrate International Women’s Day, Intel would like to invite you to their first conference of 2015. The event will include a workshop on social media led by Gail Hanlon, Marketing Specialist at Intel EMEA during which you will discover how to build a social media strategy and how to use social media to achieve the objective of either building your brand or creating sales interest. There will also be a panel discussion session with new suppliers to Intel including Ian Platt, Head of Supply Chain Services at BaxterStorey; Elizabeth Heron, Managing Director of HAMG360; Gill Thorpe, Managing Director of The Sourcing Team and Michelle Palmer, Managing Director of Canary Wharf & City.

Date:     Thursday 12th March

Time:     10.00am to 1.30pm (with an option to take a tour of Bletchley Park at 1.30 – 2.30pm)

Venue: Bletchley Park, near Milton Keynes

Cost:      Free

RSVP:    By Thursday 5th March 2015

This event is aimed at majority owned women’s businesses – those that are minimum 51% owned by one or more women – who provide products and services in the following sectors: marketing, HR, recruitment, catering, training, advertising, merchandise, events, corporate services, facilities management, legal and technology. If your business falls into another sector and you are interested in attending, please email Intel via womensupplychain@intel.com.

More information and the registration link can be found here: http://www.weconnecteurope.org/event/intel-supply-connections-bletchley-park

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Maggie is incredibly helpful and passionate about helping business women so we hope this proves a useful connection to our members and if you do take advantage please do share your good news with us either privately for our records or publicly on social media so that we may promote your great news too! Twitter http://twitter.com/BWNcouk and Facebook https://www.facebook.com/TheBusinessWomansNetwork

Maggie Berry

Executive Director for Europe

WEConnect International

Email: mberry@weconnectinternational.org

Twitter: @WEConnectEurope

LinkedIn: WEConnect Europe

Facebook: WEConnect Europe

Website: weconnectinternational.org

 

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Essex Business Women – Endeavours Beyond Business

BWN business women are no strangers to raising money for charity. Having raised 1000’s of pounds for charities including Farleigh’s Hospice, Colchester Mind, Little Havens, Comic Relief, Children in Need and even making donations to Colchester Food Bank Christmas 2014. So its something to celebrate when not one business woman but 5 are raising money for local charities alongside running their own businesses.
It was a proud moment when at the January Essex Networking event at Five Lakes Crowne Plaza business women were supporting and helping to raise the profile of these business women and their charity plans.

It’s great that the ideas range from pampering and fun to “Wow I’m glad it’s you and not me, here’s a fiver!”
Here we take look at the business women doing their bit;

First has to be Jenny Sjoellma from PA Angels, About My Area Chelmsford and About My Area Maldon. If it wasn’t enough to be running 3 businesses Jenny in 17 days time will be jumping out of an aeroplane for Farleighs Hospice. Jenny said “My friend and colleague, from whom I took over AboutMyArea, was diagnosed earlier in the year with bowel and liver cancer. She is progressing well with her chemo and couldn’t have done so without the help of Farleigh Hospice. Skydving will be one of the things off my bucket list” Stella Bradbrook is a business women known and loved by The BWN so we are whole heartedly supporting Jenny, but happy to be doing it with our feet on the ground!  To support Jenny learn more here. And remember if you can’t spare any money just sharing the link on your social media could help.

Next up is not just one BWN business woman but 2! Tracy Shave a Laughter Yoga Instructor from Moulding Futures wanted to take part in the Farleigh’s £50 challenge so asked at The BWN if anyone would like to work on it together. Photographer Jayne Lloyd jumped at the opportunity and so together they are putting on a unique event. This event will get Essex women together. All having a make over, sharing cake and chat and finishing the event with a photograph of them holding a giant heart with a message for whomever they wish written on the heart. Tracy said “I’m so lucky to still have my Nan but I thought how lovely it would be coming up to Valentines day if Essex women could have a special picture they could treasure for always and show Farleigh’s how much they care too. To learn more click here – again if you are busy or already have a chosen charity for the year a tweet and a Facebook post would be gratefully appreciated too!

Karen Daniels from The Aloe Life and Luxury Florida Villas was so touched by Jayne and Tracy’s idea and passion that she created a hamper that will be raffled off at the event being hosted by Tracy Shave and Jayne LLoyd.

 

 

Lastly but very impressively Gayle Berry from Blossom and Berry Baby Massage and Training runs Little Blossoms Project Malawi. In the UK Gayle can be seen selling beautiful unique gifts and love specs to raise vital funds and to raise awareness of her work in Malawi. You can learn more here and even purchase a Feel Good Metal Feather Necklace or Love Specs.

We have already heard reports that BWN business women have shown their support for all of these worthy endeavours. Its rather cool seeing life through Love specs, you should try it. And lets be honest we would all rather put our hands in our pockets than jump out of a plan, so good luck Jenny!

Charities often tell us that when businesses support them its no just about raising money, the really important thing for many charities is that thanks to businesses like The BWN business women, charities and their work to help others gets noticed and recognised. It really is a win win situation!

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Five ways for your company to achieve low carbon economic growth

This guest blog is by Dr John French, CEO of the Adapt Low Carbon Group

 

Making a dent in your company’s carbon footprint is not necessarily the first thing that springs to mind when considering how to grow your business. Many company bosses struggle to see how the bottom line can benefit from a low carbon approach. But whatever sector you operate in and whatever your business does there are significant opportunities for economic growth in a low-carbon world.

At the Adapt Group’s Low Carbon Innovation Fund (LCIF) – a venture capital fund for businesses in the East of England offering investments between £10k and £750k – we can offer the following advice on how to achieve low carbon economic growth.

Become lean and efficient

Review your entire business and look to replace anything you currently do that wastes energy. Becoming energy efficient will reduce carbon emissions and lead to long-term cost savings.

Examples

• A timber frame supplier looking for investment in their CAD/CAM capabilities to reduce wastage – getting more products out of your raw materials cuts down costs and transport/delivery costs and increases output for the same money spent
• A film production company looking for investment in tools to track and improve resource usage and adopt new low carbon ways of working – reducing transport, reducing use of generators and lights, sourcing food locally, buying materials locally, using recyclable materials

 

Use innovative green technology

Boost your low carbon credentials and stand out from your competition by investing in new green technology. This can save you money in the long term. Is your equipment energy efficient? Can you generate your own energy? Can you use state of the art technology to be more efficient?

Examples

• A software company wishing to invest in more energy efficient processing hardware that saves running costs and cuts carbon emissions
• A company electing to use a data storage service that relies upon Green IT suites using clever energy saving servers for their data centres

 

Think re-usable, recyclable or recoverable

Using reconditioned or recycled raw materials smartly can reduce impacts from disposal in landfills. This approach may also save costs over virgin materials by reducing the need for carbon intensive processing and transport costs along the supply chain.

Examples

• A company selling on a ‘waste product’ that has value as an alternative product or can be recycled. For example: –
• A carpet fitter selling offcuts to be incorporated in modern building materials
• A processor of vegetables selling washed-off grit and stones to a gardening business
• A packaging company selling its waste paper materials to be used in innovative building insulation

 

Design smart

By removing inefficiencies in transport, material or energy use when designing a new service or product, you could make a huge difference to your company’s carbon footprint.

Examples

• A bottle manufacturer redesigning the shape of its bottles in order to fit more in a crate and transport more bottles on the same lorry, thus cutting down on haulage.
• A printing company improving its processes so that less paper and ink are wasted during the ‘setting up’ phase of a print job
• A sweet producer investing in production equipment that boils the ingredients quicker whilst using less energy, thus reducing costs and improving outputs

 

Influence green behaviour

Consider whether your service or product could be designed/re-designed to prevent your customers wasting materials or energy. Getting to know your customer better in this way is not only good for relations, but may also offer further design innovations, as well as cost saving opportunities.

Examples

• A magazine publisher requiring investment to develop a digital app that will reduce their printed output
• A new fridge with intelligent sensors so the fridge sounds an alarm if the door is left open for too long

 

If you’d like to speak to someone about how you can integrate carbon saving that will benefit your business, get in touch via the Low Carbon Innovation Fund website.

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Stop Moaning And Fix It – 5 Top Tips To Get What You Want

Being a busy business woman puts a ton of jobs and tasks firmly at your door doesn’t it?

And there can be times where you think “How will I get this all done?”

When business is becoming less fun and your losing that inner passion that fired you up to set up your own business what should you do?

Well here is one thing you definitely must not do – and that’s moan.

Did you know that moaning and concentrating on what is wrong with your business is the fastest way to……get absolutely no where. Fast! So what should you be doing?

Business is hard work, but it should also be incredibly rewarding both financially, emotionally and physically. So if its not here’s a few ideas to ping your day back into the positive “Wow I love my business mode!”(Top Tip – that results in higher levels of success);

1. Don’t moan – seriously. It is no good concentrating on what is not working. Instead of thinking “I don’t have enough sales/hours/staff” say to yourself “Look how many sales/hours/staff I’m grateful to have, I would like to come up with some ways to get more of those!” Now allow your brain a little space (Top Tip – get off of social media and grab a pen and pencil!) to think and come up with the ideas. If nothing is floating to the surface in a Eureka style moment start with the question “What has worked in the past to give me more sales/hours/staff and how could I replicate that?”
2. Don’t moan – okay is there an echo in here? Moaning is a negative. When you concentrate on the negative your whole body physically works in a different way too. That then impacts on your energy level, your head ache, your very health. Don’t believe me? Just try this – look in the mirror and say really nasty horrible things about yourself. Notice how you start to feel. Your shoulders sagging, your breathe changing, your frown. Now say nice things about yourself, and notice how you take a deep breathe and start to feel the endorphins raring to go. When you really feel like you can’t find nothing good to think. Smile. Even a fake smile can cause your body to release endorphins and give you a boost!
3. Don’t moan – okay so I think you might be getting a message here right? The fact is moaning about what is wrong will never fix it. Looking at it from a distance in a constructive way can help, but don’t go it alone. Who can support you? Who can challenge you to ask the right questions and make you take the right actions. You know The BWN is a powerful environment to get seriously motivated. So ask yourself “How can I power up my motivation to change this?”
4. That moaning thing really can bring a downer to your day. So if business is tough and you don’t have enough of what you want, then ask yourself what actions are you going to take? Go on, right now, what actions are you going to take? And if the answers aren’t free flowing. Concentrate your mind on remembering all the times you overcame adversity, of the achievements you have made and keep them firmly in your minds eye. Concentrate consistently on what you have achieved and on what you can do, and put that negativity out of the way.
5. You see business women success for you needs consistent self created positivity and determination to get the results you want and when you moan you sap your mind, body and soul of the energy to create the solutions. Do not allow moaning to be the thing that stops you from achieving. Catch yourself in the act of being annoyed about an aspect of you business and quash it. Concentrate firmly on what you want to achieve, take the right actions, get the right support and KNOW THAT YOU CAN ACHIEVE – ANYTHING YOU WANT TO!

 

This post was wrote by Mandie Holgate, a Business Woman’s Coach increasing the success of business women for many years. To learn how Mandie could help you visit her site here – http://mandieholgate.co.uk/

If you are a regular attendee of The BWN events then you can write for our blog for free! With such great genuine traffic heading to our site its all good for business. If you would like to take advantage of this but not a regular attendee you can for as little as £50 per article. Get in touch to learn more.