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How to get the most out of networking with The BWN

If you are looking to grow your business, your confidence and your profit, we are so much more than just somewhere to network once a month. Here is how to get the most our networking with The BWN.

1.Help yourself to our social media. We actively encourage our members (and a member is someone who walks through the door once a month) to talk about what they are doing, creating, building, winning or even struggling with on our social media;

• On Facebook you can post to our page and we will like and share your content.
• On Twitter if you mention @BWNcouk we will like and retweet your content for you.
• On our LinkedIn page you are welcome to post discussions, ask questions and talk about your business.

To access all of our social media just visit the home page and click on the right social media logo.

2. A Golden Ticket means you get to network at one venue for better than the early bird rate and you get all these discounts and benefits too;

• Write for our blog for FREE (Usual fee £75).
• Guaranteed 60 seconds Promo Slot.
• Give your 60 seconds to another business woman (We only have a maximum of 25 Promo slots at each event) and you can bring your banner to the event for FREE – Great evergreen marketing for you.
• Feature on our website for FREE.
• Discounts on sponsoring the website.
• Discounts on sponsoring an event.
• Discounts on exhibiting at an event.
• Can’t make an event? Still get your opportunities and events mentioned in the Business Ops slot of that event and other relevant local events. (Please note this requires a minimum of 48 hours notice.)

3.How to make a Golden Ticket really sparkle. If you want even more out of your Golden Ticket you can purchase multiple events tickets and gain even more savings!

• 1 venue – £125 (Full price £165)
• 2 venue – £230 (Full price £330)
• 3 venue – £315 (Full price £495)

4. The Insiders is a confidential learning zone, research centre and advice mastermind group that has helped business owners;

• Increase profit
• Take on new premises
• Employ their first staff
• Overcome fears – fear of the phone, fear of asking for what you want, fear of saying No to a customer when they ask for too much, fear of going live, fear of creating video, fear of blogging and getting your opinions out there to help you sell more.
• Learn new skills that have directly led to new business, new opportunities and new sales.
• Get 1st refusal on PR and other opportunities
• Access webinars from our affiliate experts
• Access discounts from our Insiders affiliates.
  Best of all it is just £5 a month – Business women say it is the best money they spend on their business, every month!

5. Do you find yourself making notes of who you need to connect with on social media and who to email or call and a list of  ideas thanks to the speaker then find you don’t get around to taking action and doing the things you learnt. You get back to the office and the business cards, notes and ideas get added to your long list of to do’s but don’t get actioned.

Annoying isn’t it?

The BWN Success Manual is a great way of putting your ideas, notes, your calendar, who you met, what you said you would do, and even create a strategy to ensure you do it, in one place. It includes;

• A place to write who you met, what you said you would do and how you could help them, so you can build a relationship from day 1.
• 2 x 1 year calendars.
• Space to structure what you learnt from the masterclass and how to ensure you take action.
• Top tips and ideas to help you network more successfully, follow up more effectively and make networking more cost effective.
• Space to add additional thoughts and journal what you notice.
• A way of looking at your networking strategy and results to see how to improve, where you are already improving and where you could do with some assistance.
• Golden Nugget ideas.
• Goal planning sections – short term, long term and the plan to achieve.
• You can buy yours at any event for £10 or online for £16. We love seeing the BWN Success Manuals at events making life easier for you.

6. Sponsoring the BWN website is a great way to get seen by our audiences all year round. One of our sponsors has already signed up to the end of 2020 so you can see this could be very useful to you and your business.

7. Our blog is packed with ideas and solutions and some really emotional, fantastic and inspiring stories from our members. You can read it all here https://old.thebusinesswomansnetwork.co.uk/bwn-blog/

8. You can sponsor a BWN event. We only allow 1 sponsor per event so its a great way to stand out. You get 1 ticket, 1 exhibitors stand, your business literature on every place setting and your business promoted on all of the marketing for that event on and off line.

You can access all of these offers (and more!) via our website, and just head to the offers heading to find the offer right for you.

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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!