Networking – time to move on.

More and more business networks are popping up but there is a quiet revolution going on in the way they are working.

I just saw someone tweeting from an event, saying they’d connected with the speaker on LinkedIn and were carrying on the discussion. At the same event, delegates were using a hashtag (this symbol # that creates a clickable link on Twitter) to tweet about the event, connect with each other and share pictures and slides from the presentations with people who couldn’t be there.

This is networking.

These people all have a common interest, established immediately. No-one did an elevator pitch and no-one swapped business cards or asked for referrals. No breakfast was partaken. The connections will be strengthened or fade according to the individual’s preferences, needs and interests.

The organisers of the event did nothing to facilitate this, except, when pushed, suggest the hashtag. They could have made much more of it, and possibly increased attendance, by inviting people to use it when they registered to connect with other delegates before the event and create a buzz about what was happening – but that’s another story.

The real story here is that business networking has moved on.

Savvy folk are using new ways to connect with interesting people and build relationships using social NETWORKING platforms like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and MeetUp to network effortlessly, sometimes in very innovative ways, and at no cost. The trick is to see it as social NETWORKING and not social media or marketing. That means using your own name and picture in your profiles and not your business name and logo.

Some organise casual “tweet-ups”, some have regular meetings with no little or no ritual and they all offer on-line connections as well as face to face meetings at little or no cost.

With on-line profiles no-one needs an elevator pitch.

We’ve always been told that networking isn’t about selling and yet encouraged to introduce ourselves at traditional organisations with an elevator pitch. With on-line profiles no-one needs an elevator pitch. Everyone can see what you do, so they get straight to the much more important bit of establishing who you are and what values you share.
Networking is a human activity that was hijacked by business organisations. Now it’s back in the hands of the individual and freely available to everyone.

Some examples I’ve come across, local to me are:

Huntingdon Business Women: approx 100 members, no committee, no fees, uses LinkedIn, highly supportive monthly meetings.

The LikeMinded Network St Neots: – over 100 members, no membership fees, uses MeetUp, Facebook and organises business and social events.

Cambs Mums Business Clubs: – over 170 members, children welcome at meetings, uses Facebook, blogging and a special Twitter #BizMumQTime every evening to answer questions.

CamCreative: – over 750 members, no fees, uses MeetUp for monthly meetings.

The Inspired Group: – (my own group – evolved over six years) no members, no fees except for events but approx 4,000 connections worldwide. Discussions on LinkedIn, #binspired on Twitter, blogs, free programmes, highly interactive and supportive.

Huntingdonshire Business Network: This network is over 20 years old but embraces the use of LinkedIn and Meetup and uses the hashtag #HBNEvent to support discussions from members and non-members alike.