I was reminded last week of yet another business lesson. That being to never underestimate the power of the little things you do in your business, because they can have a huge impact on your bottom line.
Let me explain – To add a bit of sparkle and fun for when our Members are out and about networking, some time ago we added a special business card holder to the range of products we sell in our online shop. If you haven’t seen them, they are our gorgeous bling business card holders.
Now on the surface this addition may not appear as the most serious of business products – but due to the fact that we know and understand our demographics, this little product has turned into a ‘must have’ business accessory for business women across the Nation. Read the rest…
Contributed by
Lynette Palmen.
Lynette Palmen AM is the Founder and Managing Director or Women's Network Australia. She started WNA 20 years ago to offer support, inspiration and services that would inspire women to succeed in their career and business endeavours. WNA is now the Nation's premier networking organisation for business and professional women. T: 1800 052 476.
Sitting in a doctor’s waiting room this week I got a wake-up call about how quickly everything electronic is breaking down the networking barriers as we once knew them. Let me set the scene.
The doctor was running late – what’s new? I was leafing through a magazine whilst Maddison my 12 year old daughter played on her Nintendo. There were about 20 patients in the waiting room and I noticed that when the doctor called a particular patient’s name, the mother who also had a young girl the same age as Maddi seemed to make eye contact and smile as the doctor lead them away. Read the rest…
With the search now on by most businesses for ways and means to reduce costs, it’s no surprise that the tried and true art of networking is once again back in fashion. One only needs to compare the results networking achieves up against other forms of acquiring business, such as advertising or cold calling, to soon realise that the grape vine is an absolute gold mine. Read the rest…
The business community is currently a-buzz with the virtues of social networking and how it can return results for business success. Just to get a feel for what all the hype is about, this past week-end I decided to bite the bullet and spend some time familiarising myself with the Top 5 social networking sites.
It was a bit like doing 5 networking events in the one day. I was totally exhausted and over it by the end. My conclusion after the exercise was that exactly the same mistakes being made by those networking real time have now transferred to social networking sites.
Here are my thoughts:
Be Selective: As is the case with networking organisations, joining multiple social sites won’t help you achieve better business results. You’re much better off selecting two favourite social sites and spending time working them to their fullest extent. Throwing enough mud hoping some of it sticks doesn’t work real time and it’s not going to work online either. Read the rest…
Mention the word networking to most people and they cringe in horror. But for many, when economic times are tough and budgets are slashed, networking comes back on the radar as a low cost and effective means of making connections.
Be ready because due to the current down-turn in the world economy there’s going to be a flood of novice networkers hitting the market. Many who in more buoyant markets have dismissed networking as a brash business card dispensing in your face exercise are now being forced to seek ways of attracting new business.
Switched on veteran networkers know that you don’t just turn your networking button on or off with market fluctuations. There is a level of respect between networkers. Regardless of the state of the economy, they know for sure that networking is a vital and invaluable skill that saves them time, effort and money in building business and personal relationships. Read the rest…
I have spent the last week or so in beautiful Tasmania. I was officially on the ground to host our inaugural networking event, which took place in the usual civilized surroundings of one of the top hotels and it was a fabulous success.
However the day after the event my travels took me to the beautiful Oatlands area. We dropped in for a nosh up at a fabulous little eatery – run by two wonderfully enthusiastic young women who cooked up a storm in kitchen but it was whilst wandering the streets and browsing the shops that I got a real feel for the community that exists between the traders that line the streets of this quaint township.
As always I found myself interviewing the entrepreneurial women running the various antique and craft shops that lined the towns centre. How did they network and share ideas and what forum did they find worked best for them to exchange ideas? It didn’t take long for them to introduce me to their afternoon ritual of a cuppa on the footpath outside the shop of whosever’s turn it was to boil the kettle that day. From the footpath each store owner can see the comings and goings from their various shops and unlike in the city there is no fear of items being stolen or broken. The sense of trust was soothing for the soul.
It was an amazing experience and just exactly like a WNA Networking Event except held in the beautiful main street of Oatlands. I am not sure that we city folk have it that good after all. A big thank you to my new friends in Tassie, I loved the opportunity to take part in footpath networking. I’m on my way back in the month of November – so put the kettle on girls.
Lynette L Palmen is the Founder and Managing Director of Women’s Network Australia W: www.womensnetwork.com.au
Women are emerging as the queens of social online networking, according to a recent study by Rapleaf. Women have always been the biggest users of networking skills, nurturing relationships, exchanging info and igniting trade with each other. But this study reveals that women are currently the biggest users of the social web.
The report is not small either, it includes 49.3 million users. It’s not surprising really, women are time poor and they have always enjoyed communicating and socialising more than men. The researchers indicate that men do network, but to get them interested networking needs to go hand in hand with transactions and outcomes. After all, why bother talking unless you have to?
If your website and eMarketing tools are still on the back burner in your ‘to do’ tray, you best get moving. The study shows that the emerging market of 14-24 year olds are currently the biggest users of the social web. Women outnumber men 3 times in this age group with 16 million female users and 11.5 million male users in this demographic.
The lesson here is that if you run a business and have plans to be running a viable business in 5-10 years, you best get eMarketing and Social Web savvy. In the blink of an eye the 14-24 year olds will be 24-34 years of age. How are you going to connect with them is the question you need to be asking yourself.
Lynette Palmen AM is the Founder and Managing Director of Women’s Network Australia, the leading business and professional women’s networking organisation in the Nation. Subscribe FREE to WNA’s weekly eNoticeBoard.
I received an email recently seeking my networking guidance, it went on to ask… “I am a solicitor and thinking about becoming a member of a networking organisation, should I find out how many other solicitors are members of the group before I join and if there is too much competition? Melissa
Dear Melissa,
Even if the networking group you are considering joining had over 100 solicitors as current members you should NOT be using this to calculate the value you will gain from also joining. Fraternising with your competition can pay dividends. I’ll expand out with a few pointers on what I mean.
The 80/20 Rule: Joining an organisation is easy for anyone to do, it’s what happens after and how actively you participate that will decide the outcomes of your networking activities. Only 20% of people can be bothered actually doing anything, so this wipes out 80% of your competition straight away. Read the rest…
