This is a presentation on business networking (with extra notes) that I gave to the MBA students and alumni of Warwick Business School in March 2015. It talks about the new rules of networking and how you can build your own networking strategy.

1. The Confident Networker:
How to network your way to career
and business success
Heather Townsend
Author of ‘The FT Guide To Business Networking’
‘The Go-To Expert’ and co-author of ‘How to make partner and still have a life’

2. Credibility x (Visibility + Personal
Brand + Social capital)
What are the ingredients for
success as a networker?

3. Credibility x (Visibility + Personal
Brand + Social capital)
However, the rise of online
networking has made your personal
brand more important than it was
5-10 years ago

4. Google (and LinkedIn) have
conditioned us to expect that we
can find THE expert to help us with
our problem

5. This means that…

6. It is no longer about the contents of
your little black book…

7. You have to do more
than just get your
name out there

8. It is also not now about kissing
enough frogs

9. It’s getting very difficult now to keep your
personal and professional life completely separate

10. This means you now need to have
different skills and think
differently to generate success via
your network

11. How is YOUR personal brand
helping you be more memorable ?
Does your personal brand make
you as memorable as a pink car?
Or are you trying to be all things
To all people and the equivalent
of a silver car?

12. Values
Beliefs
Drivers
InterestsKnowledge
Behaviours
Skills
Image
Reputation
What makes up your personal brand?
These are internal
to us and not often
visible to the
outside world
Our values,
beliefs and
drivers heavily
influence our
choices around
these
This is driven by others’
perceptions of us, and
heavily influenced by
how we choose to
externally communicate
our behaviours, image,
knowledge, interests and
skills

13. Skills
Reputation
However far too many of us only tell the on-line
world about our skills, qualification and
knowledge

14. Decide on your goals
Audit your network and networking
activities
Find the right people for your
network
Strengthen your relationships
Maintain your relationships
Your 5-step process to building your networking
strategy

15. When you think about your networking activities,
think FITTER

16. Who are your networking ‘A-listers’?
A-listers are people who can help
you shortcut your way to your
goal – they may be clients,
referrers, highly influential people

17. Remember, to find, build and nurture your
relationships. Not just collect contacts.
From chapter 14 of
The FT Guide To
Business Networking
Relationships only tend
to truly ‘pay out’ when
they are at these levels

18. Visibility: How are you keeping visible to the
people who matter in your network?
What is your routine to
regularly stay in touch
with the people that
matter to you?

19. How to avoid cultural bear traps
Avoid jargon
Check for understanding
Don’t assume ‘yes’ means ‘yes’
Eliminate slang or
colloquialisms
Observe and adapt
Find topics everyone
can relate to

20. To go into more detail, buy your copy of The
FT Guide To Business Networking
Award-winning and
best-selling book on
networking. Now on its 2nd
edition and been translated
into 5 different languages.
1st edition has over 110 5-star
views on Amazon
Available from Amazon and
all good book stores

21. Get In Touch
• heather@heathertownsend.co.uk
• www.linkedin.com/in/heathertownsend
• @heathertowns
• www.gotoexpert.co.uk
• www.howtomakepartner.co.uk