The Blog of an Entrepreneur

Many business owners and managers are used to networking; we do it all the time under many different guises. Whether you play golf, go to lunch events, am a member of your local Chamber of Commerce, or simply going down the pub. Networking is all around us in everything we do and take for granted.

A friend of yours from your local pub is a plumber, and someone else you know asks you if you know a plumber, you naturally recommend your friend from the pub because he’s a mate and you know him. This is the most basic principle of professional networking which organisations around the world rely on, referrals and recommendations.

What millions of people around the world haven’t got to grips with yet is online networking. The use of social networking websites such as Facebook, MySpace and YouTube in business are frowned upon by many, but utilised to great success by many. The use of networking websites such as UK Business Forums and Ecademy are seen as time wasting and even skiving by many business owners. They are making such a huge mistake, and should be ranking their time on websites such as these up just as high as attending professional networking breakfasts and time on the golf course. In fact, they should be ranking them higher because the exposure they bring in worldwide.

If you in doubt as to what value online networking can bring to your business please read my previous article on the subject from my blog at http://www.ozzy.co.uk/blog/2008/01/16/networking-as-cost-effective-marketing/. In an attempt to help those who have yet to utilise the exposure and value online networking can bring their business here is a follow up article on how to get the most out of using Internet forums, and how to present yourself to the world through them.

The first decision you need to make is choosing which forums to use. There are hundreds out there and no-one will have the time to use all of them, in the same way that it is not physically possible to attend every networking breakfast, lunch and dinner in your local area. My advice is to select one major, large forum to take part in and then a small handful of industry specific forums. Using a search engine such as Google and typing in “business forum” will bring you a nice selection to choose from.

Once you have found you list of forums to choose from read through some of the activity on there and get a feel for the ethos and atmosphere of the forum. Does this look like the sort of community you would feel comfortable in? If so, register an account and let’s get started.

When registering an account you will be given the option to create a Username. This is the name which you will become known by on the forums, how every one will recommend you to others and the “nickname” you will become known by for ever more. For that reason you need to think carefully, do you want to use your real name or your company name? Or does your actual nickname sound professional enough to stick with? Give this some serious thought because in some circumstances it cannot be changed, and you could be stuck with whatever you choose here. Common favourites are the member’s company name, or an abbreviated name. Very rarely will someone choose something which could reflect them in a bad light, for very good reason!

Some forums require you to confirm your email address after you register, and your account will not be activated until you do this so look out for activation emails in your spam folder in your email and do what it says. This is usually just clicking a link, or visiting a web page on the forums and entering an Activation Code. Don’t start posting or email the forum moderators sayings “Why aren’t my posts showing up?” if you haven’t activated your account. It can become very annoying for the moderators when this continuously happens.

So I’ve activated my account, do I start posting now? Nope, not quite yet! You need to check the rules of the forum and make sure you don’t break any. The last thing you want to do is start off on the wrong foot and be seen by the forum moderators as a spammer.

So what is a spammer? What constitutes a spammer varies from forum to forum, and you need to be sure you’re on the right side with each forum you take part in. For example, on some forums you will be allowed to openly promote your business as and whenever you wish and this is perfectly accepted, however on other forums this is not allowed and your account could be banned without warning. You need to either read the rules of the forum which should be displayed in either the FAQ page or a dedicated rules page, or in the case of some forums they evolve and you need to gauge what is and is not accepted by looking at how the conversations flow on the forum by reading it.

If in doubt, do not blaze in with lots of messages about how wonderful you and your business is, instead go for the softly softly approach. Even worse than the all guns blazing approach, for heavens sake do not try and pretend to be someone else recommending your service. It is very easy for the forum moderators to spot this sort of activity and then publicly make a mockery of you and your business – to the whole world.

You want to get the most out of this forum, you want to be able to promote your business and become well known in this new community, so it is worth taking the time to do your research and find out about the people you are about to start socialising with and the rules of engagement for each forum. Just because this is the Internet it doesn’t make it any different than real life. If you were about to attend a new networking event your area you would do exactly the same, so do it here online.

So now do I make my first post? Patience my friend, we’re almost there! Some forums allow you to setup a Profile for yourself. This is a little page on the forums that tells everyone else a little bit about yourself, your business, links to your website, and much more. When you make your first post this is the first thing that everyone will look at, so you want it to be as complete as possible and tell these people about you. Each forum is laid out differently, but look for a menu options such as Edit Profile or UserCP (short for User Control Panel). Go through all the options in these areas and complete them as best as possible. Her you can usually put all sorts of sales information about your company, the services you offer and links to your website.

Some forums also allow the use of signatures in your messages, and each forum has different rules about what is and is not allowed in the signature. As you would have checked out the rules of the forum you would by now know what is and is not allowed in the signatures.

What is a signature? This is a small message or strapline which is appended to the end of each message you post on the forums. Depending on the rules of the forum, this could be a link to website, your company slogan, or a special offer you are running at the time.

Some forums offer extra levels of membership, usually charged at a small fee, which allow you to have extra functionality for your account. This can be an increased profile, use of extra images for your profile or Avatar shown alongside your posts, and also increased or extra features for your signature. It is definitely worth giving consideration to what extra exposure you would get on the forum from having a heightened profile. An example would be the UK Business Forums which currently attract some 5,000 unique visitors a day. Is it worth paying a small fee to have your contributions and profile on these sorts of forums increased in exposure or not? Only you can make that decision.

Ok ok, I’ve got done all that. Now can I make my first post? YES!

One of the most important things you must keep in mind when you use the Internet to network is that how you present yourself is how your business will be perceived. If you are short and obnoxious then your business will be perceived the same. However, if you are polite, courteous and helpful then that is exactly how your business will be presented.

It amazing me sometimes when I participate on Internet forums and people seem to forget that they are talking to other human beings. I once changed my mind about doing business with a company based on the way they conducted themselves online, and I know that hundreds of other people have done the same. Speak to others how you would like to be spoken to yourself, be courteous, and friendly, and make use of smilies and emotions if you are ever in doubt about how your written message could be received. It is common knowledge that written messages (whether in emails, letters or forums) can be misinterpreted, so take this into account when you write your message.

What is a smiley? A smiley is an image which is commonly used in Instant Messaging, Emails and other Internet based communications. They are called Smilies because of the smiley faces they represent, and they are used to represent the tone in which the message is meant. Usually you will see a selection of smilies to insert into your message alongside the text box you type your message into. A smiley face to show you are happy, a sticky out tongue to show you are being cheeky, and so on.

Most forums have an Introductions or Welcome area. This is where it is generally regarded as good manners to make your first post and introduce yourself. Consider this area your elevator pitch, your 60 seconds as you will. Make a short post telling people a little bit about yourself, why you joined the forums, what you want to get out of them, and what it is your business does. You would then usually get a few welcome on board responses from some of the existing members, and also perhaps a little bit of interest in your business and what you do. Most people would have also taken a look at your profile, which is why it was important to get that setup before you started posting. Your profile would have told these people who have an interest in what you do more about your business.

You’ve said your hello, now how do I really start getting maximum exposure out of these forums? By helping out and becoming part of the community.

Do you ever wonder why some people are networking meetings seem to know everyone, why these people seem to be welcomed by everyone else. Wouldn’t you like to be as well known as these people? So everyone knows exactly what it is you do and what your name is?

These people are well known because they are always around, welcoming newcomers to the networking events they attend, getting to know the organisers, introducing themselves to others, and making connections between people they know. This is exactly the same on forums.

Look out for questions you can answer, or people looking for services where you know someone who can help them. Welcome other new members so they remember you as one of the friendly “faces” who made them feel welcome. Most importantly though, become known for a specialism on the forums, and ideally that should be your area of expertise in your business. So if you work in Sales and Marketing, help other members out with answers to their sales and marketing questions. You may feel you are giving information away for free which you may normally charge for, but that is the beauty of forums. They are a medium of sharing information which ultimately lead to warm leads and sales, because if that member you helped out with that question needs any more help the chances are they will remember that person who gave them that really helpful answer on those forums.

Don’t be a flash in a pan. If you pop along and spend a few days on the forums and then leave because you didn’t get any sales then I imagine you are also one of those people who tried networking but stopped because it didn’t work for you, yes? Networking is all about relationships, and that doesn’t matter whether it is online or face-to-face, it’s exactly the same for both. You need to build relationships on these forums first, become known by many of the other regulars and before too long they’ll start recommending you to other members who they know you can help. The larger the forum the longer this can take, but the bigger the potential rewards. So it just depends on how patient you are.

Respect the moderator’s decision. The moderators of a forum are put in place to ensure the smooth operation of the forum, and to intervene when in their opinion something on the forum is not going in the best interests of the forum, or in the interests of the forum owners. Moderators are usually unpaid volunteers from the forum community, who do a task where every decision they make can be questioned by the community and shouldn’t be. Remember that you are in someone else’s venue so play by their rules, “When in Rome…” as they say. You may at some point have your own messages moderated or even removed; I have on a few occasions. Appreciate that this will happen occasionally, don’t dwell on it. Just move on and respect that you may have posted something which did not fit with that particular forums guidelines or rules. Would you walk into a pub for the first time and then start moaning at the bar staff that you don’t like the way they run their pub? Well you might, but you might not be welcome there again in the future.

Finally, manage your time well. Some people say that online networking is addictive, and it is. If you are not careful you could find yourself spending far more time on Internet forums than you should, so set a time limit and stick to it, just like you would manage the amount of time you would spend down the pub, at networking breakfasts, and so forth. Treat it as a business commitment just like any other which needs to managed as close as your diary.

Enjoy your new forum networking experience and I hope to you see around online, Ozzy

When a business starts out and you go for that all so daunting meeting with your business banking account manager one of the first questions, after “do you want a loan” is usually, “what is your unique selling point”. And this can be the stumbling point for many a company.

A common mistake so many entrepreneurs make when they start their own company is to set their prices too low in the hope that a low price will attract new customers and they label this as a good USP.

In reality, what this actually does is attract the wrong kind of customer, the kind of high maintenance customer who shops on price alone and drains the supplier for every drop of blood they can get out of them.

What the entrepreneur should be doing is focusing on providing a quality service or product at a price that reflects that quality. This enables you to filter out the chaff from quality clients who you really should be concentrating your efforts and enthusiasm on. Someone who is prepared to spend sensible money on a quality product is a much better value customer than someone who haggles you down to the last penny at cost price.

And to be honest, would you not get more satisfaction if you could spend more time engaging with and helping the customers who truly value your services rather than those who are going to be beating you down on prices every day.

This is a regular hot topic on the UK Business Forums (www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk) where new business owners pop online and ask what the other members feel is a correct price to charge for their new product or service.

I recently spent some time with an IT support and computer supply company where the MD had no time to focus on growing his company as he was always running around dealing with customers all over the county. His profit margins were practically non-existent, so even if he wanted to he couldn’t afford to expand his business.

He had to finish our meeting early because he had to run out and sort out a broadband connection at one of his clients homes. I asked him how much he was going charge, and he replied £10 plus VAT. Taking into account the 30 minute drive there and about an hour on site, followed by a 30 minute drive back, that worked out a whopping £5 per hour charge, not including petrol. It’s no wonder he is making no money, and his excuse was that he didn’t feel his clients would pay any more.

Maybe some of his existing clients wouldn’t, but I responded with the other argument. Find some clients who would pay more. I, for example, would think of nothing about paying £70-80 for an engineer to come to our site and fix our office broadband connection if it ever went offline. My business relies on the Internet and it costs me more than that in lost business if I’m offline for an hour.

I’m not an exception either; I am a typical business client who realises the true value of a quality service from a professional. This is what small business owners should be focusing on, attracting the right kind of client and then once you have them look after them.

It takes courage to be bold enough to set your prices at what you really should be charging, and it will go against every instinct in your body saying “I need every order I can get”, but the realism is that you don’t need every order – you just need the good quality orders. The added bonus is that it puts true value into your service, a quality value that will reflect well when approaching potential clients. I use an example of this when I made the mistake of being too cheap myself.

I was once introduced to a large pharmaceutical company to do a contract as one of the board members at the company was a close friend who had opened the door for me. The deal was as good as mine, so I did my quote making what I thought was an OK profit but not too expensive as I really wanted this order. I was making £5,000 profit. I lost the order to a large blue chip corporate company who went in £19,000 more expensive than me!

When I asked my friend why I lost the order he explained it was simply because I was too cheap. The rest of the board was concerned that I would not have been able to provide the quality of service they wanted because I was so much cheaper than the other price. If I had been just £5,000 cheaper then the order would have been mine, and I would have made an extra £9,000 more profit on that order!

Although an extreme but very true example, the same applies on a much smaller scale. If you are running around trying to service too many customers who are not paying enough, give serious thought to raising your prices and go after a better quality of client. It is better in business to have less clients paying sensible rates and making a sustainable profit, than having hundreds of customers paying low fees and you make a loss.

You may even be surprised to find that most of your clients may actually be happy to pay you a higher fee. I know I sent this IT guys invoice back to him for my laptop repair and told him to double it! I want him to still be in business a year from now looking after my own office network.

The article may be freely distributed and copied subject on the condition that credit is given to myself with a link through to www.ozzy.co.uk

The first time I was invited to attend a business networking event was some 8 years ago by a printer. He said it would be good for my business, and that they had a slot for my business category. I had no idea what on earth he was on about, so he then explained that all I needed to do was turn up at 6:30am with a one minute presentation prepared for my business. I would then have the perfect opportunity to stand up in front of about 30 business owners and present my business to them.

That was it; I near as hell had a heart attack and made my excuses. I was busy, family issue, sorry thanks for the offer but I won’t be able to make it. The very thought of walking into a room of other business owners and standing up in front of them scared the hell out of me.

I now realise that I had already been networking since I was about 5 years old. When you start school you go into a room of other people all in the same boat as you, and you start to make friends with them, getting to know them all one by one. Business networking is no different really, and it does help to realise that everyone feels the same as you no matter how confident you think they look or sound. They were all first time networkers once and were all just as nervous as you the first time they attended a networking event, or their first day at school.

So how can networking improve your profit?
Well first of, and more importantly than anything else, networking is not about the instant win. If you expect to walk into a networking event and come away with a signed order you are likely to be sadly let down. Networking is all about building relationships; it is called “Farming” in many networking circles. You also have to take it seriously, there is no point attending a networking venue once and never going back again as no-one will ever remember you. You need to attend these events on a regular basis. It is about getting to know those other people in the room, gaining their trust and respect, and then if that goes well they introducing you to other people they know who could use your services. This is referral marketing, and it only costs the price of a full English breakfast! What’s more, these people you meet will happily refer your business to everyone suitable that they meet forever more.

Networking is also a great way to meet new suppliers, new friends and also a great way to build a great support network. Before I started networking I was as nervous as hell standing up in front of people presenting my business. I now happily enjoy standing up in front of crowds of hundred or more people and giving a presentation on anything from networking to my own business. Networking has helped boost my confidence and improve my presentation skills, and it’s all included in the price of a breakfast.

Networking doesn’t have to just be face-2-face; there are online networking communities you can take part in also. There is obviously my old website at www.ukbusinessforums.co.uk, and on that website you can network with a community of over 17,000 other business owners. There is also www.ecademy.com, a hard core networking website which is broken down into what they refer to as “Clubs”. The same principles apply to online networking as do to personal networking. It all boils down to relationships and trust, not the instant sale which so many people fail to grasp. These are the same people that say “Networking doesn’t work for me or my business”, and they wonder why.

Can you imagine how laughable it would be if some crazed lunatic ran into a hall of 80+ business people, threw his business cards up in the air shouting “Buy my great widgets off my website, they are great” and then ran back out of the room never to be seen again. Everyone would laugh at how ridiculous he was and then forget about him by the next day. No-one would look at his website, and no-one would trust him or his products. This principle is even more important with online networking. Those who visit online networking forums, post a message online saying look at my website, and then are never seen again just have their messages deleted and no-one takes any interest in what they have to offer. Now those that contribute on the forums and become part of the online networking community become trusted and known as experts in their field. They are the ones that benefit from networking.

There are hundreds of different networking organisations and events in every area around the world. I’ve pre-booked myself into every single Chamber of Commerce and FSB networking event in my area from now until the end of the year. There are professional networking organisations such as BNI, BRE and others which I’d also recommend giving a try. There are even fun networking clubs, and next week I’m going to a Networking Curry Club and tomorrow I’m playing Golf at a professional golfing networking event. I’ve even been known to try my hand at Speed Networking, which was an experience!

If you want to try your hand at networking, and I strongly suggest you do, then the following are a few good places where you can find out what is happening in your area;

• Contact your local Chamber of Commerce and ask their Events Team what networking events that have coming up.
• Contact your local FSB representative and find out when their monthly breakfast is on and where.
• By a copy of your local newspaper on that day that comes with the business supplement, they usually contain a list of up coming networking events.
• There is most likely to a business advertorial paper in your area, subscribe to receive that on a regular basis as it is likely to also contain details on local networking events.
• Look on the BNI and BRE websites for your area and contact their Chapter Directors’ saying you would like to come along as a visitor.
• Finally, don’t forget to ask everyone you meet at every networking event if they know of any other networking events in the area that you could attend.

Another couple of tips to take into account when you do start networking first don’t waste the back of your business card. Make sure your business card contains all your contact information as well as information on what your company does. I see hundreds of business cards that look really pretty, they do honestly, but I haven’t got a clue what the company does. Secondly, there is almost nothing more embarrassing than going to a networking event and not having any business cards to hand out. I’d recommend taking no less than 50 business cards out with you when you go networking, but ideally take a hundred. The last thing you want to happen is to be talking to someone who says “Ah you’re just what a friend of mine was looking for, can I take one of your cards to pass to him?” and you reply with “Oops, sorry, I don’t have any”. Always make sure you have plenty of stock of your business cards and carry plenty around with you.

Why do I network? Well in year 2004 I spent just under £100,000 on PR and Marketing in my business and did no networking, in 2005 I spent just under £80,000 in PR & Marketing and just started networking in the summer of 2005. This year I might reach £20,000 in my PR & Marketing budget and I heavily network. My turnover for those 3 years remained fairly constant so where do you think that spare £80,000 I was spending on PR & Marketing has gone?

That, my friends, is why Networking is a Cost-Effective Marketing Strategy.

This article may be reproduced on the condition that it is kept entirely intact and credit is given to myself with a link back to www.ozzy.co.uk

A good friend of mine is always coming up with ideas for businesses he wants to start, and several times has asked me to get involved either on an advisory role or as one of those frequently mentioned “investment opportunities” :).  Unfortunately for him, some of his ideas sound quite promising, and could perhaps grow to be very successful. So why is that unfortunate?

It is unfortunate because he does absolutely bugger all with his ideas. He mentiones them, bounces off all the walls with excitement, but does nothing until a few weeks later all is forgotten.

Originally I got quite involved with some of his ideas and was considering investing in one, but as I got to know how he  procrastinates and never actually does anything I too lost interest and started to see him as a very high risk investment. My money would end up doing nothing more than paying his wages to do nothing, until the pot ran dry and we would eventually fall out.

The world is full of people who talk a good game, but very few actually make things happen and try their ideas. I almost lost my home a couple of times because I took the risk on my business ideas, my friend will never take that risk. He will forever more be what some call a “wage slave”, despite running his own business he always takes the safe long term contracts with the guaranteed income. There is nothing wrong with this though, an old boss once said to me the world needs worker bee’s just as much as it needs leaders.  What kind of person are you, if you are an Entrepreneur then you are a Do’er, and you will make your business ideas happen at any cost.

It never ceases to amazing me how many “business opportunities” find their way to you when you come in to a bit of money. All sorts of people come out of the woodwork with the next Facebook, MySpace or even UK Business Forums! Only this week I was contacted by someone looking to setup another forum with the plans to sell it for hundreds of thousands, and wanted me to give them all the information they needed to achieve that.

Now I don’t mind helping people, and I will help whenever I can, but what I do not like are people who are looking to make a fast buck by leaching onto someone elses success. Those who know me will know that I devote a lot of time to sharing any knowledge with people who I can clearly see putting in the extra effort themselves, burning the midnight oil, trying their best but simply lack a little experience or expertise in a particular area. I do not like leaches or clinger ons. People who hunt out someone who has something they want, take what they want and dump them.

If you want to make a success of yourself then do it yourself. Seek legitimate help from friends and colleagues, but don’t leach off other peoples success. They will spot you a mile off and you could lose potential mentors or supporters. Also, just because it worked for one person it doesn’t mean it will work for others, how many successful eBay clones do you know of?