The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking How to use the power of online and offline networking for business success

by Townsend, Heather

• ISBN13: 9781292003955
• ISBN10: 1292003952
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2014-08-19
• Publisher: Ft Pr

Summary

‘A great, practical guide to all aspects of networking – stuffed with lots of quick and easy tips to help you leverage the power of your network.’

Ivan Misner, NY Times bestselling author and founder of BNI and Referral Institute

 

'This practical and easy-to-read book will quickly get you the results you need from your network.'
Charlie Lawson, BNI UK and Ireland national director

 

‘A “must read” for anyone wanting to use the power of face-to-face AND online networking to generate career and business success.’

Andy Lopata, author of Recommended and And Death Came Third

 

 

Up to 80 per cent of opportunities come from people who already know you, so the more people you know, the more chance you have of winning the new business or career you want.

 

The Financial Times Guide to Business Networking is your definitive introduction to a joined-up networking strategy that really works. This award-winning book has now been fully updated to include new chapters on generating referrals and boosting your confidence when networking, as well as the latest advice on social networking sites. 

• Successfully combine online and offline networking techniques
• Develop the best networking approaches and behaviours
• Make a great first impression, build rapport and generate strong business relationships
• Talk to the right people, have productive conversations and effectively work a room

Author Biography

Heather helps professionals and firms become the Go-To-Expert. Unusually for someone with an Engineering Degree, she accidentally became a writer and used her knowledge on social media to write the current best-selling and award-winning book on networking, The FT Guide To Business Networking. (75 five star reviews on Amazon) People frequently talk about Heather as someone who really knows her stuff - which may be the reason she has, over the last decade, worked with over 100 partners, coached and trained over 1000 professionals at every level of the UK's most ambitious professional practices.

Recently referred to as 'one of the UK's most influential 'tweeters'', the UK's 'networking queen' and "Twitter royalty", Heather has built a very large network online, with over 9500 Twitter followers in the last 3 years. She blogs on the subject of referral generation using networking and social media for professional services, and other issues involving partners who want to grow their practice.

Heather, ACC CIPD MEng (oxon) Hons, is a graduate from Oxford University in Engineering Science. (This may explain the spelling and grammatical errors which her editor is always having to remove from her manuscripts!) Her early career was in supply chain management, working for Procter & Gamble and Tesco. Before, she took the plunge into business ownership, she spent five years working for BDO LLP, a UK top 6 accountancy practice. She is an associate credentialled coach with the ICF, a chartered manager with the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development.

In her spare time, she is often found perfecting the perfect gluten and dairy free lemon drizzle cake, as well as scootering around flitwick with her two young children.

Heather can be found blogging at:
* Joined up networking - http://www.joinedupnetworking.com
* How to make partner and still have a life - http://www.howtomakepartner.com
* Partnership potential - http://www.partnershippotential.co.uk
* venture-Now - http://www.venture-now.com

Table of Contents

About the author

Acknowledgements

Introduction

 

Part 1  The joined-up approach to business networking

1 Why network?

2 How to create opportunities via networking

3 Behave like a great networker

 

Part 2  Online and face-to-face networking options explored

4 Face-to-face options

5 Online networking options

6 Blogging

 

Part 3  Essential networking skills for the joined-up networker

7 An introduction to the FITTER^TM process for successful networking

8 Making the right first impression

9 How to keep the conversation going

10   How to work a room

11   How to ask for referrals and introductions

12   How to build your own community  

13   International networking

 

Part 4  Putting your joined-up approach to networking into action

14   Building your own successful joined-up networking strategy  

15   Writing your joined-up networking plan

16   How to fit it all in

17   A final word about networking

 

Appendix 1: Useful Financial Times articles

Glossary

Further resources

Index