Tips on networking - return to the Front page here

5 simple things for successful networking

• Bring sufficient business cards with you to an event - don't have a business card?  Then get them for free from Vista Print. Just in case others forget to bring their business cards, bring a small notepad with you. I always have a nifty micro-stapler too.
• Think of 3 key things you want people to remember about you, and have these in your mind, when you greet people.
• Bring a camera - you can always ask if you can take someone's photo - it's a great way to keep a record of who you meet, and you can store it in your e mail address book / directory. Write the number of the image on the business card they give you.
• When you exchange business cards, write a note on the one you are receiving to remind you of the conversation you just had - I always write the date on it too.
• When you get back to your office follow up by sending an e mail to the people you met and with whom you exchanged cards - do this straight away. When they reply you can automatically store them in your e mail address book or directory - this saves you time transferring contact details from their business card. Assign them a category or colour, and make a note in your electronic calendar, to follow up again after a month.

At Talk the Walk events you wil receive a list of participants before the event - we encourage participants to provide one sentence that gives some indication of who they are and their interest in that particular event.  This gives them an opportunitiy of notifying others about their interests. Before you come to a Talk the Walk event, look thorugh the list of participants and mark up those that are of interest to you.  Note the people you already know - as you want to acknowledge them, however, Talk the Walk is an opportunity to meet new people who might help you to develop or implement your walking initiatives, and it is they you want to spend time meeting.

When you are taking part in a Talk the Walk consider asking questions like these:

- we have these problems – can anyone help us?

- we have these solutions – is anyone interested?