To network or not to network, that is the question?

If you are in business you will no doubt have heard the buzz word of the moment, ’networking’ & have invitations coming out of your inbox! But what is networking and is it worth it?

Now, to be fair I have only been to a few a network meetings & they all seemed great; lots of other eager & enthusiastic people wanting to spread the word about their particular business.  There was tea & biscuits and it was all very British, with everyone politely listening to each other’s 5 minutes in the spot light where you  ‘sell’ your goods or services and tell of any exciting news that may have happened since the last meeting. But, in all honesty I did not see the benefit (sorry!)

Don’t get me wrong it was lovely to meet other likeminded people and talk to them about the benefits and pitfalls of owning your own business, and I did hear some useful tips, but I don’t make any particular effort to go anymore. The main reason being the timing of the meetings, most are either early morning or after ‘work’ hours and being a busy working mum of 2 young boys and with a husband that works shifts that makes it incredibly hard.

I know there are lots of mid-morning ones too but they don’t work for me either! I am fussy aren’t I?! I work on a ‘pay per hour’ basis so for me to leave my home office for even 2 or 3 hours in the morning is not just difficult but also not financially sensible! By the time I have driven to the venue, been to the meeting, chatted with people and driven home again, I have lost valuable billable hours and more importantly I am not there for my clients should they need to speak to me.

I totally understand the need for ‘networking’ and I think if your business is a local service such as a plumber, electrician, beautician or something that has fixed boundaries within your area, then I think they are fantastic. But if you sell goods online, or offer services nationwide then I really think you need take into consideration the time & effort it takes you to go to these events versus spending time on social media platforms which will get your message out further and to many more people.

My business is ‘virtual’ in every sense of the word, with clients based up & down the country so I don’t have any ‘boundaries’ for my work area. So, for the time being at least, my networking will remain on my ever faithful Twitter. During the course of any one day I can ‘network’ with thousands of people in a single tweet J plus I can drop in at any time & always find someone to chat too!

And before anybody asks, no this blog is not sponsored by Twitter, lol! Just a twitter addict ;o)