Value Added Networking

I'm going to blow BforB East Yorkshire's own trumpet here. Last Friday we launched a our first open training event for members and other colleagues from the business community. The event ' "Climb the Google Rankings" took place at the ever popular networking venue The Pearson Park Hotel.

This event was free to BforB members and Mike Jones spent two hours showing colleagues and guests how to get their websites as high up the page rankings of Google as possible. Mike, who has been a BforB man for two months is one those rare breed. A IT and internet expert who speaks normal English and can explain things in a way that does not make you feel thick. At the very least anyone who attended this course and who is thinking of asking someone to promote their website , either in a one-off campaign or on a long term contract, will know exactly what questions to ask and how to ascertain that your SEO specialist is giving you value for money.

Real value for money is what you get at BforB, events such as this can only enhance members' networking experience. Let's not forget, in spite of the web, twitter and all the gizmos you can think of, people do business with people. For better business networking now, look us up.

BforB gives value added network membership

I'm going to blow BforB East Yorkshire's own trumpet here. Last Friday we launched a our first open training event for members and other colleagues from the business community. The event ' "Climb the Google Rankings" took place at the ever popular networking venue The Pearson Park Hotel.

This event was free to BforB members and Mike Jones spent two hours showing colleagues and guests how to get their websites as high up the page rankings of Google as possible. Mike, who has been a BforB man for two months is one those rare breed. A IT and internet expert who speaks normal English and can explain things in a way that does not make you feel thick. At the very least anyone who attended this course and who is thinking of asking someone to promote their website , either in a one-off campaign or on a long term contract, will know exactly what questions to ask and how to ascertain that your SEO specialist is giving you value for money.

Real value for money is what you get at BforB, events such as this can only enhance members' networking experience. Let's not forget, in spite of the web, twitter and all the gizmos you can think of, people do business with people. For better business networking now, look us up.

SEO Training at BforB in Hull This Friday Pearson Park Hotel

This is the first such event BforB has launched with our partners in referral networking. More will follow,

Here are the details sent out to 500  members of Hull Chamber of commerce,  contact us or leave a comment if you are interested in future events.

Is your website really working for you? Boost your Google ranking by attending the BforB “Climb the Google Rankings” Training Event.

As part of the BforB ethos of developing our members’ skills and capacity to grow their business, we are holding a training event on Friday 18^th February at the Pearson Park Hotel, 2pm to 4pm.

In this two-hour session we will show you:

1.    How to analyse the competition’s website, see what it is they do that pushes them up the Google rankings. You will get access to a simple plug in application that cracks open the secrets of sites and shows exactly who is looking at them!

2.    A list of High PR sites to submit your site to for free. This will put your content all over the web and bring you customers

3.    The easy steps to take to make Google friendly pages that rank themselves. This is a page structure tactic that SEO agencies are afraid to tell you.

We offer this training to our members as a benefit of their membership and today I’d like to extend this invitation to you for £50.

When you consider that a half-day course can cost up to £250 this represents real value for money.

Why are we offering this?

·      At BforB we are passionate about adding value to our colleagues’ networking experience and business.

·      We want you to enjoy the same opportunities our members get.

·      By meeting our members and other like-minded colleagues you will be able to get a feel for how Business Referral Networking can grow your business.

If you would like to attend the phone me, Mark Luscombe on 07837038157, send me an e-mail at mark.luscombe@bforb.co.uk or send the attached fax back form to the number given. 

Successful Business Networking Now In Hull

I had an interesting meeting in Leonardo's Cafe, Hull yesterday with Tom Salter. Tom runs the Best of in Hull and Beverley providing on line networking and marketing services. Essentially he runs an online business networking site. After discussing how we might help one another we had a general conversation about business networking in Hull and the Humber.

We have a plethora of networking opportunities in Hull and the East Riding, speed networking events organised through the Chamber and referral networking through BforB. There can be no doubt that more and more businesses are realising that social media marketing, Facebook, HTML e-mail shots, cold calling or flyers are all good in themselves, but all they do is compliment the fundamental, people doing business with people. The bottom lie about my meeting with Tom was I wanted to meet him because of hs good personal reputation, he appeared to be a person with whom I could develop a Know Like and Trust relationship and requested an introduction through LinkedIN.

So here is a checklist of things to look out for if you are looking to involve yourself in professional networking:

1. Professionalism. No good getting involved in a networking group that is like some kind of social club. Without a professional structure cliques can form and the opportunities for successful networking can elude new or less assertive members.

2. Access to advice on networking tips and skills to develop best practice.

3. An agenda that is driven by a recognition of the fact that people do business with people. A networking organisation that promotes relationships will ultimately produce better long-term business. This depends on the attitude of members, "What's in it for me now?" attitude will only get short term limited returns. Check out this link on the Ten Commandments of Business networking.

You will find all these 3 key markers at your local BforB group. Check us out at the Pearson park Hotel, 23rd February.

The Ten Commandments of Networking

• 1) Thou shalt drop the "what is in it for me?" attitude.
• 2) Thou shalt listen.
• 3) Thou shalt build a relationship.
• 4) Thou shalt give the first referral.
• 5) Thou shalt not tell others of the referral you require; thou shalt "show them" with a story.
• 6) Thou shalt be specific of the type of referral.
• 7) Thou shalt reciprocate when appropriate.
• 8) Thou shalt participate in the network executive, functions, and network time.
• 9) Thou shalt thank the person who gave a referral.
• 10) Thou shalt follow up on the referral within 24 hours.

This useful set of hints comes form this article by Mark McGregor.


Check out business networking now in Hull.

Hull Chamber of Commerce Dinner

Round off the week with a quick account of last night's Hull and Humberside Chamber of Commerce dinner last night. The keynote speaker was Michael Crick who gave a witty and passionate account of the state of British Politics.

I took as my guest Russell McGrath who runs Tandem Marketing in Bradford. Russ had previously invited me to the Bradford Chamber Dinner in November, having been an invaluable source of business advice as well as top class provider of mailing and telemarketing services.

A pity in some respects that the dinner was held on a Thursday, I still had to get up this morning and write my blog send my tweets and meet two BforB members later today to discuss aspects of social networking.

By the end of the evening Russ had met two new colleagues and I managed to talk face to face with somebody with whom I had only had dealings by e-mail. Events such as these are, quite rightly, a celebration of the work of a body that has been around for nearly two centuries. But from a small business owner's perspective the money spent on a dinner was a marketing investment. Putting faces to names, exchanging views on a range of topics and enabling a friend and colleague to boost his connections was worth more than a tweet,  Yellow Pages ad or a mail shot.

Any form of networking is the best value marketing strategy.

Pleasure To Meet You: How Not To Follow Up

Following from a previous post Pleasure to Meet You. In it I wrote about the simple networking practice of sending an E-Mail to someone after you have may them at an event or networking meeting.

So what next? Well not a lot. What is really tempting is to get your new contact's e-mail address and stick it on a list of requests on your LinkedIn account to boost your connections. This is to be avoided. Social networking sites are a tremendous way of keeping touch with contacts, I use Facebook as an alternative to email to keep contact with my friends and family, but unlike others I don't have 399 "friends''.

Whilst not everyone shares this view, I think that LinkedIN and Facebook are tools for keeping in contact with genuine colleagues and friends, if the relationship has no basis in real world then you have no business making "friends " with someone on line.

It follows therefore that requesting a LinkedIn arrangement from someone you have met once and who is yet to write back to you might be seen as bad manners. Like I say, not everyone takes this view, but it is best to be safe and not be seen as too pushy, by waiting for a reply to an e-mail before beginning to tie the virtual knot.