“Hello, I’m Joe Smith. I’m an undertaker’s nightmare.” Now you should have undivided attention of person you’re talking to. An undertaker’s nightmare? So you go on: “That’s because I want to be buried in paperwork.” [Yes, I know, that was a terrible pun. But be honest – it got your attention, right? And that’s what counts.] “I run a printing business. We do any kind of print run, from as little as 100 copies of a monochrome flyer to ten thousand full-color catalogues. And we promise that we will deliver on time, [USP] so you can be sure to have your materials when you need them [Benefit]. We’re so sure of that that we promise to knock 15% off our fee for each day, should a project ever be late. [Guarantee]”

And that’s your business in a memorable nutshell. Just as environmental consultant is now known to everybody as “The trash can lady”, this printer could be famous as “The undertaker’s nightmare”. The point is to be instantly recognized and remembered by people you’ve met – so their next project goes to you instead of person who just said: “Hello, I’m John Doe and I’m a printer”

So, to recap, a great 10 second introduction needs: ·A way to introduce your business that will grab listener’s attention. ·A short description of what you do, including your USP and benefits. ·A Guarantee (if you have one. If you don’t, think about getting one!)

Get all these elements together and you’ll see that people will remember you – and give you their business.

3) Recommend people you’ve done business with. Networking is just as much about getting business for others as getting it for yourself, so if you can recommend somebody you’ve done business with in past, do it whenever possible. You’ll find that people will return favour.

So, after these helpful hints, here are a few online networking clubs to get you started. I’ve selected three very different ones to give you an idea on what’s out there, and what’s suitable for you. All these offer some sort of free membership, as far as I know – but please do check yourselves – you know how fast things change on Internet…

Ecademy (www.ecademy.com) – This is online networking club I’m most involved in. It’s semi-formal, with public forums, private messaging, a marketplace, blogs and useful articles. You’ll have to pay to get most out of it, but in my opinion it’s well worth investment.

Ryze (www.ryze.com) – Ryze is a very informal and chatty network, possibly best suited for small companies operating a retail business from home. Forums, guestbooks and private messaging are available, and it’s very easy to meet new people.

LinkedIn (www.linkedin.com) – LinkedIn is a very formal networking club. Unless a member has specified that they’re open for direct contact, it’s only possible to contact other members via recommendations from people you already know. It takes time and effort to build a network here, but ones you do build seem to have an extraordinary level of trust.

So there you have it – online networking in a box, ready and waiting for you to try. Oh, and if you’re checking our Ecademy – give me a shout while you’re there and let me know how you find this online networking lark…