In the simplest terms, face to face networking is about meeting the people who will help you make a success of your business. These people can be clients, suppliers and all the other people who can help your business to grow and thrive.

Networking is not about small talk. It need not be tedious if you plan what you are going to say and do and who you are going to speak to, in advance. Networking is not just about giving and receiving referrals. It?s not about who is in the room at that particular meeting, but also about the people they know and introduce you to.

Networking works for a number of reasons:

• Who are you? If you provide a service, you may find that some people decide to work with you purely because the chemistry between you is right. Networking gives you the perfect opportunity to get to know people and allows them to get to know you.

• Show and tell. Networking is about showing people what you can do. If you provide a service, networking can be used to demonstrate your skills and experience. Use networking to share your knowledge and advice if you provide coaching or consultancy.

• A long decision? Your service may be expensive, or require a large input of time and effort from your clients. This means that they may take some time to make the decision to buy from you. They need time to think about it, but they also want to know that they can trust you. Networking gives you the chance to get to know people and build up trusting relationships with them. When someone trusts you, they are more likely to buy from you and encourage other people to buy from you.

• Short of time and money? Networking is a very cost effective way of promoting your business to a high number of the right sort of people. While activities such as advertising and direct mail can get your company name in front of thousands of potential clients, networking gives you the opportunity to get your name in front of a more targeted audience, on a smaller budget. This doesn?t mean that you can spend little or no money on networking and expect great results overnight ? you still have to put in your best effort.

There are more reasons that networking works and I?ll cover them in another blog post in the future.