Business networking organisations come in all shapes and forms and as communication becomes easier so worldwide barriers are broken down and it is now possible to network with people across the globe. But it is easy to get carried away thinking that the wider the network (geographically) the better when perhaps this isn’t the best approach.How wide do you spread your net?The first thing to consider is what you are aiming to achieve from networking – are you looking for new clients, new suppliers, new opportunities, or just contacts who can help you? It’s then about deciding where each of these categories of people will come from – do your suppliers and clients need to be local and can new opportunities be located far and wide?Let’s say you are looking for new clients. If you have a business which requires face to face contact with your clients on a regular basis it is unlikely you are going to want to travel long distances to network with potential clients, unless of course you are in a niche market where you have a handful of high value clients.When choosing a networking event you need to think about where other attendees come from – how local are they and also where do they do business and where do they have contacts. For example attendees may all be local businesses all doing business in the immediate area with only local contacts, or may be locally based but have contacts far and wide.Some business networking events are very much set up to support the local business community and are verging on parochial – ask yourself do they welcome people from further a field? Whilst it may be an advantage having a local group which serves local interests sometimes it can be alienating for those businesses who want to make contact but feel they are not ‘local enough’ and by adopting this local approach are people missing out on potentially useful contacts?My business networking advice is to ask yourself this question; what do you want to get from networking – is it just contact names and addresses or do you want to build up longer term relationships with people? The more regularly you meet face to face and have meaningful dialogue with others the more quickly and likely you are to build relationships. So it follows that the further away people are the longer it will take for this process to happen as it is unlikely that you will meet with others at a distance once a week.Of course there is an increasing number of on-line networks which open up your networks globally, Ecademy and Linked-In being just two of them, however you need to think about how you can make the most of these on-line networks. Just using the on-line facility has its limitations. Whilst you can make contact with a wide range of people and ask to be introduced to contacts of your contacts it takes longer to build up relationships online. It isn’t really until you have spoken with people or met people face to face that you can really start building relationships.There are off-line groups attached to some of these on-line networks but then you need to consider the time you have available and also the resources to network with people at a distance. There are many locally-based groups which are set up as well as national and international groups. For example the global entrepreneurs network XL Results Foundation has a network of members across the globe and runs networking events which are free to its life members. But think of the cost implications in terms of time and money to fly across the globe. You need to be sure that you know what you are aiming to achieve from being involved in such a network.So to summarise some questions to think about when choosing a business networking group
What are you aiming to achieve from networking?
Where are you likely to find the contacts you are looking for?
Who else has the sort of contacts you are looking for and where can you find these people?
How much time and money do you have to spend on networking?
Do you need to build up long term relationships or are you networking to just get information?
What are the aims of the networking groups you are considering, how do members communicate with one another and how do the meet your needs?