I’ve been representing Ottimo Digital at a few more networking events than usual in recent weeks and I’ve been pleasantly surprised by the results. I can say that in the last half a dozen events I’ve attended we’ve picked up three new customers, all of whom have purchased from us more than once. I hope that these will be long standing and profitable relationships. A couple of them are also reciprocal, with these new contacts becoming our customers and suppliers. 

I admit I haven’t always been a fan of networking. Many events I’ve attended, particularly facilitated networking breakfasts, can be too rigid and one-way. Typically you get a couple of minutes to make your pitch to a table of nine others, before moving on.  The problem with this is that no one is really listening. It’s not because people aren’t interested, they are just too busy thinking about what they’re going to say to the table when it’s their turn. If you’ve ever made a speech at a wedding you’ll know that it’s pretty hard to concentrate on or enjoy the speeches before yours!

The most productive part of this type of event for me is before the actual ‘networking’ starts. You get a reasonable amount of time on the first table whilst eating breakfast to have a conversation with people and I think that’s where you’re most likely to make connections that may lead to a business relationship. For this reason alone facilitated breakfasts are worth attending, but should probably be included as part of a wider mix of events.

There are also more ‘closed’ networking clubs like BNI and Action Business Club, where entry is by invitation and the focus is on everyone in the group helping to refer business to each other and using their own networks to connect the members with other people. I think this format can work well, but you have to make a commitment to attend each week for it to be worthwhile.

I attended Wales’ first Business Biscotti event at the Vale Resort a couple of weeks ago, and this was certainly a refreshing change.  It’s a drop in session that runs 9am-12pm and is free to attend. There’s no rigid structure, just a bunch of people chatting about what they do.  You simply show up and join the conversation.  I found this a really natural and genuine way to network with people and whilst it hasn’t yet resulted in any new business, I made some good connections and it’s just a matter of time before those become fruitful in some way.

One of the difficulties with networking is that it’s hard for businesses to see what the ROI will be given the time spent. I admit these events can be time consuming, not to mention tiring. Standing in a room for 3 hours chatting to dozens of people you’ve never met requires a lot of energy!

You have to accept it as an activity that might not bring consistent results every time. But the fact that you’re present at any networking event immediately opens you up to opportunities that you would otherwise not have. You might learn a piece of news about a competitor, or meet someone with whom you have a mutual interest or connection. I think that in itself is enough of a reason to include some networking as part of your overall marketing plan.

By the way, the next Business Biscotti event is on Thursday 2nd June at the Vale Hotel - I’ll see you there.

It’s official, I’m now a Google Apps authorised reseller! I recently completed a number Google Apps account migrations to give me eligibility for the reseller program, and I proudly present my new badge ;-)

I’ve been a strong advocate of cloud based computing services for some time and Google Apps is no exception. For those of you unfamliar, Google Apps is another way to host and run your company emails, contacts and calendar. You keep your same company email address, but you route your email via Google’s servers. Everything gets backed up there, and all of your devices (PC, Laptop, Phone) stay in sync. You also get web based email via Gmail.

It also includes some added features for business like Google Docs. Google Docs is a great collaborative platform which allows you to create, share and edit Word, PowerPoint and Excel documents (in Google Docs format).

And although it probably isn’t the primary consideration for busines users, it’s also cost effective at around £35 per user per annum.

We’ve been running Google Apps in our own businesses for almost two years now and the experience has been positive. Our email system is robust, everything’s in sync and we’re safe in the knowledge that our data is both secure and always backed up.

As a previous user of Microsoft Exchange Server, my view is that it is overkill for the needs of most small businesses. It also gives you an immediate dependency on a piece of hardware that sits in the broom cupboard of your office. This exposes you to all kinds of risks: faults, fire, theft and so on. I know from personal experience that that these risks are very real. We once had a power surge at our office (it smoked one of the hard drives of the server) and our whole email system went down for two days whilst we awaited its repair.

There’s also the issue of back ups - what happens if your server gets stolen or goes up in smoke? The idea of having to take a back up off site with you every day is daunting - who really has time for that? 

So, based on my experience I think Google Apps is a great solution for small business users.

If you’re interested in Google Apps for your business or have any questions about the best way to migrate from MS Exchange or any other email platform, just let me know via the comments.