GBP featured in Making Money magazine

As many of you know, I am a great believer in the use of networking as the fundamental basis of generating interest and activity in one's business. I am by no means an expert - no more so than the next active networker, at least - but I'd like to think I have built up some worthwhile knowledge which can be passed on to anyone interested in the topic.

In a roundabout way, it is thanks to networking that we came to be interviewed for the current issue of Making Money magazine here in the UK (cover date May 2009). The subject of the article: networking.

Some years ago, when I was at university, I got chatting to one of my lecturers. He was an active photographer and journalist, with a wealth of information readily available to be shared with any student willing to show the initiative. Well, me being me, I did just that - staying back after class, following up the topics discussed in tutorials and arranging further meetings as part of my post-grad activities (i.e. setting up in business).

In the course of our conversations, it transpired that my tutor actually lived not too far from my family home and I was invited to get in touch any time I needed advice. Long story cut short, I was building on this connection week-on-week and within months we were working together on a regular basis.

Why am I sharing this story? Well, in many ways networking is all about chance meetings. Sure, you can check out who might be at a particular meeting you wish to attend - you can even research them beforehand via their websites, blogs, Twitter feeds etc. But often, day-to-day networking really is about these chance meetings, a matter of being in the right place at the right time and simply making the effort to take those meetings one stage further.

The exciting thing about the process of networking is that you never know who you might bump into; in turn, you never know where such occasions might take you and you product/service.

Oh, and in case you missed the connection, the author of said Making Money article - my university lecturer who, thanks to our symbiotic working relationship has just put GBP in the minds of an estimated readership of 50,00.

If you have any questions about networking, feel free to email or drop a few lines in the comments section of this post, below.