When I speak to women I meet at events and even talk with
my clients about how they could raise their profile, I am
always struck by how vital women consider the process of
networking. While most women will recognise it is a
potential boon to their careers, some do not embrace it as
readily as others -perhaps out of shyness or an unhelpful
assumption that you network only to sell…or hand out
business cards indiscriminately in a rapid,
take-no-prisoners, machine-gun style.

It is this image that often puts women off - the idea of
wearing a stiff suit, shaking hands endlessly and trying to
deliver an interesting “elevator speech” whilst the person
you speak to looks over your shoulder. The most successful
networkers I know say very little about themselves
initially and are much more curious about helping others -
this is an approach that has far better results in the long
run, but also is one that comes much more naturally to
women who don’t like “tooting their own horn” and are happy
to let a relationship grow.

Also think carefully about what you want from a network.
Are you looking for a new job, a mentor, good contacts of
suppliers, a change of industry, somewhere to hear
inspiring speakers - or what I find many women who come to
my workshops want in the first instance - just a chance to
be around other women who are also working in
male-dominated fields.

The difficulty with networking can come in the self-
imposed pressure to make a sale at the first event you go
to. I used to put enormous pressure on myself when I first
started out, assuming that if no one asked me for
one-to-one coaching on the spot, I had failed. When I look
back, I see how ridiculous that is - especially in the
realm of coaching where most clients feel that they need to
know me better before delving into more personal territory.

It was only when I began to compare networking with that
great British pastime, gardening that I began to be easier
on myself. First, plant your seeds. In this case, begin to
attend events regularly and get to know people and what
they do. Next, choose the best plants for your gardens,
those that will give you the most bang for your buck. When
you first start out, go to a wide variety of networks to
get a feel for what they have to offer and who attends. For
example, when I first set up business, I used to attend
lots of events all over London and Cambridgeshire. It was
only after I began to whittle down to the few that had the
best buds (in gardening parlance) that I was able to become
more heavily involved in and to reap the benefits of
belonging to just a few groups. Marketers will tell you
people need to be exposed to a new product (in this case -
you) seven times before they make a decision to buy. It is
unrealistic to think you can do this with more than just a
few organisations on your first attempts.

Top Tips for Networking like a Gardener

*  It is far better to attend 1-3 networks religiously than
keep up with more on a haphazard basis. Regularly attending
network events will help you build a rapport with the
group, making new introductions easier.
*  Water your plants: You can’t leave the garden unattended
and expect to reap big juicy vegetables months later.
Water” by being helpful to people - again a strength most
women I know already have. If they were in need of a
service of someone you know, a bookkeeper, virtual
assistant or colleague - pass on their details, as making
links is one of the quickest ways to make yourself valuable.
*  Send an e-mail to those you met saying how much you
enjoyed talking with them and include specific references
to your conversation. Do not send generic emails to
everyone. They can feel soulless and impersonal - not the
message you want to send.
*  Make yourself of use to them. Send links to articles
they may be interested in or invite them to other events
that they may enjoy. Make a referral for a service that
they said they need. It is usually after a few months of
contact, bumping into them at other events and infrequently
exchanged e-mails that people will respond
*  Niche down to those you networks you truly enjoy, attend
regularly, be of use to others and you will begin to see
dividends.

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To find out more and add your comments, please visit
http://www.doylemorris.com

(Here’s an article of great value to small business owners, www.GBN-Online.com)

Time was, you could just hang up a shingle and call yourself a business. As long as you didn’t shoot anyone, you were pretty much left alone. Not so any more. A glut of federal and state regulations have come into being, many just over the past few years, and many apply to small businesses. These regulations are meant to accomplish any one of several social goods, such as protecting an individual’s privacy and preventing identity theft, preventing corporate financial scandals, or lastly, or so it would seem, just to annoy small businesspeople by increasing their paperwork burden. Fortunately, if you understand these regulations, complying doesn’t have to be too difficult or expensive.

If you have a publicly-held company, you’ll have to comply with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which sets technological standards and reporting requirements for how companies handle their financial reporting. Passed in response to the recent wave of corporate scandals, fiscal mismanagement and outright theft, Sarbanes-Oxley puts in place a set of requirements for establishing internal controls that ensure the integrity of a company’s financial data. Although the requirements are generally the same for companies of all sizes, smaller companies have been granted some flexibility in terms of longer timeframes to become compliant. This Act calls for, among other things, security-related solutions to be put into place to regulate access to financial data, provide an audit trail, and generate detailed reports for the government. The good news is, if you already follow best practices in security, you’re already more than halfway there.

If you are in the healthcare industry, whether you are a healthcare provider, pharmacy, or a data processing agency serving the healthcare industry, you’ll have to comply with the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA). HIPAA calls for any company that handles private patient data to guarantee that it is secure and protected against unauthorized access. If your company handles healthcare information of any sort, for any reason, you will have to take technological steps to ensure that it is secure through measures such as encryption, strong two-factor authentication, and adequate firewalling.

And if you’re in California, or if any of your customers are in California, you’ll have to comply with SB 1386 (the California Information Practice Act). This law requires that your company provide notice to customers whenever any technological hack, or other attack has occurred and caused personal information to be exposed and vulnerable to theft. Meant to safeguard against identity theft, this state law also applies to any subcontractors of companies that maintain information about California residents. This particular law is ground-breaking, since although it is on paper just a California law, it has, in reality, become a federal law. California is the largest state, population-wise, in the U.S., and any mid-size company and many smaller ones have at least a few customers in California, regardless of where the company is actually located. If, for example, your company is in Maine, but your mail order division sold some products to someone in California, you must comply. Compliance simply means that if your network is attacked, you must notify your customers. Although this can be done individually, most companies actually make notification on their Web sites, or through issuing a public press release.

The Visa Cardholder Information Security Program (CISP) isn’t a state or federal law, but a mandate from VISA USA created to protect cardholder data. It calls on all vendors who accept credit card payments to adhere to a higher standard of information security for the purpose of guarding against identity theft. CISP calls on vendors to implement standard security measures such as firewalls, anti-virus software, and strong authentication to regulate who has access to customer credit card data. Visa also has set forth a set of best practices. Compliance is easy, and involves adhering to the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard which includes a call for implementing standard security technology, restricting access, and encrypting the transmission of any cardholder data.

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About the Author: Audrey Hoffman is a successful business woman who writes articles for entrepreneurs, in addition to writing for Speedy Incorporation, a site that helps people incorporate in Georgia and offers business advice. http://www.speedy-incorporation.com

Once you’ve identified your new business idea. You’re going to have to let people know about it. Sounds obvious? Apparently it isn’t. How many times have you been actively trying to spend your hard-earned money on a product or service, and all the companies looked the same? These companies are lazy marketers. They are telling you about all the fancy gizmos that every other competitor has, too.

Do you reconize these marketing gold mines? “Just Do It”, “Have Your Way”

About the Author: Mr. VEGriff is a small business web developer and manager.
More info. at http://www.GBN-Online.com and http://www.gbn-blogs.com/blog