14. Networking & Being in the Right Room as a Business Owner

In this episode of Wildly Intentional, Flick and Verity explore the power of networking — and why being in the right rooms can make all the difference to your business growth.

With Flick crowned the “Networking Queen”, the conversation dives into her experiences of building relationships, showing up confidently and making meaningful connections that actually lead somewhere. Together, they reflect on the good, the bad and the sometimes awkward realities of networking, sharing what works, what doesn’t, and what to avoid.

This isn’t about handing out business cards or forcing conversations — it’s about intention, energy and putting yourself in spaces that align with where you’re going next.

If you’ve ever questioned whether networking is worth it, struggled to find the right environments, or want to approach it in a more authentic and strategic way, this episode will give you a fresh perspective.

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Transcript

SPEAKER_00 0:02

Hi. Hello there.

SPEAKER_01 0:07

I keep thinking about it. I'm going to start it differently.

SPEAKER_00 0:10

I did it different this week. Hi.

SPEAKER_01 0:14

I did a hire, and then we've got a hello there. So you know that we say it's hire. What is this? You okay? Yeah, not too bad. I just got home from a networking event.

SPEAKER_00 0:30

Let's talk about that then. That's that seems like a nice little uh intro.

SPEAKER_01 0:35

Quick little segue into what we're gonna be talking about.

SPEAKER_00 0:37

You are a bit of a networking queen, and we have said repeatedly that we're gonna talk about networking, so let's talk about it. Yes.

SPEAKER_01 0:44

Yeah, I I networking queen. I I just I really like it. I'll be honest, I love networking. Um, you know, today's meeting, I was like, you know, there were people there that I've never seen or even heard of before. Like, and there were businesses there that I'm like, oh, I didn't know you were the sort of people that actually come networking. Because there are certain businesses that don't go networking, okay? That like we've got to we've got to talk about the good and the bad side of networking. There are certain people who just they've got no interest in going into those rooms, into those spaces, um, which is really sad, I think, because you know, you never know who you're gonna meet if you don't actually go and yeah, it would be.

SPEAKER_00 1:24

I remember when um me and Alison first started, we were introduced. Like we're talking about this topic about how powerful networking can be and have it surrounding yourself by with people because business is lonely at the end of the day, it isn't just about making contacts, it's also about kind of having that support network around you. But when we started, I remember we were sat in um her ex-husband's kitchen, and um he said, Oh, I know somebody who runs this group, but it's like for business owners, and none of us even knew what the term networking at the time. Um, he said, I'll give him a call. So he gave him a call, and this guy said, you know, come along to one of my events, which was an evening event. And I remember we sat in the car park and both of us wanted to cry. We were like, I'm terrified, I don't want to go into a room full of strangers. And bearing in mind, at the time, our banner said about six different things on it. We didn't actually know what we did at that point, but we went to this networking event and we met a load of people, and it was actually amazing, they were so friendly, and that particular group grew our business. If it wasn't for that group, we would never have had a business. But he he kind of met us for a coffee a couple of days later and asked us what we thought, and he did a kind of interview process as like whether it's right for him because it was a membership, so we had to pay for it every month. Um so we were like, you know, is it right for you? Blah, blah, blah. And we had that meeting with him, and we decided uh collectively that it was the right move. But you know what? I met business contacts in that room that night on that first night that I had right to the end of our career in in that business. Um, and we became like this huge supportive network. We became business friends. Some of us were in the same industry, some of us were different industries. All of our clients in the first eight months of the business came from that room. Every single client we had came from that room, but we went back week after week, every single week. We went back and we built this amazing community, but it was just phenomenal.

SPEAKER_01 3:28

But then there's there's other ones, and there's there is a there is a skill in knowing the room that's right for you. Um, because you know that I know certain other people, and I've done it myself, for I've gone time and time again to a you know a networking group and kind of gone, this isn't the right room for me. This is not this is I'm feeling like I'm having to mask, I'm having to to present myself in a certain way to be listened to. Um yeah, and that then you know there's everything few and far between sort of things, and it's you know, the reason why I go to so many networking things is because it's like I'm constantly looking for more groups that are what I want to do, that I want to connect with. And yeah, I've got some fantastic groups that I'm a member of that um I I class them more as friends rather than you know business contacts, but eventually effectively they yes, they are business contacts. Um, but the at some point there's sort of a you know the line kind of switched, and they're now they're now friends as well.

SPEAKER_00 4:27

But it is about rinse and repeat. I said that on the last episode, rinse and repeat. I I'm a huge advocate for going out to as many networking events as you possibly can, figuring out the ones that you fit in with. I know that there was one, I won't name it, it was three letters, um, that I was never gonna fit into, and because I never did buy into the whole sales pitch, and it was very sales pitchy, and it was very um um rigid in the rules. Um we weren't rigid, clearly, you know, we were the girls who turned up in bright pink hoodies, you know, there was nothing rigid about us, and we certainly weren't gonna attend a networking event at 6:30 in the morning, it just wasn't gonna happen, um, no matter how much breakfast was involved. I don't eat till half eleven, they had no chance. Um, but you know, you do find the ones that suit you, and and you also often quite find the ones that you don't think are gonna suit you, suit you really well. I remember going to the chamber once, um, North Hans Chamber of Com Commerce. I'll give them a shout out. Um, and we thought, no way we're gonna fit in there. It's all gonna be very suited and booted, very professional. And we debated, I remember the night before, and we were about a year into business at this point. So we'd been going to weather networking events, we kind of navigated to the more casual ones. The most professional one we did was the original one that we'd stayed with for about four years. Um, but the chamber was like another level that was like, you know, you had to be a really good business to get into the chamber. And it was like um, I remember sitting there with Alison debating should we wear suits, should we like get dressed up? And then we sat there and we were just do you know what? We're the girls in pink with the hoodies. And if if they don't like it, we're not gonna fit in. So let's just go and see what happens and see how they react. And I remember the looks as we walked into that room and we were really intimidating. But a lot of the crowd that we saw at this other networking event were also there, so we kind of relaxed into it a little bit. And the guy that was um kind of going around the businesses, he was like the business development manager at the time, he was very good at what he did. So he kind of made us feel at home. And we were a bit unsure about it, but they did this, it was an evening event, and they did this thing where every one of these events they'd pull out a business card, and whoever's card got pulled out, they had to do a 15-minute presentation at the next event. So at this point, we were like, Are we gonna go back? I'm not sure we're in hoodies. People really don't know how to take us, they don't know how to talk to us. And our card got pulled out on the first night. So we were like, ah, no, okay, but now we have to go again, um, and we have to deliver a presentation. So then we had this debate: do we deliver in suits? Do we dress up? We're like, No, we're going in our hoodies. And do you know what? We had every single person in that room on their feet deliberately. We made it so casual, so unprofessional, but boy, did we deliver a message and we had everybody on their feet, and it was amazing. And we never looked back. We were a member of the chamber for years after that, and it was brilliant. So I think you kind of you've got to go with no preconceptions of what it's like, but judge it when you get there and whether you feel okay with it, whether you think this is gonna be right for you. But the one thing I always always laughed at, we'd have clients who'd say networking doesn't work for me, and we'd say, Why? And they go, It just doesn't. I know.

SPEAKER_01 7:40

So what's the apologies as well, for good sake.

SPEAKER_00 7:42

Yeah, don't apologize. And I we'd say, What networking events have you tried? And they'd like list them. And it's like, so how many times have you been? Well, once.

SPEAKER_01 7:52

Once, and I didn't get any business from it. People and they didn't get any business to buy, so don't go there to sell. It's like we said in the marketing episode like people don't go on social media to buy, don't go on social media to sell.

SPEAKER_00 8:01

Like the yeah, that was the biggest thing. Networking is about building relationships, it's about building trust. You cannot do that on one occasion. I remember there was this once I was in the middle of a conversation with somebody, and somebody walked past me. She walked up to me, literally stood in the middle of us, gave me my her business card right in front of my face and said, Give me a call. And I just took this business card, bearing in mind she'd interrupted my conversation, looked at her, ripped it up and went, I don't think I will actually. And then we walked off. It was just how bloody rude are you? You do not go to networking to sell. I would always say, never pitch, apart from your 60-second pitch if they allow it, do not pitch your business. Go and have conversations, build relationships with people, build that trust, build those friendships. That's why people come to you and why they recommend you. Don't show up once and expect the world because that's not gonna happen.

SPEAKER_01 9:00

Get a grip. I just want I always want to like throw back in time though, because what you've been talking about, like your networking and turning up as the girls in the pink hoodies. I remember at the end of the end of IMMC or towards the end, and you were like, Oh, we're gonna ditch the pink hoodies because we've outgrown them now. And it's like, but no, this was this was your power move of wearing those pink hoodies. Um, but yeah, I've had the same thing of like I've been chatting away to somebody, and we've been chatting away about um, I think we we were meeting over coffee, it was early in the morning, kind of a I think it was Lincoln Business Club, and it got onto the topic of the fact that she'd got kids who are in the scouts, and I'm very, you know, very proud scout leader. Um, and we were talking about scouting the activities and the camps and that kind of stuff that was coming up, and somebody literally walked into the middle of our conversation, yeah, handed me a business card, and then walked to the next person, handed them a business card. And I was like, I think I left it on the windowsill. I just sort of stared at them for about three seconds and like complete silence in our conversation, put it on the windowsill, and just carried on the conversation that I was having about scouting. Because it's like that's that's not how you do it.

SPEAKER_00 10:04

That's not you are there to build trust, you build, you build relationships, you don't I even said in the last episode as well.

SPEAKER_01 10:12

Like if it doesn't work the first time, if you don't get any one-to-ones the first time you go networking, that is your opportunity to look at actually how did you arrive in that room? What were your expectations when you went into that room? I've had I have far better experiences at networking when I arrive with no expectations and I just go, let's see who I'm gonna meet. Let's what conversations am I gonna have? I'm gonna go with no agenda, or I've got you know, yes, okay, I've got my 60 second pitch, but half the time I will base that based on other people's pitches that I've heard, and you know, providing I'm not first, because that was all that was always the daunting one when I had to deliver the first 60 seconds because I'm like, I haven't yet sussed out what room of businesses this is. Um, but no, just just turn up, let's see what happens, let's see who I meet, let's see what natural conversation comes um and who I can potentially have another meeting with and develop that conversation. Yeah, absolutely. That's and those are the best ones.

SPEAKER_00 11:09

On the flip side of something we said though, never be afraid to interrupt a conversation either at networking, but but just don't interrupt it for the wrong reasons. If you want to get into a conversation, because it's always quite awkward, isn't it? Especially if you're quite nervous. It is people expect you to want to come into their conversation. I always expect other people to come in because that's what networking is about. I would always put my arm around somebody if I see them standing sheepishly on their own, not knowing what to do with themselves. I would always bring them into the conversation, but go into that conversation with the right intention. Don't go in there because you want to give your business card or sell. Go into it, you know, because you want to join in the conversation and get to know people. But the magic happens in networking. I just think it's I'm such a huge advocate for it. It's it's a great way to build support for your business, it's a great way to get clients, it's a great way to build relationships with people, it's a great way to get recommended, but you have to take that first step. So you've got to, I know that you know, there's a lot of people listening that will be thinking, I'm terrified about turning up to a networking event. It is super scary. It is. There is no way, you know, unless you're a really confident person, it is mega intimidating, especially when you walk into a room and people obviously know each other, they've been going a while. But just remember every single person in that room was you once. At some point, they were you, they were and they all know how you felt.

SPEAKER_01 12:30

Yeah.

SPEAKER_00 12:30

And if you get there and it feels like it's all really clicky, it's not the right room for you, and that's okay. But you will find your events where you fit in and people understand that they've been there too, and they will put that arm around you. Don't fear networking events because they can literally make or break a business. Having that support network is huge, absolutely huge.

SPEAKER_01 12:51

And also, like it's it's very easy to think, oh, okay, if I go into this room, I'm gonna be judged, is my 60s I can pitch right? Is it gonna, you know, is it gonna inspire things? And you you you can overthink and overanalyse. Now I network with a couple of people. One of them um is a voice confident coach, so Kathy Rice Oxley, if she listens, and I'm not sure that she does, but uh hello Cathy, if you do, um, and another lady whose name's gone clean out of my head now that I've said Caffy's. So Caffy is a voice confident coach, she teaches people how to you know present themselves, how to talk with confidence, um, you know, and get their their voice and passion across without she's brilliant. Anyway, um, and this other lady whose name is really annoying me, but she's um sort of a body language coach and uh you know, and the three of us, we've gone to networking, and the minute we say what we're doing, what we do, you know, I say the fact that I'm a social media marketer, um, I help people to improve their social media marketing. The amount of people that will hand me a business card and go, oh God, don't don't look at my socials, don't uh I'm you know, I'm really nervous about it. Please, please don't judge me too harshly. I'm like, I've never done that, I've never looked at somebody who I've met networking socials and gone, well, this is rubbish. So clearly you need my services, and clearly you need to do it. I'm like, that's that's you know, Kathy has never done that. She's never you know seen somebody take the microphone when it gets when you know certain networking groups have microphones. She's never gone like, well, you don't know how to hold a microphone. This is how you hold a microphone and talk into it with clarity and precision and and the right angle, and so you don't get feedback and all of that kind of stuff. And the body language it's really gonna bug me when I remember her name. She's not going, well, you're slouching, you're sat, you know, you're not standing right, you're not, you know, you're not welcoming people by way of that's not what she's doing. She's genuinely curious about who she's meeting, like yeah, yeah. Fear of judgment.

SPEAKER_00 14:48

There is a huge fear of judgment, and there is also the flip side of it as well, because as you grow in business, you are going to need people, you will need to use services of other people, and if you don't, then you're not growing your business. You uh you have to get to a stage where you need to invest in yourself and your business. The best place you can possibly find the services you need are in the rooms you've built relationships with. So it's not just about you selling to them, it's also a place where you know you can trust somebody with your business. So it works both ways. It isn't just about you going and selling, it is about you building those relationships to work both ways. And I said in the last episode about like giving back, and we talked about a little bit about karma and um you know uh um random acts of kindness. The networking room is absolutely the place to give, give as much as you possibly can because you will get it back tenfold, yeah. 100%. You give advice in that room, give great talks in that room, give your card to people who want your card, give whatever you can to people because they will then come to you when they need that service. It builds that trust.

SPEAKER_01 15:56

And uh that was the that was one of the things that I had a few months ago. Was I I met an uh a new lady at a networking event, and I was like, right, okay, I I don't know you, I'm really curious about what you do, how you do it, who you do it for. Can we have what and and she was a bit like, Oh, I'm I'm really new to networking, like this is like it was like her second ever networking event. And I was like, right, well, we'll have a we'll have a coffee chat. And we had this coffee chat, and while she was talking, I mean, you know what my brain's like is the fact that while you're talking, yeah, ideas are sparking, like my my brain is fizzing. And literally she got to the end of like what she does, who she's looking for, how she's looking to grow a business, blah blah. And I had a list of names in my head that I gave her, and I said, right, you need to speak to this person about that networking group, or you need to speak to this person because they're they're building a community of people who do what you do, you need to speak, and like I then, you know, when I got back to my laptop and I got home and I literally CC'd her into emails with all of these people that I'd said I would introduce her to. And she, but while we were in that that coffee chat, she was like, I feel really bad that I don't have that to give you. Like, you're gonna give me loads of names and introduce me to people. And I was like, No, that's that's not I'm not introducing you to people because you're when I'm gonna it's but it's because I want to help you, like that is that is who I am. That's that's why you know part of my core value is I want to help other people to grow. Um and I'm like, at some point, somebody will say to you the fact that oh yeah, I'd I'd I'd love to do more on social media, but and my name will pop up for you. Like that's all these other people have done, is they've said they're looking for people to come into this community on that networking group, or they're based in this area and they know lots of people there. And I'm just gonna help, you know, but you build your network, and at some point down the line, it whether it's me or somebody else, you're gonna be able to do that, you're gonna be able to pay it forward, and that's that's what networking is about.

SPEAKER_00 17:52

100%. And I was gonna say something and I've forgotten it, it was really good as well. Oh, so there used to be like this cheesy thing that like the first guy who ran the networking event that we went to used to say all the time, and I used to think, Oh, yeah, it's rubbish, but actually it's not rubbish, and we used to use it comparing it to LinkedIn as well. It is that when it comes to networking, it's never just about the people in the room because you have to imagine the networking events they're going to and the contacts everybody else has. So it is exactly what you just said, where your name will come up naturally. So it's not you're not just talking to the people in the room, you're talking up to all of their contacts too. Because when you build that relationship, they will start to recommend you to people you have never met in your entire life, that you will start to get those recommendations. And it took, I mean, with us, it took probably about two and a half years before we ever had to advertise in any way, shape, or form, before we even started getting clients from any other avenue other than networking, because we didn't need to, because we were either getting it in the room or we were getting it from recommendations for those in the room. It's the same with LinkedIn, just to bring it back to that. You know, when you're connecting to one person, you're connecting to all their connections too, as long as you're building those relationships and not sending to them on LinkedIn. So, yeah, it's just like you know, there is no non-benefit to, of course, you are going to get people who go networking and they are networking to sell. But you, the more you go, the more you will spot them. And you know, you can have a little bit of a giggle about them and just say, right, just don't get in a conversation because you know they are not interested in what you do in any way, shape, or form. They're only interested in selling, and you get to know those people, and that's okay, it's who they are, but that's not why you go networking, you go networking to build those relationships, build rapport with people, build trust with people. That's how you build your business.

SPEAKER_01 19:40

Yeah, and I always remember I went to you saying about people who go in there to sell. I went to um uh again, it was another networking event in Lincoln, I was chatting away to somebody, um, and he'd been sort of doing the, you know, you know the people who are doing the rounds, they do it go into lots of networking. And I was like, Oh, you know, I invited him to another group that I'm a you know part of. And he literally looked at me and he said, Well, what business am I going to get out of that? And I was like, oof, that's that wasn't the sort of person that I kind of pegged him down as being that kind of you know, salesperson. He's like, No, he said, I'm I understand the value of networking, but my bosses, because he worked for a large corporate organization, he says, I have to be able to justify the business that I get out in order for them to, you know, pay the expenses to or the time for him to get, you know, sort of allow him out of the office kind of thing. Um, and I just thought that was really, really sad that you know, large businesses who will have bought up, built up for, you know, you don't start as a large business, you start small. Um, that they've built it up and they've just lost touch with actually what it is to go networking. It's like not everybody needs your services right now, but the more you're networking, the more you cement those bonds between people so that your name is the one that comes up when they do need it.

SPEAKER_00 21:01

And just to put a little bit, excuse me, of a caveat in there. It is okay to be savvy about networking. It is okay to look at a room and think, am I ever going to get anything from this? It is okay to do that, but just know that just because you're not going to get anything in that first meeting does not mean that six months down the line, because you're in business for the long game, you are not going to get a hundred meetings from that meeting. So it is never, and we used to get that a lot. We used to get a lot of people saying, I've got to justify it to my boss. We met a lot of people who went networking for their organizations, and they do have to be a little bit savvy about it. But you know, these are also salespeople, so they need to be selling to the companies that actually, this is the long game. You know, we're going because we're building these relationships, we're cementing our name in people's minds.

SPEAKER_01 21:49

I know we already I I remember that. Um, so even though you know we'd done we'd done the F words networking that you ran, yeah, um, when I worked for for my previous company, like my previous company. Would allow me to go about networking, but every time I got back, it was almost like I was pulled into an interrogation room with like, well, what business, what, what sign-ups have you got from that network? Yeah, what what business have you got? And I was like, Oh, okay, I've I've clearly got this wrong. So when I then came to work for you guys and I went networking, and and sure enough, I came back and you went, So how was it? And I was like, Well, I've got this person who might be interested in this product, and this this person who might be interested in this service. And you were like, I don't give a shit about that, Flick. Like, how was it? Like, who did you meet? Like, is there any, you know, is there anything that you think we could we could benefit from, like buying in from our business or personal, or you know, what what conversations have you had? Like you were very much like, have you not got the corrupt concept of networking? And I was like, but when I network for when I work for somebody else, that was always a thing of like, well, what have you got for for that, you know, that couple of hours out of the office? What have you done?

SPEAKER_00 22:53

I think you know, you have to do that six, eight, ten months down the line. You do have to look because it is a marketing threat, it is you know, uh a way of marketing your business, and you do have to be savvy, savvy, and keep track of things and see if anything is coming from it. Because if 10 months down the line you haven't got a one-to-one or you haven't got any clients from it, then something isn't working. And you need, and it might be that you need to just kind of branch out and go to different networking, or you there is an element of being marketing savvy about it, but you just don't turn up in the first instance thinking I'm gonna get loads of business from this because the only way you're getting business from it is by building those relationships, you'll not get any business by going in with the sales pitch, it's just not happening.

SPEAKER_01 23:33

Yeah, and I've done I've done that, you know, with I mean, you know, recently I I was a member of a networking group for 12 months, yeah. And I went every month and you know, I I reached out to certain people and I tried to get in one-to-ones and meetings and stuff like that, and I got absolutely nothing from it. And I got got to the end of my 12 months, and I was like, Do you know what? No, it's not for me. I've I've tried my best with this group. It's this is this is not my my my room.

SPEAKER_00 24:01

You know, that there's a um a friend of the city. And that's okay. Yeah, that's just savvy. But we always said, didn't we, that networking was the number one marketing tool. Actually, even before social media, and we ran a social media agency, it was always networking is your number one marketing. Social media comes after that, yeah. Every time it's who's in the room, who are you talking to, whose name, or who are you cementing your name with? That's that's always what it's about.

SPEAKER_01 24:29

Yeah, and that's network is powerful. Some people then struggle. So um I've been I've I've done it myself. I've I've you know, and I've seen other people do it, is the fact that you know you get into that that one particular networking group and you build up those friendships and those relationships, and then you know, you as a collect like collective group of people, you then go to another room for something, and it's really difficult then to kind of go, right? I've really cemented my my my relationship. And you know, our listeners can't see the fact that I'm gesticulating to my right at the moment, saying, I've really cemented my relationship with those people on my right that we've turned up with. Yeah, I need to go and find new people to build new, and you know, it becomes almost like a friendship group that you want to like stay next to, and then that's becomes really quickly. People can misinterpret that as a click, yeah. And it's not, it's just you've built up those relationships so strongly.

SPEAKER_00 25:21

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 25:22

Um you know, I I went to a uh um so Federation of Small Businesses um had um like an expo type thing, and I went to that a couple of weeks ago and and just you know went round with one of my networking friends. Um, and then every time we got to a stand and we started talking to people, like we pair of us, we sort of like split apart from each other so that you could have like different conversations. Like we were still walking around kind of together, yeah, but we made sure the fact that when people would say, Well, what do you do? It was like we took a step away from each other to to make it clear that we don't work together, we are we're just really good friends and we're interested in learning about new people. But it was just that again, that body language thing was quite interesting to watch. How we did that.

SPEAKER_00 26:07

But at the end of the day, we wouldn't have met if it wasn't for networking.

SPEAKER_01 26:11

No.

SPEAKER_00 26:12

You tuned up on one of our networking events, and that's how we met.

SPEAKER_01 26:16

No, it was because I put a post out on LinkedIn.

SPEAKER_00 26:20

I just thought it was through networking that we met. No. Was it not?

SPEAKER_01 26:24

Oh well that just muted that point. I put a post out on LinkedIn saying the fact that my uh company wanted me to do digital marketing and social media. I didn't know anything. Does anybody have any academy? Yeah, the club.

SPEAKER_00 26:38

But then you came into networking, and that's how we really got to know you. Let's put it that way. Before that became around.

SPEAKER_01 26:46

That's how you saw me to the point where you wanted to headhunt me to get us into your business. Yeah, as we said last week, you know, that that networking exercise of giving somebody else your 60-second pitch to deliver was really really powerful.

SPEAKER_00 27:04

I I think other groups episode, didn't we?

SPEAKER_01 27:06

Yeah, yeah. I think other groups should really adopt that 100%. It was a bit of fun as well, it was lighthearted, so it didn't matter majorly, but it was a really good exercise to go to that's what they've got from what I do.

SPEAKER_00 27:20

Yeah. Um, it's really good.

SPEAKER_01 27:25

It was um that I mean that that networking never felt like networking.

SPEAKER_00 27:31

No, and quite often it wasn't, you know, we had bingo and everything going on, going wrong when I was in charge.

SPEAKER_01 27:36

But you know, I think you were gonna bring up the bingo incident. So for the listeners who who don't we weren't part of the F-words networking, Verity set up a bingo event for us. So this was COVID, this was this was peak lockdown, kind of, you know, we were all we did.

SPEAKER_00 27:56

Let's just explain, we did things a bit differently during we were the first online networking event in COVID, I think in the country. We were we were really like the first week of COVID, we were on it, but we didn't we realized that everybody was really down, and everybody was like the first one that we did, everybody was really kind of I'm gonna lose my job or my business is gonna go down. We were all feeling really nervous, and we didn't want it to work like that. We wanted Fridays to be a relief from what was going on with COVID, so we flipped it a little bit.

SPEAKER_01 28:27

But I think the the the particular bingo incident was that Verity is is self-proclaimed, she's not tech savvy, you know, as we said before on these episodes. You know, I do all the editing and the uploading. She's not let me be in charge of tech at all. And she I'm I'm guessing the only way you could have done it was the fact that you tested the bingo to see if it worked before we joined the online networking space. And what she hadn't done was she hadn't reset the numbers. Nope. So we we all had bingo cards, and we're just like reading out the numbers, and she got that and she read out all of it. What Verity was like all of the numbers, and we're all going like, No, well, I'm missing such and such a number, now I'm missing such and such a number. And it was because she hadn't reset the numbers before she started the game, so nobody won. And it became this iconic sort of, are we gonna play bingo again, Verity? Like every time Verity was left in charge, because there were the three of you running it, wasn't it? Um, every time Verity got left in charge, it was like, should we play bingo again? Just like a trauma for you, wasn't it? Of like, no, no, we're never playing bingo ever again.

SPEAKER_00 29:32

We had fun though, we did have fun. But that networking should be fun, it should be. I I really I never gelled with networking that took itself too seriously. It was always very much it was a place to socialize, it was a place to get to know people. Of course, this business being done, but it was a business should be fun. That that's how it was always our motto. And networking for us needed to be fun, otherwise, it didn't work. That's how we kind of judged a room and whether it worked or not, whether it was too serious or whether it could be fun. So, you know, networking is fun. That would be my wild words of wisdom, really. My Wednesday, my well, whatever. My words of wisdom. Just just have fun, just enjoy it. Just you know, if you're feeling nervous, everybody's been in the situation you're in, everybody's walked through those doors for the first time. Just go and find somebody who looks friendly and they'll be fine. And just don't go, you know, take your business cards, but it in fact, set yourself a challenge not to give out one single business card in your first networking event. That will go in your favour. Yeah, don't give them out, but wait to be asked for one.

SPEAKER_01 30:36

Yeah, like give them out if somebody asks you for one, don't like be like, no, because I've set myself a challenge and not giving them not to get out.

SPEAKER_00 30:41

It's gonna be a very strange way of networking.

SPEAKER_01 30:44

It's a conversation starter, but yeah, but I I I mean, I link you know, social media marketing and networking so much, you know, when people go, Oh, I never know what to put on on LinkedIn or Facebook or Instagram. And I'm like, Have you ever walked into a networking room and have not had anything to say to anybody? They're like, Well, no, because you know, it's like so that's that's what you talk about in your marketing, like that's what you talk about online, right? It's social media and networking are very, very similar. Yeah, you know, I've I've spoken to people at networking when they're going like, Oh, I just couldn't sleep last night because the you know, I've got a newborn at home, and it's like, oh, you know, say tell me about your newborn, tell me all of this stuff. And they're like, Oh, but I can't talk about that online because it's it's it's too personal. Yes, you can, yes, you can.

SPEAKER_00 31:30

And actually, going to networking events gives you great social media content. Yeah, people love it when you go to networking events and you post about those. You'll always get a high engagement on it.

SPEAKER_01 31:39

Yeah, it always becomes that kind of like you know, spot yourself in everybody else's photos as well. And like, but anyway, yeah, it's networking is is great when you find the right networking room for use. You you might like the suited and booted stuff and the very serious stuff. Like that's absolutely not nothing wrong with that. As you can probably tell from this podcast, very true, I are not the the suited and booted.

SPEAKER_00 32:04

We're we're not, or the 6 30 in the morning, or the constant sales pitches, but you know, that's just a grudge that I'll bear forever.

SPEAKER_01 32:14

I do keep trying to go to morning ones. I do like do my best to get to morning once, but I'm just not a morning person.

SPEAKER_00 32:21

No, I was never gonna get there at 6 30 in the morning. Never. Yeah, cool. So yeah, just get out and do it. JFDI, if you're nervous about networking, just get out and do it. It will it will just be a game changer for your business. It it's just and for you personally, I just and also I think it's it's worthwhile.

SPEAKER_01 32:40

So, you know, we've said if you're you're new to networking, go and find somebody friendly to to to try and talk to as a one-to-one sort of situation when you first get there. But if you are experienced at networking, do not leave somebody stood in the middle of the room on their own or at the edge of a room, normally at the edge of the room on their own. Just go and talk to them. Go and talk to them, and you know, ask them if they know where the coffee is, or you know ask them if they know anybody, it's you know, talk to them, like you're there to network. Network, it's not this is not meeting up with your friends down the pub, although some networkings are in pubs and they are great.

SPEAKER_00 33:15

And sometimes you end up going to the pub with them because they do become friends, and that's okay too. But yeah, but absolutely that's a really valid point. If you see somebody who looks a little bit nervous, they sat on their own or stood on their own, then just go and put an arm around them, go and bring them into the conversation, go and get them a coffee, sit down with them, remember that you were there once too. Absolutely. Good note to end it on.

SPEAKER_01 33:38

I think that is a perfect note to end it on. We will uh see you next time, folks. See you next time. Bye. Bye.