Business TV: top tips from networking specialist Andy Lopata

In this business tv show, we ask Business Networking Strategist Andy Lopata, how to make sure you're seeing your networking investment the right way:

"For most people networking is about business development and they want to get a return form that investment but few people look at what that investment is. So when businesses look at membership fees of networks they think about can I afford that right now and is that expensive and can I afford that rather than if that's going to be affordable what's the return on investment then I need and I think the first step is you need to know the financial return from your networking. If you don't how can you know if you're successful, how can you break it down to the steps you need to take to get that financial return?
If you know you want to get thirty thousand pounds back in a year from your networking you can then break it down into the different pieces of business that if you got those in would help you reach that goal. You can then ask for that business whereas if you just think I want more business you're going to struggle to know what to ask for.
So to work out the return on investment it's not just about looking at the cost of membership of the network which is what a lot of people do. You have to look yes at the cost of the network but also the opportunity cost, what could you be doing with that money otherwise.
You need to look at the cost of that time and the opportunity cost of that time, what could you be doing with that time. You need to look at all of the follow up you need to do. If you join a network most of the power is actually in the relationships you build outside the meetings.
You have to quantify that as well and say how much is that worth in my business so return on investment isn't just about the money you pay.
It's about your time, it's about the commitment you put into it, it's about what else you could be doing and what return that would bring."

See more business news television shows from Andy Lopata and other business networking experts at http://www.yourbusinesschannel.com/section.aspx?section=networking

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[NikiPikiMilo]

People forget to establish exactly what their time should be valued at. They need to ask themselves could someone else be doing this for me? Andy drives the message home networking needs to be done by the right person because then the investment of your time really pays off.

[businessexpertsjax]

I need to share this with the connections I have made through networking sites... great point! And for those people that say they don't want to pay out for membership on networking sites, well the loss is really theirs!

[BusinessExpertsNat]

Very true. Andy is such a great speaker and makes a lot of sense. Would definitely be interested in hearing more from him!

[businesstvdavid]

When I watch this, I just wish that nearly everyone I know from previous networking groups could use this advice - the groups would have been so much more successful...

[BusinessExpertLouise]

Networking as a key to building business and revenue...great advice.

[businesstvmark]

If you don't know your desired financial return - how can you make it happen? Good thinking ...

[businesstvAmanda]

Andy lopata raises a great point about looking ROI. People often set unrealistic estimates on what their time is worth ($).

People need to look at social networking as an exercise and weigh up whether qualifying people on line would be more profitable than time spent in a car or on a phone cold calling people that won't be interested .

Great interview, Andy is a great talker and puts things in a very clear cut manner.

[businessexpertandre]

Great point about the time investment and opportunity cost of networking. Another criteria should definitely be what type of network should you be involved in. I've seen another yourBusinessChannel show featuring Dr Ivan Misner who says that when networking, you shouldn't network with people similar to yourself because they all move in the same circles. To expand your network, you need to get to know people outside your normal sphere of business.

[businessexpertsalli]

I think Andy had some great advice. A lot of people don't actually put much time into measuring their success which kind of defeats the purpose of what you set out to achieve.

[businesstvkelsi]

Andy Lopata really brings home the fact that when networking for business you need to have clear goals, like in any aspect of business, and know the economics of it, what could you be doing otherwise because networking actually quite time consuming.