'Tis the season to be jolly

As Christmas party season is now well under way, don't forget these are still 'work' events and should be treated as such.

Lucy& Richard

Whether you run your own business and are attending a networking xmas party, or work for a large company and are going out with your colleagues and more importantly your boss(es)!  How you act on these occasions can impact your working relationship with these people going forward.

There are horror stories of people saying the wrong thing or acting in a bad way, which has resulted in them losing their jobs.  So do bare this in mind, however, this is often a great opportunity to get out and network with new people in a much more relaxed atmosphere.  During the festive holiday season, people seem to loosen up and are more interested in talking about other things that just business and this is a great way of getting to know people better, especially in a networking environment.

Crossnetworking xmas meal

We had our Cross Networking Christmas party on Friday at the Britannia Inn, Ashley Cross, Poole, where some of members joined together in a Christmas meal during the afternoon, then on for some festive drinks, singing and dancing in the evening.  We are a tight group as it is and our networking events are always in a relaxed atmosphere and we get to know each other very well, but chatting over a glass of mulled wine is a great way of strengthening any business relationship.

Enjoy your Christmas parties, but remember every impression counts, so don't drink too much, but have a very Merry Christmas!

Fiona & Jack

Dorset means business - Business Growth Event

Dorset Means Business Event





Cross networking are sponsoring a local event being held by one of our members Ali Carter.  Ali runs the Dorset Entrepreneurs Circle as well as running The Barworks from her offices in Ashley Cross, Poole.



On 3rd October 2011, she will be hosting an evening event at AFC Bournemouth with guest speaker Nigel Botterill, who over the last 6 years has created 6 £million+ businesses from scratch!  He will be speaking about how he reached his success and will be giving nuggets of information to help local businesses in Dorset grow.

This looks to be a fantastic event and we are able to offer an exclusive discount to everyone reading this blog of 50% off!  To book your place and receive this huge discount, visit:

http://www.eventelephant.com/dorsetmeansbiz

And use discount code CN-DMB1 for your 50% off.

We look forward to seeing you there and we can not wait to walk away with new ideas on how to develop and expand our businesses.

Really looking forward to this event!

Dorset Means Business

Party in the Park - Ashley Cross

Cross Networking had a stand at 'Party in the Park', Ashley Cross, Poole, on Sunday.  This is one of the many events we attend throughout the year to not only raise the profile of the networking group but our members.

This event is always a popular event in the local community calendar and is sure to have a great attendance.  With live music all day, games with prizes, beer tents and food stalls, and not forgetting local businesses representing themselves, the event has something for everyone.

We were there bright and early setting up the store and were joined later in the day by a few of our members who came to give us a hand.  Including Lucy Cooper, Lloyd Morgan(Lloyd Morgan Productions & Wedding Video Dorset), Liz Williams (Orchid Therapies), Fiona McArthur (D'Angibau Quality Solicitors) and Ali Carter (Dorset Means Business).

Our stall was raising awareness of our small business networking group in Poole and Bournemouth, and we handed out bags with our members details in, all of which stood a chance of winning a bottle of Champagne kindly donated by Quality Solicitors D'Angibau.

Overall is was a really successful day with a great response from local business owners who attended the event, and hopefully we will be seeing them all soon at one of our networking events.

Lucy Cooper & Lloyd Morgan at Party in the Park

Cocktail Evening - Informal Networking

Cross Networking hosted an informal business networking event in July, at Mai Tai Cocktail Bar in Lower Parkstone, Poole.  The night included cocktail demonstrations, tastings, and plenty of networking!

Cross Networking Cocktail Evening

It was a fantastic turn out with approx. 30 local businesses represented at the event, and real positive vibe throughout the evening, and a lot of interest as one of Mai Tais mixologists gave cocktail demos and showed everyone how to make the perfect mojito!

Mai Tai Cocktail demonstration

Cross Networking provide free informal networking event every other month to all CN Members, but are often also free to guests.  So to find out when the next event is contact the Cross Networking Team: info@crossnetworking.co.uk

Business networking in Ashley Cross, Poole.

Lloyd Morgan and Lucy Cooper welcoming the networkers to the event!

5 Networking Tips

Here are 5 business networking tips that may be useful.

Business networking tips brought to you by Cross Networking; Lloyd Morgan was our expert speaker in this video.

To reiterate the points made in the video:

1. Give dont sell
• You should not go to networking events with the mindset of selling your products, as 0% of networkers go to events to buy. 
• Networking is about building relationships with other local businesses, and as you build these new links and develop these relationships, over time these individuals may refer business your way, or even use your services to aid themselves.
2. Dont be nervous
• Everyone is in the same shoes, whether they are experiences networkers or new to business networking.
• Be confident in your product, you never know, you might be the perfect solution to someone elses problems.
3. Business Cards
• Make sure you take business cards everywhere, especially to networking events.
• Try and switch business cards with everyone you speak to; this is a great way of building up a list of contacts you have met at events.
• If youve promised someone a follow up, whether it is a meeting, phonecall or email, make sure you follow up.  Breaking initial promises can damage future relations.
4. Be honest
• Business networking is not only about referrals, it is also about helping other local businesses develop.
• Give people feedback and advice, but be careful not to offend others when doing so.  Their business is very important to them and they will have a great deal of pride in their work, so always tread carefully, but providing useful feedback can play a huge part in developing a good business relationship.
5. Trust
• All business referrals comes down to others trusting you and trusting your product and service. Make sure you are being honest to yourself and ensure your product is up to scratch.  If other people are referring your business to others it can reflect very badly on them if that new customer is unsatisfied with your product or service.

We hope these tips are useful, and try implementing them into your networking strategies going forward.

Network updates

During this mornings breakfast, the group discussed how they saw the future of Cross Networking, and there were opportunities for members to volunteer for certain roles within the group. The biggest decision made was to change from weekly business breakfasts, to a fortnightly schedule. There were pros and cons for both, but the group decided to trial fortnightly meetings going forward. This has also reduced the cost for Premium Plus membership, as there are less meetings to cover.

Its been great having our members participate and make suggestions, and this is one of the things that makes our business networking group so strong and productive. After all, Cross Networking is ran by the members, for the members!

BUPA 10k run - United Through Sport Charity

United Through Sport Team - Leicester Square

Lloyd Morgan, founder of Cross Networking, has continued links with United Through Sport charity, via the video production work he carries out for the Bhubesi Pride charity project.

As a result he was approached by James Burton, founder of United Through Sport, 5 weeks ago, and asked to join the UTS team at the London BUPA 10k run. Reluctant at first, like any non-runner would be, Lloyd commited to the run, and began his training.

Needless to say, there were many aching legs, and funny walks over the past month, but yesterday on a very sunny May Bank holiday, Lloyd joined the team in London and undertook his first ever run!

The day was a great success, and the team raised a fantastic amount of money for the charity.

Lloyd Morgan with a couple of UTS 10k team mates, proudly displaying their medals

Well done to Lloyd Morgan and the rest of the team, and Cross Networking will show our on going support for the United Through Sport Charity.

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