Love 4N

I belong to a business networking group called 4Networking. It's fantastic. If you haven't heard of it before, and you're in business, no matter what your company size you should check it out here.

4Networking uses the tagline Meet Like Know Trust. It operates on the principal that you wouldn't refer business to somebody you hadn't met, liked, got to know and therefore trusted. It's a very simple concept, but as most simple things are, it's spot on.

The MD is Brad Burton, Terry Cooper is another Director, and Stef Thomas is the Community Leader. One of the best things about these guys is that they're accessible. They're all incredibly busy, and have loads going on, but they all take the time to listen to their teams and the 4N members.

How do they do this? By using social media. I'm friends with all 3 on Facebook. I follow and am followed by all 3 on twitter. I even made Terry's birthday cakes last year.

I often draw a parallel between Social Media and 4N, to get something out of both you have to build relationships. You have to stop thinking what does this person have to give to me, but think how can I help them. You have to listen to them, and quite often what happens in both arenas, is you sell through them, if not to them.

I love 4N, I've been a member for 18 months, and in that time, I've had a tv programme, radio interviews, magazine articles, and newspaper articles. All through 4N.

4N has also provided me with some of the best friendships I've ever had. Perhaps that's because we are all in the same boat, we have a common interest, and we're all driven to make our respective businesses successes.

By intertwining 4N and Social Media, I've got the best out of both worlds, the two go hand in hand, because the same principles apply to both.

If you haven't already, go and check them out, come to a meeting (Chepstow is the best ;-) ) and see what you think. I guarantee you will love it as much as me....well, maybe not that much, but nearly!