On line Networking - Andrew Wilcox
Networking - Discussion between Michael Beale and Andrew Wilcox, March 2008.
Andrew runs 'Cabre', which focuses on Mindjet MindManager and associated software reselling and training.
(Please allow up to 2 minutes for the MP3 file to download if you want to listen to the discussion.)
http://nlp-expert.co.uk/networking/Andrew2.mp3
Podcast transcript:
Michael : Good morning Andrew
Andrew : Good morning Michael
Michael : First of all let me say I'm really pleased that you've agreed to have this conversation about online networking and I'm genuinely really interested in what you're going to say. So can I ask you to kick it off just by introducing yourself to our audience and saying a little bit about who you are and what you do.
Andrew : My name's Andrew Wilcox and my business is called Cabre. It has two purposes, to service the MindManager community and to make use of MindManager in a variety of situations. MindManager is a very comprehensive Mind Mapping software which interfaces with the Microsoft Office world.
So I retail, I train people on how to use it and then do jobs for people, such as produce Mindmaps that they can take in presentations when they're trying to partner up with new business's - to explain their business in terms of how the new combination would work.
Through to taking Mind Mappers to conferences along with video people and audio people and recording the whole event and publishing it on a website.
Michael : So what experience do you have yourself on online networking?
Andrew : I've been connecting with people online for quite a long time. I was looking back on this yesterday - I started using email at work at the late 1980's. I certainly remember arranging to meet people at the pub using the office email system, and they were only next door to me. A similar thing to that, also in the early years I was with Compuserve in the early 90's, I had a modem on the back of my Amstrad portable PC, and found out interesting things like how - what the fingering was for a fife that I bought at a car boot sale, through that process of asking a question on compuserve, inside a music group somewhere.
Michael : And which sites do you work with at the moment?
Andrew : The one I have the major strength with at the moment is Ecademy, which I joined in 2004. I also do a little bit of work in LinkedIn and Xing and I'm on Facebook too, but I can't say that I'm very active on it.
Michael : What are some of the benefits that you've got out of it yourself?
Andrew : Directly for the business, I get attendees for my courses, and people buy software from me because they've met me on Ecademy, principally and see what I do. I get referrals from clients, I get associates that work for me with my clients. And Ive received lots and lots of advice on sales and marketing and internet marketing, building websites and so on.
Michael : Why do you think that online networking is important for business's today?
Andrew : I think it's important, particularly for small business', because we need help! We're operating as individuals or small partnerships, inside those, the individuals and the partnerships, but between those, that experience is often in quite a narrow area - for example my background is in engineering, it's not in sales or marketing. So the more we help each other, the better we'll get and the more able we'll be to take on bigger and better business's with bigger and better clients.
Michael : As an overview, what do you think are some of the characteristics of people that are successful on networking online?
Andrew : I think that the first thing is being able to listen. It's not selling, it's listening. it's finding out what other people can do, what other people want. It's then connecting them with the resources that they want - and when you get the opportunity it's about being very clear about what it is you do. understand the message quickly and begin to ask you question about what you do rather than you trying to tell them what you do.
Michael : so where and when do you network online?
Andrew : I think I'd have to say almost any time. it's part of my working day. My network is part of my business, so it's very difficult to differentiate it at some times, and I don't think that I particularly want to. So most of the time I'm working from my home office, but I'm also networking in hotels, in the members lounge of the IoD where they're free wireless, at train stations, anywhere.
Michael : Do you stick to business hours, or is it more like a 24-7 thing.
Andrew : I don't go 24-7, but it's not a 9 to 5. So I'm quite often working on it in the evenings, and have been periods that I've been working very early in the morning but not in the last year - I've managed to stop doing that addiction.
Michael : If you were going to teach somebody how to network online. What the key things that you would ask them to do? What are the key things you would ask them to consider?
Andrew : I think they've got to create a strong profile first of all, because that's the first thing that people see of them online. They should then try and find people with similar interests, because that will be a cozy and comfortable group to start in, because we all have the same language and you'll start to understand the process's and tools that are involved whichever online networking site you're using.
The next stage would be to start commenting on other peoples blogs, and then doing your own blogs, and then joining clubs, and then forming your own clubs. It's an iterative process, you don't have to do it all at once.
Michael : You started off by talking about having a decent profile, what do you think are the elements that make up a good profile?
Andrew : I think profiles are very individual things. it's not like trying to replicate a CV, where you've seen one CV you've seen them all. Your profile should be different, it should be characteristic of you. So my belief is that you should write it and not get someone else to write it. You might want to take advice from people - and they should get a flavour of your attitudes, the business's you're involved with, your social interests, because someone may want to talk to you about that, and then lead to something else you never know.
Michael : What skills do you have that enable you to be good at this?
Andrew : I think you have to be able to type. I was talking to someone only the other evening and he said 'I'm going to make a business now out of teaching people to type because you can see that people are very slow at interacting and that is the method of the keyboard - you can use ink, you can use voice-to-text, but predominantly it's typing. So if they're going to get going, just brush up on your typing skills.
I think now there's a need to understand some html, and the other things that go towards making up a web page. because you're missing out on the richness that you can achieve. So if you don't understand how to embed your short youtube video onto one of the pages on your site, then you're going to fall behind. So it's important.
Michael : How hard do you think it is to learn the amount of html that they actually need?
Andrew : I don't think it's very difficult. I certainly think it's much easier than learning a new foreign language. Again, you can do it in stage, some people struggle to just add links to what they're writing, others struggle to add images - these are two straight forward things - and you just have to talk to someone that knows how to do it and let them explain it, and they're all out there willing to do that on these social networks.
Michael : What do you believe about yourself when you're networking about yourself when you're networking about somebody?
Andrew : An interesting question. I think first of all, that I'm sharing something valuable with others. So if they're talking to me about something, I'm giving them some of my knowledge, because it's pointless it all being locked inside my head - I would prefer it being out there and being used.
Michael : And what do you believe about the people that you're networking with?
Andrew : That they're watching me, hopefully. Or listening to me. Or reading me. You have to believe that the rest of the world is actually looking at what you're doing, otherwise it's going to be a rather pointless activity.
Michael : Do you have a personal mission or vision? Who is Andrew when you're doing this activity?
Andrew : I think the mission is sort of about growing my business, and about finding collaborators, finding good people who I know I could work with.
Michael : What do you think are the biggest issues that people have in networking today? and how do you overcome some of them yourself? How do you approach some of them yourself?
Andrew : I think it's the diversity of networks. 'Which one should I join?'. Is it one of the local breakfast clubs, or is it Ecademy, or is it one of these global or larger ones? There's a big struggle in trying to work out what to do, but I think you have to and I think you have to focus on the ones that will work for you.
So if it's BNI, then make put your effort in and make it BNI for you - if it's Ecademy put it there, if it's LinkedIn, put it there. And play with the others, but it would be very hard to be as effective spreading yourself across too many of these different networks. So I think its focus.
Michael : Now this might sound like a bit of a strange question, but I've always been fascinated by what people have to say - if you had to describe online networking as a sort of fairy tale with fantasy animals, or cartoon characters, how would you describe the relationship between yourself or people as they network - in those metaphorical ways.
Andrew : I think it's a sort of jungle. it's a place full of wondrous fruit. Dangerous animals and dead ends. marvelous valleys in the hilltops. It's immensely fertile. Sometimes it's very difficult to communicate through the forest. You want to get a message from A to B but there's a very thick wall between you and them - or you're at the bottom of the valley and they're at the top. And you're in different situations, so it's very difficult to understand what each party is trying to do.
You see people that are working together - but they diverge very quickly, and become antagonistic, they fall into fighting camps too soon. And it's quite tribal as well I think.
Michael : So if you find yourself in a situation where what you've just described happens, there's a sort of big gap, or whichever way you're described it, how would you approach it?
Andrew : Well my approach is to not talk about what the other people are saying. But to state my beliefs, to say 'I believe this' 'I would like this to happen.' 'the information I have is this.' Not to say you're wrong, not to say 'I don't believe what you're saying, that's a load of cods-wallop.' that only exacerbates and winds up the situation.
And because these people are not there with you, and there's no body language, there's nothing going on between you except the text in these cases. All you can do then is state your position and be strong about that and then let people ask questions.
Or you can ask questions about people. You can ask them to explain what they mean by this or that, and allow them to either shoot themselves in the foot, or let you know what they're on about.
Michael : So what would you like to plug? What would you like to let our listeners know that you're actually doing at the moment?
Andrew : One of the things that I'm doing to give back to my network is organising two events, which are called Open Minded days, which is following the open space technology formats, which is only a theme and no agenda. The agenda is made up on the day by the people that attend. It's a very powerful meeting format - and we're hoping to have over a hundred networkers in Bracknell on the 22nd of April and the Amadeus centre in Paddington on the 29th of April. Discussing the theme 'How could we get more out of Ecademy?'
And that doesn't necessarily mean the website or the management, it's about 'How can we get more out of our relationship with each other?' So 'How can we improve our reputations?' 'How can we collaborate?' 'How can we understand each other better?' 'How can we gain more knowledge?'
And I think that should be of interest to anyone interested in online and offline marketing.
Michael : Ok, and where can people find more information about that?
Andrew : On the Ecademy website there is a club called the Open Minded Days club.
Michael : Ok, and you could give your own contact details.
Andrew : My name's Andrew Wilcox, my telephone number is 01962738534 and my email address is
Andrew@cabre.co.uk
Michael : Excellent, thank you very much indeed Andrew
Andrew : Ok Michael, very good talking to you.
Andrew Wilcox Interview
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