There are many different business networking groups across the UK. Some large, some small. The one thing that most have in common is that they aim to help local businesses to grow via personal introductions.

Many people and small business owners can be quick to dismiss the idea of networking. It is easy to look at a group of 20 or 30 different businesses and wonder how any of them could benefit your business.

The secret to successful business networking however is to understand that you are not targeting those businesses represented in the networking room.

You are targeting their customers, their contacts and their network of influencers.

You are not connecting with 30 people. You are connecting to the 100 or so contacts that each of those visitors has.

You actually have a networking reach stretching into the thousands.

If you ask the people in the room for an introduction to person or business X, there becomes a good probability that one of them will have a contact at the business in question, or even know the person that you are after.

That is the true power of business networking and is the only long term way to make networking work for your business.