Andy Lopata's Blog

This article originally appeared in The National Networker



Last month I introduced you to Vanessa Hall, the award-winning speaker and author of Trust in Business. Vanessa outlined her model for understanding the foundations of trust and what you need to do to maintain trust in business relationships and ensure it doesn't erode and destroy relationships.



In the second part of the interview I asked Vanessa to elaborate on the role of trust in referral relationships and how to approach referra...

This evening, at 8pm BST, I'll be interviewed by Richard White on the subject of 'Leveraging the Power of your Network'.



This is a free teleseminar, and you'd be more than welcome to join us. You can get more information and sign up here.

Last week I spoke at the 'Antreprenor 2010' Conference in Bucharest, Romania. A number of people came up to me after my talk and asked me whether there were cultural differences between the UK and Romania and, if so, whether those differences would make it harder for networking to take hold.



More than once I was told that people in Romania are less willing to share ideas, contacts or advice with their competition. I was told that people are 'closed' to each other and it was unlikely that su...

According to the site BuzzMarketing.com, Buzz Marketing is "capturing attention of consumers and the media to the point where talking about your brand becomes entertaining, fascinating, and newsworthy" or, put more simply, "starting conversations."





Buzz Marketing has become an increasingly popular route to market for many businesses, large and small. Companies recognise that more buying decisions are made because of recommendation and referral than any other factor. The growth of review si...

The new issue of my networking newsletter for Fresh Business Thinking is out today. In this latest issue, we've focused on your personal profile and brand. I have turned to experts across this field for their advice. 

I have developed my thoughts on focusing on what people say about you, a theme that Person Branding expert Lesley Everett then takes on.

We then turn to two experts on becoming the expert in your field. discusses why this is so important and Jo Parfitt

In the latest edition of Connecting is not Enough I get my teeth stuck into the British political system and what our politicians could learn by engaging in a little bit of networking. And it's not just the UK politicians who should be thinking more about collaboration.







Also included, of course, is the usual blend of networking tips, referral ideas, social networking suggestions and video. With, of course, the latest from The National Networker, a new video and just a little bit of fun.



I...

It's been an interesting week in British politics. Last Thursday's General Election failed to produce an outright winner and we found ourselves with a hung parliament, with no one party enjoying a decision-making majority, for the first time in a generation.



The initial reaction of many pundits in the UK was very disappointing. Instead of looking forwards to a positive change requested by a disillusioned electorate, there were concerns about the lack of a stable government able to enforc...

In tough economic times it can be very tempting to market yourself as a generalist more than a specialist. After all, the more ways in which you can help prospective customers, the better chance there will be they will want to employ you. Isn't that right?



Perhaps not. In Networking with a Niche in February I talked about how having a clearly defined niche can help you network more effectively. That was illustrated to me today.



I received an email yesterday with information about a company ...

In our search for referrals most companies look first to their clients and then to their wider network. But so many opportunities for referrals are missed, simply because we are not looking in the most obvious place.



In this video tip I discuss why the people who work for your business should be focused on how they can generate referrals for you. Internal referrals, breaking down divisions within companies and looking to help each other, could account for a huge amount of new business each y...

This article originally appeared in The National Networker





"Building and retaining trust is the cornerstone of every business and personal relationship".



The quote above sits inside the jacket of Vanessa Hall's book 'The Truth about Trust in Business' and highlights the importance of trust in networking. With networking being founded on relationships, one could argue that trust is the 'cornerstone' of networking, and I don't think you would find many people who would argue.



Certainly no...