but I’m not sure that everyone noticed yet….

Back in 1997, I was working for Nigel Dixon & Co. Estate Agents in Witney in Oxfordshire.  Around that time, prospective clients were starting to ask “are you on the Internet?”. Enough of them asked that we took the plunge, got ourselves a website up on that there Internet and the whole world could now read about us and see details of the houses we had for sale.

That was in 1997, when the Internet was still being used as a broadcast medium by most. You put your advert up there and hoped people saw it. You gave your website address out all over the place and, after a few years, people called SEO specialists came and showed you how to get more people to find your website.

But that was 13 years ago. The Internet has changed, massively. Some people are still treating their website as their presence on the Internet, simply broadcasting their stuff out there and hoping that enough people will find it and respond to it to make it worth their while. A lot like putting a postcard in the newsagent’s window.

The Internet became two way though, the Internet became a conversation. It is no longer enough to just broadcast. The opportunity to engage, talk to the people who connect with you on Twitter, Facebook, Buzz, wherever it happens to be is immense. The opportunity to actually engage with other human beings is there and yet too many people are still using all of the tools available just to broadcast. Too many people think that we’re actually interested in hearing a constant and probably automated stream of adverts for them and their business.

I’m not the king of the Internet, everybody is free to use it however they want to. But ignoring that it has become two way, ignoring the conversation, ignoring the opportunity to engage, talk to, care about, the other people around you is missing the point and missing the massive potential that the Internet in 2010 gives us.

Time for another cup of tea. Got any comments on what I’ve got to say? I’m happy to hear them @NoRedBraces

If they’re using this to give them a kickstart into online networking great, but just dipping in and out simply doesn’t work.

You’ve got to be there, you’ve got to be a presence in the online world if that is where you want to build your business and reputation. If you want to be the best known estate agent online, or the best known copywriter, or the best known whatever, you don’t have to spend money but you do have to spend some time. Immerse yourself, find the people who are talking about the subjects on which you have a view or opinion and get in there.

I believe, in the UK in 2010 you have a massive opportunity to build your brand online but please don’t think you can do it by dipping in and out when it suits you. You have got to be there when your potential clients and customers are there. You have got to be there to answer the ad hoc questions that come up online. You have got to be there for the chat.

Stop thinking that you don’t have the time for this. If you want to build your business online, you need to start thinking that this is where you must be spending your time.

Have a great 2010 and if you have any comments, post them here or @NoRedBraces

I know I’ve said the same thing in different ways several times, but posting ads for your business, if that’s all you post, simply will not work.

When I walk post the Post Office in the village, I’m aware that there are postcards on a board, advertising stuff for sale. And I’m also aware that there are ads on business forums. If an ad is posted by someone I know, I will take a look. If in an ad title, there is a service I really want that week, I’ll take a look. Otherwise I won’t bother, and I suspect most people are the same.

Take the time to make yourself an active member of the forum community, in whichever way suits you. People often tell me they’re too busy to do so, just as I’m too busy to read ads from people I don’t know, for services I’m probably not interested in.

Join up your communities, make sure your Twitter followers know when you’ve posted an ad on a forum, tell your Facebook friends about it too.

These days, with Sky+, I hardly ever watch the ads on telly, I suspect a lot of people are the same. People also switch off, unfollow, ignore and don’t read, people who only ever post ads. Join in first, the rest will follow.

So today, an open question. What don’t you like about business networking? What is stopping you going to business networking meetings or, if you do attend, what is stopping you doing more of it? Do you feel you’re getting enough value from the groups and meetings you attend and, if not, why not?

What would you like to see more of? Or less of? What would be the IDEAL business networking format for you?

I’m genuinely interested and in will help me to understand what else I can offer that might help. Comment on here, or @ me on Twitter – @NoRedBraces

I don’t have all the answers, but if there’s anything you reckon you could do better at networking events, let me know that as well.

Hold on though, what about the other people in the room. What if their outcome is different to yours? What if you don’t know who will be in the room before you attend? It’s a piece of advice that has always confused me. It actually seems a bit arrogant to walk into a room full of people with their own agendas and impose yours on them.

I have a different view on this, not saying it’s right, it’s just the one that works for me.

Whenever I attend a business networking meeting, I prepare my introduction (sort of) and let everything else flow. In my conversations with people I try to find out as much as possible about them and their business. That way, I get an opportunity to work out if there is any way we can work together, if their services are of interest to me or if I know someone else who might be interested in their services. From there I’ve got a platform to think about how I might help them, either now or in the future.

It’s all about building relationships and sometimes takes time, going in with an action plan will probably lead to disappointment and potentially alienating people in the room that you might actually do business with.

The mistake I see people making, is to head straight for the Classified Ads section and expect people to take notice of them. You HAVE to engage, you HAVE to involve yourself in the community before people will be interested in you and your business.

Consider this for a second, you arrive at a breakfast meet or other networking event where you don’t know anyone. Immediately you stand on a chair and start broadcasting your message and your current special offer. What do you think people would think of you? Yet people do exactly that here.

Spend some time getting to know the other people in the community. Find out about their businesses, see if you have knowledge or advice that might help. By doing so, you will also get an understanding of their business, which might help you to pass business their way in the future and will definitely help you to understand how your products and services might help them.

First assemble a crowd of people who know and like you. In fact, why not just do that, business might just start flowing to you without you ever asking for it.