Shy bairns get no sweets

Phew! I have been networking like mad lately and have even been approaching strangers on the street to tell them about what I am up to – well I guess the old phrase "Shy bairns get no sweets" is my new mantra.

The fact that I speak a little Panjabi has helped me break the ice with quite a few members of the local Indian communities and if I can establish myself as providing a quality service at reasonable rates this should hopefully prove a fruitful avenue.

I am also ringing round all my friends and asking them to pass on the message that I’m setting up alone. The responses I’m getting are really encouraging and positive.

That’s the real world, but I am also keen to explore virtual ways to network, make new contacts and hopefully secure new business.

I have been speaking to all of my contacts via Facebook and I am now looking at setting up profiles on other social networking sites like ecademy and LinkedIn. It’s quite difficult to decide which ones are the most relevant and of course I am mindful that it’s pointless joining all of them – otherwise how will I have time to actually use them effectively?!

Nope, my approach is going to be to find one or two online sites – this blog included – and use them properly, rather than fiddling about with loads and not getting quality results.

It's a bit like real life I suppose. I am, after all, a master of carpentry and joinery – I would hate to be a jack of all trades!