I first came across 4Networking in autumn 2007; I was introduced to it by Stefan Thomas of Real Marketing, who was at the time publishing a local magazine similar to my own Community Times. I visited the Faringdon group, joined up, and went to a few more meetings. However, I didn’t quite “get it” – I was trying too hard and didn’t see much success.

Personal circumstances meant that when my trial membership lapsed I didn’t re-subscribe, but then in September 2008 I did rejoin, but this time with a different plan in mind – I wanted to go simply to meet people and make some friends and business contacts; if any business came as a result of that so, much the better.

And guess what? It worked. Six months on I have gained two regular proofreading clients and several new advertisers for my magazine. More than that though, I have met dozens of interesting, inspiring people and have made friends with many of them. I’ve also done business with several, and know who to go to when I need services in future.

4Networking is a very different way of doing networking – rather than going for the hard sell, it encourages people to MEET each other, get to KNOW each other, LIKE each other and eventually TRUST each other enough to do business. It’s no quick fix … more a slow-burning process, but one that reaps far more than straightforward sales.There are around 200 groups all over the UK, as well as an active, informative and entertaining online forum. 4Networking makes sense … give it a try!