One of my goals for this year is to go to more networking functions. That’s easy you think. There are loads to choose from. And yes, there are. However like many solopreneurs, my time is fairly precious, and I want to make sure that the networking events I go to are going to be relevant and help me achieve my goals. 

How do you do that I hear you ask. Well, personally I go to networking events for a number of reasons: 

• to hear a speaker who interests me
• to meet prospective clients
• to catch up with a number of friends/colleagues/business associates all at once (it’s a lot easier than arranging a lot of coffees!)
• to support a charity that I believe in – particularly if they are fundraising
• to support the organisers if they are clients, friends or starting out a new networking group that sounds interesting. 

Most of these reasons are fairly self-explanatory. However I am often asked how do you know that prospective clients are going to be at the networking function you are going to. There are a few ways to find out: 

• trial and error – go to a couple and see what sort of people are also there (this can sometimes be a bit exxy in terms of time and money)
• go where your target market goes – one reason I go to events run by the Australian Institute of Management is because other business owners go (and they are one of my target markets)
• ring the organiser and find out who has attended previous events – while they probably won’t give you names, they may give you some examples of professions and roles
• ask the twitterverse if anyone has been, what they thought, and what type of people were there – the people who reply will also be a good indication of attendees.

 How do you choose what networking events you go to? And what are your favourites?

I thought it would be fitting for my first blog post to be about goals vs New Year’s Resolutions. Particularly as I have had a goal of getting this new website written and live for about 6 months. I figured that it would be a good goal to kick for the start of the year! And now I have. Phew!

Which brings me to my point. Do you have goals or do you make resolutions? Such as the New Year Resolution? In my experience, goals are often achieved whereas resolutions tend to fall by the wayside by about the 10th of January. If not earlier.

So in 2010 I have decided not to make any NY resolutions (yes, big shock horror to those who know me ). However I have made a list of goals – that I am aiming to achieve by the end of 2010. These include the usual lose weight, do more exercise, eat more fruit and veggies, save money, as well as a few less usual – get more culture into my life, do more speaking engagements, gain a few more long term clients, plan holidays and long weekends.

To achieve these, every month my partner and I sit down together and make a series of “mini-goals” that will help us achieve our bigger picture goals. So, in the spirit of trying to be accountable to myself and anyone who reads this, my January goals are:

• lose weight – 4kg would be good
• do 1 hour of exercise a day (not achieved every day, but have done at least 30 minutes a day so far)
• relaunch my website by the end of January (big tick)
• make a new recipe once a week at least (done! and Shaun is very happy about this one!)
• read two non-fiction books – currently reading Going Rogue by Sarah Palin, next on the list is either Trust Agents by Chris Brogan and Julien Smith or Crush It by Gary Vaynerchuk
• go to two networking functions

So now you know mine, I would love you to share your goals for January and 2010 – and how you are going with achieving them.