Cultural Industries Development Agency 

Everyone with a creative idea or embarking on a new creative business is invited to participate in Creative Entrepreneurs!

This FREE programme devised by CIDA and supported by the London Borough of Tower Hamlets will give budding entrepreneurs the opportunity to develop their business concept from idea to draft business plan. Industry experts will deliver 4 days of training in Business Planning, Copyright, Marketing, and Pitching and Presenting.

One lucky participant will also walk away with £500 to help them kick-start their career!

The training programme will culminate in a networking event – Entrepreneurs the Next Generation, which will involve a panel of celebrity entrepreneurs discussing how they made their dreams become a reality.

Participants must either live or work in Tower Hamlets to be eligible for this FREE programme.

Creative Entrepreneurs will run from Monday 13 December 2010 – Thursday 16 December 2010. All training will take place at CIDA, Business Development Centre, 7-15 Greatorex Street, London E1 5NF. Entrepreneurs – the Next Generation will take place on 20 December 2010.

For more details, visit www.cida.co.uk, email cidaadmin@cida.co.uk or call 020 7247 4710.

A skill that I believe is often undervalued in a sales environment is the power of strategic networking within key accounts. I have found this to be the most effective tool to gather new leads with a high rate of conversion to sales. There a few simple steps that you might want to use to improve strategic networking.

Mapping your accounts

If you are managing an account, is the person you are dealing with in the best possible position to sign off work? Or are they always refering to someone else in a more senior position? If so then you may be talking to the wrong person.

Depending on the size of your client it might be helpful to approach them as if they were an industry. Carry out a full marketing analysis of the firm as there may be multiple contact points that you could be offering services to. Different parts of the company have different needs. Your current contact may only have a limited purchasing power.

To map the client try to find an organisational chart or, if you have enough time, research online to build your own. You should soon have an understanding of the areas of the business that may be interested in your services as well as who you need to be in touch with to get things moving.

Now that you have identified your key decision makers how do you get to them?

Strategic Networking

At the end of each and every client meeting ensure that you ask the three W’s.

‘What’s next?’ What is coming up next for them - this could you be your source for expanded business sales.

‘When shall we meet’ - arrange your next meeting at an appropriate interval to keep the relationship sweet.

‘Who’ - this is the most important for strategic networking - You are asking who else do they know that could benefit from your services. This can lead to them telling you about their company structure, who reports to who and where they fit in the business. You might also want to ask about the purchasing process and who has authority to sign things off. If, from the account mapping process, you know who you are targeting then ask your contact if they know the target contact and if not how best it would be to get in touch.

When your clients are used to you asking this type of questions you will be surprised at how helpful they can be in making introductions. You might even be in a position to ask them to forward your marketing emails onto relevant contacts.

Converting a sale

Remember, a referrals is far more likely to end up as a sale so it’s worth putting the effort into mapping and networking your accounts rather than going in cold.

Lastly, always look for opportunities to meet more senior staff, I often offer to come and sit in with my clients on meetings in case they need expert advice. When I am taken up on this offer I am put in a position where I have the opportunity to network with a host of key decision makers.

After being invited to participate in a visit be Tower Hamlets Council Executives to our parent charities youth centre, Limehouse Youth Club, I wasn’t expecting to walk away with some key contacts for taking Gateway Media forward. However on arrival I realised that those present, as well as the council staff, were in fact directors from the BBC and Channel 4. They were there to find out more about how they could get involved in helping disadvantaged young people.

Our star apprentice-come-employee, Shaal Karim, gave a short presentation and showed them the City Gateway Promo video we produced, which they were all suitably impressed with. Then we went on to have a round table discussion with the broadcast executives speaking directly with young people about the issues they face and how they could get involved and help.

I found the day to be really encouraging and also went away with a commitment from Channel Fours Chief Information Officer to meet. At this meeting not only was the CIO there but also the head of design and new media and the project manager for the Paralympic Games. We had some really good ideas of how we can work together going forward.

Shaal also made valuable contacts and after a chat with the Head of Four Talent she put him in touch with the British Film Institute who selected him for the role of Assistant Junior Camera Operator on a feature film called ‘Rafter Rafter’. This was a 6 week paid shoot and a great opportunity for Shaal to gain valuable skills and to further his career in the industry. It’s really encouraging to see him go from trainee to apprentice, to full time member of staff and then to be involved in a feature film! Shaal is now back in the Gateway Media office working on our corporate films and we can already tell he learned so much from the experience.

The latest opportunity that has come from the visit was the positive PR we expect to gain from a Channel Four broadcast crew coming to our offices to talk about how we benefited from the broadcasters visit. I gave an interview - it’s funny to be on the other side of the camera, my only other experience was acting in an extra role as a soldier in an episode of BBC panorama whilst at uni.