Each month we'll provide a tip from the book.

Tip 16. Build strong networks Networking experts recommend keeping your internal and external networks separate, just in case. Internal Information is power and it doesn’t always travel along the paths mapped out in the organisational structure chart. Secretaries and executive assistants have a lot of clout on the grapevine because they’re usually privy to information others aren’t. Having good internal networks can keep you in touch with what’s really happening - and likely to happen - in your organisation, so you can best position your ME Inc. STRATEGY 1 For people to pass on information, they have to know you. Volunteer for special projects or task forces, or help at any charity events your organisation supports. You’ll not only be doing good, you’ll have the chance to mix informally with a whole range of colleagues. STRATEGY 2 Start a women’s networking group for your organisation and arrange regular monthly get-togethers at lunchtime. Ask external speakers in on topics of interest. STRATEGY 3 Align yourself with a couple of your peers in other parts of the organisation and get together regularly for a coffee to catch up and exchange news. This is the female equivalent of drinks after work (which you should by all means do too, if your family schedule permits). External Never underestimate the value of networking in creating potential new opportunities outside your organisation, no matter what level you’re at. Your aim is to develop strong, diverse external networks before you need them. When I first heard the Chair of the Australian Stock Exchange, Maurice Newman,say he thought women were partly to blame for our lack of visibility in the upper echelons of corporates, I bristled. But when I thought about one of the examples he gave - that women often avoid having lunch with work contacts they don’t like, but who are powerful - I realised he’s right: you can’t cut yourself off from the movers and shakers, and right now those movers and shakers are still mostly blokes and often blokey blokes. STRATEGY 1 Join at least one professional body. Attend a couple of events before signing up to make sure it’s worthwhile. Try to attend an average of two functions outside your normal circle each month to extend your networks. Aim for quality conversation with a few select people, exchange business cards (and write some personal details on the cards you are given as a memory prompt before you file them). Don’t forget to follow up in some way within a couple of months - with a note, card or clipping that might be of interest. STRATEGY 2 Give without hooks. Paradoxically, networking will only really pay off if you don’t go into it asking, ‘What’s in it for me?’ (WIIFM). Networking guru Robyn Henderson says for networking to pay off for you in the long run it’s very important to give without expectations - it’s a two-way street and you need to do favours for others as well as expecting them in return. The WIIFM brigade get known very quickly and nobody wants to do favours for them. STRATEGY 3 Have lunch or coffee with powerful contacts you don’t necessarily like personally. The material here is extracted from the book Women's Business, Women's Wealth by Amanda Ellis and is protected by copyright. The copying, framing, mirroring or quoting of this material in any published form, including websites, is expressly forbidden.