Baked-in success – what cake-making can teach us about networking

Are you crazy for cake? Are you mad for muffins? Besotted by banana bread? Who isn’t! 

But have you ever realised that networking is a bit like baking your favourite sweet treat? 

No, I haven’t had a sugar rush to the head…read on for five baking-inspired tips to make sure your networking has the sweet, sweet taste of success.

1. Ingredients – quality ingredients are the first step to a successful bake. In networking, the ingredients are guests and hub members – you need to invite the highest quality guests (those who understand the value of networking) and just the right blend of categories – a pinch of property, a measure of marketing, a cupful of coaching. You need to shop for your ingredients – going to other networking events, local businesses and LinkedIn to find people to invite. We’ll do the sifting – working out which guests would make great members and inviting them to join. 
2. Prep – before you bake, you wash your hands, put on your chef’s hat and your apron, and assemble your ingredients. The preparation for networking is no less important – checking out the guest list to see who you want to meet, preparing your pitch and turning up on time and full of positive energy. 
3. Recipe – to bake the cake, you need to follow the recipe. Our recipe at Fresh is simple – turn up, bring guests. Just as some recipes are so complex you never want to attempt them, other networking groups have complex recipes, full of rules – but not Fresh. We know that a simple recipe gets the best results. 
4. Stir it up – the secret to a good cake batter is in the blending. With networking, the better you mix, the more successful the outcome. Spending time with members and guests is the way to get the perfectly blended mix.  
5. Cook – the last step is the oven, using heat to turn the raw batter into delicious cake. Your hub is the oven – full of energy, with the heat to make your cake rise into a light and fluffy delight. So make sure you come to hub meetings with your energy dial turned up to max. 

I hope that’s given you some (devil’s) food (cake) for thought…so before your next meeting, think baking and follow the tips to ensure that your networking is a delicious, sweet treat.