Angela Roberts shares The Power of Networking in 2023!

Angela Roberts of Cotswold Networking shares why networking is powerful in 2023. Cotswold Networking is a friendly, supportive membership, networking group with meetups and social events in Malmesbury and Cirencester.

This February is our first Anniversary since the launch of our Malmesbury networking group.  After a few awful years in lockdown, I was eager to get back out there, meet people face-to-face and feel the buzz of connecting with great people. I wanted to find a friendly, social, evening networking group in the surrounding area, but most of what I found was in the daytime, which I couldn't do. So, after much deliberation, I decided to bite the bullet and start my own group!  So, in February 2022, Cotswold Networking was born.

We started our monthly meetups at the Old Bell Hotel in Malmesbury, and they have been wonderful in supporting us throughout. I am a marketing professional, so I used my skills to spread the word about the new group via social media and email marketing. I also work with some great web designers, so they created me a great-looking, functional website where people can book everything online. 

Last year's launch night in Malmesbury was terrific, and we had 80% of the attendees sign up to become members on the night and within 48 hours after! We are a membership group, but you can come along to two meetups before you decide if you would like to join us.

As well as the meetups with speakers, we also do many social events, as they are much more easy-going, people relax, and relationships and connections form easier.

This month, a year on from the Malmesbury launch, at 7pm on February 22nd, we are expanding the group and launching a brand-new networking group in Cirencester at the lovely Kings Head Hotel.

Networking is so powerful; it is about establishing relationships so that you will become more successful in business. The people with whom you forge a professional association will also introduce you to others with whom you can form professional relationships. Each person has their own network of people, so getting to know more people and having lots of contacts in business can often lead to rare opportunities in the future.  Knowing the right people can pay off no matter what industry you're in. Networking can lead to more clients and more exposure.

There is that old saying, 'It is not what you know but who you know,' and that rings true when you run a business. You increase your likelihood of success by building up a network of people around you who have a similar passion and are headed in the same direction. You can also learn a lot from other people and get inspired. I am like a sponge and get excited when I come away from an encounter with a new idea or new information to research to improve my business or life. 

Cotswold Networking is all about supporting each other and helping each other's businesses to grow, and the most important thing to us is having FUN whilst doing it. Come along to one of our meetups and see what we are all about.

You can find out more about Cotswold Networking here https://cotswoldnetworking.co.uk/ or to book on you can email Angela at [email protected]