Do I need thousands of contacts in my e-networks?

As you will see in the links on the home page of this website, I am a member of a quite a few e-networks, such as Ecademy. However, I feel that I am getting far too many contact requests from people who seem to be just trying to get a large number of contacts, rather than developing quality contacts.

I understand and accept the argument of Penny Power (Founder of Ecademy) that a large number of contacts are needed and it is also important to offer help and assistance to contacts. See more about this in Penny’s new book “Know Me, Like Me, Follow Me”.

However, unlike some other members of Ecademy, I have found that helping and advising my contacts has not resulted in any business for Nigel Adams & Company Ltd.  This is probably because my business is very specialist, working with and advising British companies to establish their businesses in Central and Eastern Europe.

I have found that in my other full-time job, as Programme Director, BSc Business Enterprise at the University of Buckingham, helping my e-contacts has resulted in help being given to me. e.g. Thomas and Penny Power have given talks to my BSc Business Enterprise students and have also “spread the word” about the Business Enterprise honours degree programme.

Recently I heard a talk on networking by David McQueen. Although he agreed with Penny Power that it is important to develop your reputation by helping your contacts, he also said that you should remember to ask for and accept help from your contacts!

I am not planning to stop helping any of my e-contacts, but feel that I must restrict the number of my e-contacts to a more manageable size. Otherwise I will just sink under the number of messages that I will receive.

In future I plan to restrict my new contacts to people who are interested in Entrepreneurship and Enterprise Education or in developing their business in Central and Eastern Europe. It will be interesting to see the results of this change in my approach to e-networking.

Watch this space!

Copyright ©2009 Nigel Adams

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Author: Professor Nigel Adams

I am a Professor and the first Director of the Buckingham Enterprise and Innovation Unit in the Vinson Building at the University of Buckingham in England. I teach, advise & mentor undergraduate and post-graduate students, especially medical students, and alumni to become more innovative and enterprising by helping to develop their entrepreneurial mindsets. Between January 2018 and July 2025, the Buckingham Enterprise & Innovation Unit (BEIU) successfully managed the expenditure of about £2 million donated to the University by a successful alumna. We created and developed enterprising and innovative education and other projects in and around the University of Buckingham. As a result of our work, Innovation and Entrepreneurship is one of the university's strategies from 2023 to 2028. (https://www.buckingham.ac.uk/about/strategic-plan) From 2008 until 2019, I ran and developed the world's first undergraduate Venture Creation Programme (VCP - See https://www.vcplist.com for a definition). On the BSc Business Enterprise (BBE) programme, students had to start and run a real business as an integral part of their honours degree. Between 2002 and 2011, I was Managing Director of Nigel Adams & Company Ltd, providing business, management, international marketing, recruitment and other support and advice to the management of Western companies to help them establish business operations in Central & Eastern Europe & to improve their sales. I am an experienced international business adviser with over 50 years of experience in international business, enterprise, management, marketing & counter-trade. I lived in Poland from 1993 until 2002, working on Polish state company restructuring projects as a British Government Know How Fund Management Adviser. I am a lifetime member, Chartered Marketer and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM).